The project explores Urban Mycelium Farms, utilizing fungi and mycelium to upcycle waste and foster urban symbiosis. By integrating sustainable farming into city centers, it promotes circular economies, healthier environments, and stronger, participative communities.
Define the problem/need you are solving or addressing with your project. How does it address the Open Call criteria, such as environmental impact, social engagement, circularity, user experience, resource efficiency, and community-driven solutions?
This project addresses the upcycling of city waste resources, the adaptation of urban voids, and the promotion of participative multi-stakeholder dynamics within neighborhoods through a biobased method: mycelium farming. The reuse of waste is essential; hence, an elaborate classification and management of resources becomes vital for success, tackling environmental issues while enhancing circularity within the production process. Importantly, the project involves local communities and diverse stakeholders, encouraging them to learn about the positive impacts this new initiative can bring and its potential for future development.
Please describe your project, reflecting on the concept, inspiration, materials, technical aspects, methods and process(es).
The project’s essence focuses on two main objectives: designing an educational urban mycelium farm suitable for an underutilized parking lot and establishing parameters for expanding and replicating these farms with various types and objectives. With the rise of bio-based innovations, mycelium emerges as a material with vast applications, including food sovereignty, medicine, construction materials, and packaging. Therefore, it is critical to identify and design suitable locations for its production. Despite being a relatively recent material, multiple companies and patents are already working with mycelium, showcasing its potential for large-scale production and the opportunities it creates for community development.
What do you think makes your project innovative compared to the existing efforts and ideas in the field it addresses?
Three key aspects distinguish our project from others. First, we aim to develop an evidence-based urban analysis system to determine optimal locations for mycelium urban farms. We will map urban voids, restaurants, and cafés for collecting organic waste necessary for cultivation, employing Space Syntax tools for pedestrian analysis to pinpoint potential hotspots. Second, we propose that these farms serve various applications based on their location, including food production, construction materials, and environmental education. Finally, repurposing urban voids is central to the project, revitalizing abandoned or underused spaces while reimagining public areas to benefit local communities.
Does it impact or reflect young people need(s) and how?
Engaging young people is vital since community development and social integration are central to the project. Involving younger populations through educational and employment opportunities is a key goal. Mycelium farms can catalyze local economic activity, creating new jobs while enhancing environmental awareness. Beyond fostering a bio-based economic impact, these farms aim to inspire a cultural shift, bringing individuals of all ages closer to sustainable practices that connect them with nature. Through job opportunities, workshops, guided tours, seasonal events, and awareness campaigns, urban mycelium farms offer a fresh approach to urban farming, enabling young people to actively participate in transforming their environments and instilling a sense of responsibility for the future of their communities.
