The project Growing Beauty allows three groups of youths between the ages of 15 - 25 to design and then build a functional artistic sculpture that can be used for urban gardening or alternatively increases biodiversity locally. This project is a collaboration with Dodo, a finish environmental NGO.

Inspired by the paper Aesthetics of Sustainability: The Relation of Aesthetics and Environmental Sustainability (Hemmati, 2016), this project aims to involve youth in co-developing artistic and functional structures by portraying landscape as an ecological and cultural phenomena. In this project we are building structures for urban food production as tools for green landscaping and to increase biodiversity using an artistic approach. These prototypes are designed, developed and built by youth groups with the support of the project team and external educators. An example of a prototype that could be developed is a functional metal sculptures from old scraps that are designed to create a microclimate optimal to grow a certain crop.

Project Timeline

Application process opens: 15 November 2024 on Cobudget

Application process closes: 23 December 2024

Decision about funded projects: 15 January 2025

Design of prototypes: February-March

Build of prototypes: April-August

Exhibition of prototypes: September 2025