The Limerick Riverpath Volunteers is a biodiversity activist group created in January 2012 by people who care about the river and canal banks connecting the university and the city. The initiative was triggered by the severe littering of the river and canal banks, resulting from various human activities around the river.
The volunteers set to demonstrate that ordinary people using the area can contribute to its maintenance without relying exclusively on the local authorities.
For several years, the local authorities hired people on a community scheme to maintain the area. When recession hit and funds dried out, maintenance was reduced to major works (tree surgery, road maintenance) once or twice a year.
The group of volunteers started by organizing major clean-up operations of the banks and on the water of the canal itself. As clean-ups are not necessarily the nicest of all activities, picnics, guided walks and native Irish wildflower sowing were organized over the spring, summer and autumn of 2012. Influenced by the ideas of urban forests (Husted 2012), guerilla grafting (La Ganga 2012) and community orchard planting (Fallon 2013), the volunteers brought up the proposal of planting a “secret orchard” on the Canal Bank. The “secret” character has to do with the planting and maintenance of trees and fruit bushes in the first few years, to avoid their destruction. Once the trees will start producing, it is expected that all the people currently using the footpath (for traveling to and from work or for recreation) will be able to enjoy the fruit. A first apple tree was planted in the spring of 2013 and the planting is set to continue in late autumn.
Figure 3. The planting site; volunteers before a clean-up; apple tree in bloom - May 2013.
For reaching out to the local community, mobilizing resources and spreading its message, the group chose to use a Facebook page (facebook.com/LimerickRiverpathVolunteers) and Facebook events associated with the page from its very inception. The evolution of the group is entwined with that of the Facebook page. Started by two people who set a date for a first clean-up, shot a video and posted it on Facebook, the group expanded continuously by attracting like-minded people belonging to other environmentally aware local groups (Transition Towns, Birdwatchers etc.).
One major concern of the group was to also reach out to locals who were less likely to discover the Facebook page. While posters displayed in local shops, sports clubs, parishes boards, university and schools were good for raising general awareness, walking the river and the canal bank and handing out cards with the date of the upcoming event to passers by brought more people to the Facebook page, increased awareness related to the group’s activities and allowed keeping in touch with potential volunteers on the long run.
Realising the volatility and rapid expiration of information posted to a Facebook page, combined with the difficulty of searching through the archives, the volunteers decided to move relevant information to a purpose-built website based on Wordpress. It also became obvious that people who didn’t have a Facebook account had difficulties in accessing the page. This is how http://limerickriverbanks.org was born.
For the Secret Orchard project, the volunteers are planning to dedicate a webpage to each tree, showing its evolution from its planting on - throughout the seasons. It is planned for each tree to be adopted by an individual or family who uses the canal bank daily and could care for it. Each “tree diary” will be maintained by the tree’s steward, who will add pictures and notes, allowing for the story of the secret orchard to unfold. The volunteers are totally opposed to having the trees labeled or marked visibly, so a solution is being currently researched for allowing passersby to “read” a tree and access its history (possibly based on RFID tags or motes).
Discussion
There are a few themes that were common to the two studies presented:
• Technology was chosen as deemed appropriate (whatever the volunteers felt comfortable with or knowledgeable about)- email, Facebook page, in a sort of “bricolage” mode;
• Technology was used for specific purposes- coordination(dates of gardening sessions, dates of riverbank activities, meeting points, planned activities; communication; knowledge-sharing (via video and photos from gardening sessions); articulation mechanisms (who planted a tree knows there are other tree stewards around, although he hasn’t met them; planning for the next gardening activities based on what happened in sessions that were missed);
• An overall reaction against technological augmentation is noticeable;
technology is not invited in when it comes to the gardening work itself;
it is merely seen as a means for coordination and communication.
Volunteers bring in their own expertise – software tools are chosen based on what they use for work or in other volunteer groups;
• Information technologies are brought in to add an extra layer to the physical gardening activities, adding an information layer on top of the physical layer;
• The inclusion of smart objects- “objects connected to the Net; objects that can sense their users and display “smart” behaviour” (Manovich 2005)- will be explored, but not imposed. The use of Arduino, motes and other wireless sensors are being evaluated currently.
• The activities revolve around food growing and healthy eating, but also include capacity building by strengthening knowledge and skills within communities.
Conclusion
The preliminary findings presented in this short paper are meant to shed a light on the cooperative work practices of two urban gardening communities that are built upon and organically intertwined with existing technologies that the volunteers adapt and combine to suit their needs. Future work plans include co-design workshops with the members of each community, a critical examination of the role of social media for supporting such practices and an exploration of potential opportunities opened by the incorporation of smart objects into existing practices.
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