Guerrilla Gardening

The concept of Guerrilla Gardening was first used in the 1970's by the activist group Green Guerillas based in New York, USA.

It refers to a form of non-violent direct action, which consists on making use of public urban spaces, many times squandered (like vacant lots, edges of alleys and walks next to buildings, edges of parking lots, etc.), and turning them into community gardens by there planting flowers or vegetables.

Being a grassroots movement, it can involve initiatives aimed at engaging youth and supporting neighbourhood coalitions, this way outlining the power-to-the-people campaign for greening our cities. These community gardens many times serve as outdoor environmental, education and cultural centres, where activities, meetings and events can be held. It can also tackle the issue of food security, by growing food in the cities (where it is most needed) and sending it to emergency food providers.

In the early days, guerrilla gardening was primarily a means of protest. Nowadays, it offers endless possibilities of expression, less destructive than graffiti tags but no less effective. It is the day-by-day use of plants and other visible events to surprise people and make them re-evaluate their position within the natural world...


Links:
The Guerrilla Gardening Homepage
Green Guerillas
Guerrilla Gardeners: Resistance is fertile
Guerilla Gardening: How did it start?
Guerilla Garden in Guantanamo