Whether food, flowers, or crops: the Urban Agriculture Network Basel (UANB) ensures flourishing greenery in this Swiss city of around 170,000 inhabitants. The network brings together around 60 projects, all of which are committed to local, social, and ecological sustainability. The goal? To preserve nature, biodiversity, and people.
Co-founder and Vice President Bastiaan Frich talks about committed members, living ecosystems, and inner change.
Fromfood sharing to community gardening: the projects run by Urban Agriculture Netz Basel cover a wide range of areas. Are there any topics that are particularly close to your heart?
Bastiaan Frich: We see ourselves as a breeding ground that nurtures a wide variety of sustainability projects. These cover a very broad spectrum, from cultivating plants to distributing and refining them, enjoying them together, and recycling them. No area is more important or valuable than any other. However, if we sense that a particular topic is generating a lot of interest, we focus on it more intensively for a while.
The network has grown rapidly since2010—40 projects were launched in the first four years, and there are now around 60. Were there any particular challenges when setting it up?
Frich: Looking back, working with the authorities was probably our biggest challenge. Non-profit organizations are often ridiculed, and no one really wants to have anything to do with them. As a result, cooperation was not as easy as we had initially thought. But apart from the bureaucratic hurdles, we quickly got the network up and running. We were a very committed team from the start and had a lot of fun.
Nowthe Urban Agriculture Network Basel has won multiple international awards. What advice would you give to someone who wants to set up a network like this?
Frich: In my opinion, a sustainable and integrated organizational structure is important. You can think of it as a living ecosystem. We rely on a dynamic, natural hierarchy. Everyone is on an equal footing and anyone can take on a leadership role in this network—from students to professors, depending on their knowledge and enthusiasm.
Andhow do you manage to keep everyone involved motivated?
Frich: That is indeed an important point. In an organization that functions primarily through volunteer work, appreciation plays a huge role. It is our most important currency. Otherwise, at some point, no one will want to get involved anymore. However, this is preceded by inner change. Only then is outer change possible. Peace work begins within each individual.
Today, the network has around 1,200 members and is known beyond the country's borders. Do you think Basel offers particularly fertile ground for sustainable projects?
Lampert: The Urban Agriculture Network Basel stands in stark contrast to the Basel region itself, which has the highest purchasing power in the world and is home to many large transnational corporations. Companies such as Roche, Novartis, and Bell have their headquarters here. In the 1980s and 1990s, there were several environmental disasters. As a result, environmental movements resonate strongly with the population. However, the power of corporations also presents us with challenges: negotiations often turn out in their favor—because they have the capital in their hands.
Howdo you manage to be successful here despite this?
Frich: Ultimately, I think a lot of it comes down to our incredibly talented team. It's difficult to say whether the Urban Agriculture Network Basel would be as successful elsewhere. However, we're on the right track here and still have thousands of ideas. There's no end in sight.
So you'realready busy making plans for the future?
Frich: Continuing as before is not an option, because life never stands still. What does that mean in practice? The next step is to revise and coordinate our educational offerings. We receive a lot of requests from schools, and until now we have only had ad hoc solutions. We are also working on an important milestone: developing a food policy for the region. That will take a lot of time. And new projects are never far behind.
About Bastiaan Frich
Bastiaan Frich is co-founder and vice president of the Urban Agriculture Network Basel. He studied nonviolent communication, permaculture, and biology. As a thought leader and pioneer, he has already initiated numerous national and international sustainability projects.
