In 2024, Sustainability is the central theme of our AnthroArt project, and the first bootcamp of the series for the year was held in Amsterdam in March. While in 2023 we were exploring social inclusion in the East, now, we went to Nieuw-West; an area that is largely pre-gentrification and where a lot of creative energy is flowing, many artists and pioneers reside and work there. We were graciously hosted by LoLa Luid, an organisation that takes care of an old primary school building, and rents out spaces to all sorts of artists and creatives, to work on the challenge of Regeneratie Cooperatie.
Regeneratie Cooperatie are a collective of artists, designers and changemakers who aim to foster regenerative practices in the Netherlands and beyond. With sponsorship of, for example, the Patagonia fund, they host activities, events and a yearly festival, to spread knowledge about regeneration, and to get more people excited about becoming a part of the change. They are connecting with and challenging businesses, but also aim to get young professionals to consider a career in the sector.
Regeneratie Cooperatie asked us how they can make their educational programme more effective. Sophie, the co-founder and current leader of Regeneratie Cooperatie, came to Lola Luid on our first day to meet the participants, and explained very openly about the challenges that they, as a collective, face. The aim is for the programme to not only educate, but also activate young people; and a lot of the time they hear back that the young people are too busy for it. So they wanted to know, what can they improve?
Our bootcamp participants, a mix of artists and anthropologists, focused on this question for a week. We had three teams: ‘the sprouts’, ‘3gen’, and ‘the lopsided cup’. In the same structure as previous bootcamps, they did rapid ethnography, and combined it with design thinking to create innovative solutions. By the end of the week, they presented three ideas to Sophie and her colleagues.
The sprouts pitched a weekend away with the members of the Cooperatie. They found in their research that the challenge of a movement like Regeneratie Cooperatie is to keep everyone aligned. They provided a schedule for how the weekend should look, with workshops, walks in nature, cooking together, and an assembly where they decide on the horizon together and the path forward.
Thom van Hoek
My name is Thom van Hoek, I am a visual artist & text editor based in Amsterdam. In my practice I combine organic material with a conceptual approach, to create temporary, often site-specific works.
Blu Clos i Cirici
My name is Blu Clos i Cirici. I’m an anthropologist based in Barcelona. I’m passionate about understanding what makes people come together and learning how to foster community and solidarity.
Team Lopsided cup focused on the question of conversion, how can people who want to learn turn into people who want to do? They renamed the first group ‘maybe-people’ and the second group ‘yes-people’. To convert one to the other, they came up with a buddy system. Two buddies can keep each other accountable and help each other learn, and overcome the hurdle of having to show up to activities alone. The buddy system should last a few months and then end with a little artshow, where all the buddies can present what they have learnt.
Sanni (anthropologist) and Michelle (design strategist) live in Amsterdam and developed their artwork to express and model the idea they pitched to their client, Regeneratie Coöperatie. To address the problem of low engagement in events & classes, the duo developed a buddy system to help the curious become active members with others. Two regeneration enthusiasts partner up and join a cohort in which they explore, attend and learn about the regenerative landscape together. The cohort culminates in a mini art show to share their learnings. Sanni and Michelle did the exercise themselves — creating art with the theme of ‘Romanticising Dirt’, in which they wrote love letters to the earth.
Team 3gen introduced us to fictional university student ‘Lavender’. Lavender has time, and wants to learn about growing food and regeneration, but they do not have transportation to farms on the countryside. Team 3gen aimed to make Regeneratie Cooperatie’s programme more inclusive to an audience with less means. They therefore pitched the solution that Regeneratie Cooperatie will work together with the universities and applied universities in Amsterdam to make a garden on campus, where Regeneratie Cooperatie will come teach weekly classes and where students will do the upkeep of the garden in a club. Food that’s grown will be shared with the students who help grow it, and with people with food poverty in the city.
Libby
Libbi (21) is a student anthropologist who spends all her spare time creating, and is passionate in working towards a career in the arts.
Lin
Lin Visser, visueel Antropoloog, community builder en food waste activist. Voedsel en film zijn twee creatieve media waarmee je onderzoek kan doen en mensen kan verbinden met zichzelf de hun verhaal het land en elkaar. Organiseert, verbindt en verspreid posiotieve energie met Stichting The Waste to Success, bij broedplaats Lola Luid en met de Queer Skate Club.
Sophie was interviewed half an hour after these pitches took place. Listen to the below to hear her reactions to these ideas in all their nuance. The short version is that she was very thankful for the ideas, and the Cooperatie has since been working on implementing them!
Myrthe Lanting is a social designer who had worked with Namla before, and is also part of Regeneratie Cooperatie. She was interviewed after teaching the design thinking and pitching parts of the bootcamp:
Bootcamp participant Sanni Overweg interviewed her team mate Michelle Arrazcaeta, and liked it so much she continued and interviewed other participants as well:
Sanni & Lin also wrote an article this spring about their work in an association titled: How a black bean burger can be the bridge between food poverty and sustainability; An applied anthropological view on an organization that creates impact through food in the sustainability space
