As an initiating workshop at the Green Fab Lab, it was inspiring to be able to host and a number of collaborating European groups for a symposium of ideas sharing, project development and seminars. OpenGreens, by the artist collective OKNO in Brussels, is the ancestor of the P2P Food Lab project. The OpenGreens wiki and the related Time Inventors Kabinet is full of resources relating to urban food, monitoring systems, and more. It is a major repository for anyone interested in urban gardens, biodiversity, and DIY electronics. The Sony Computer Science Laboratory in Paris teamed up with OKNO and introduced the P2P concept. Sony CSL is also further developing the technology platform. The third partner is the European Center of Living Technology (ECLT), in Venice, Italy. They bring in a team of renowned social scientists analysing the socio-economic dynamics at work within the P2P Food Labs. They plan to build the fourth P2P Food Lab community, joining Brussels, Paris and Barcelona.
P2P Food Lab is about YOU and FOOD.
The P2P Food Lab project aims at developing new socio-economic models for food production chains. We seek solutions that promote the local production, distribution, and composting of food. Our hypothesis is that with the use of today’s information technology and the insights gained from the various “”open”” movements (Open Source, Open Hardware, …) it must be possible to design food production chains that can be more ecological, less hierarchical, and as productive as today’s food industry. The project is also a huge Citizen Cyberscience project: it relies on participants to set up their own experiments, gather data and collectively seek the most effective strategies to grow food.
1. From seed to composter: Get involved with every aspect of the life cycle of your food. For example, P2P Food Lab helps you get started growing your own vegetables. For that reason we developed a Starter Kit to make growing vegetables easy and fun. We also help you exchange food with neighbours or help you set up composting.
2. Bringing the peer-to-peer spirit to food: P2P Food Lab is there to help CITIZENS to organise food production COLLABORATIVELY. Peer-to-peer means that we blur the distinction between food producers and food consumers. Be a food prosumer! It also means that you plan food at a community level, together with neighbours, on a voluntary basis.
3. Technology & tools: P2P Food Lab proposes new tools to help you in the local food production chain. We designed a first version of a small greenhouse together with advanced equipment to measure plant growth. We also provide tools to share your experiences or to ask for help online.
4. Commons: Over time, these exchanges will create a very useful source of know-how about gardening, by and for gardeners. And because we believe in Free Software and Open Hardware, we will make all of our tools freely accessible so that you can improve upon them. Build your greenhouse, your food I/O box, your community garden or your composter using our instructables. Happy Hacking!
Contact : peter (at) hanappe.com or mainguetpierre (at) gmail.com
