Faire commun

Collaborative and Sensitive Assessment of the Rigot Commons (ECSCo)

Towards sustainable and inclusive management of the living urban commons

«Faire commun» is an interdisciplinary project (landscape, ecology and art) that uses a collaborative and sensitive approach to assess the impact of successive and future developments in Rigot Park. The research uses artistic and scientific activities to explore our links with living things and to reflect on the future of the park. The aim is to understand how the park, a resource shared and managed collectively by a community, can be sustained in an inclusive way, by paying greater attention to human and non-human beings.

Located in the heart of international Geneva, Rigot is a model of green urban public spaces, both in terms of design and management. It has hosted projects such as an urban tree nursery and vegetable gardens, involving local stakeholders but also revealing the serious degradation of the land. The research capitalises on what is already there, highlighting the need to enhance ecosystem services and consolidate human relationships.

The aim of the project is to revitalise urban spaces by encouraging people to get involved. The results will help to make the city lively and habitable, by spreading these sustainable practices for a successful ecological transition in Geneva.

To communicate the research, a series of 6 gazettes will be published to provide information and encourage the spread of shared management models to other places in Geneva. Each gazette will be organised around a specific term, discussed in a series of contributions by members of the research team and illustrated by a guest speaker. The aim will also be to provide information about ongoing research by presenting the various activities. The first issue focuses on the common, a notion that lies at the heart of Rigot's transformation process.

The Faire commun - ECSCo project is one of four winners of the «Territoire en recherche» call for projects funded by CITÉ, the Interdisciplinary Centre for Urban and Regional Transition at the HES-SO Geneva.