Paper short abstract:

Green cities have become a norm and a trend, embedding sustainable development in environmental, social, cultural and economic terms. Urban gardening and some other food-related practices are believed to successfully address those issues. The paper explores selected cases from Ljubljana.

Paper long abstract:

In the time of crisis, people maintain their economic and social stability by increasing the number and variety of resources as well as their social, cultural and symbolic capital. A wish or a need to be self-sufficient increases and people respond by producing more food on their own, relying on mutual help, and engaging in an exchange of goods and services. In Ljubljana, the network of social actors - ranging from individuals, informal communities, neighbourhoods, and associations to public institutes, NGOs and the municipality as well as social enterprises, cooperatives, and profit-oriented businesses - creates a lively atmosphere of informal and formal food economies which exist next to and benefit from each other. On the other hand, some of the practices are being criticised to gentrify places, authoritatively shape and control everyday life, and commercialize common goods.

The aim of the paper is to explore food-related practices in Slovenia's capital Ljubljana with a focus on urban gardening; seeds, plants and food exchange; and food-related social economy. The questions addressed include: Which cultural practices, related to food production and consumption, have developed into informal economic activities? What kind of social innovations arise from such practices? How do they influence the formal social economy?