Over the past years, the topic of “urban subsistence” has become more and more important in St. Pölten. Numerous projects, initiatives, and companies have evolved that want to contribute to a sustainable and conscious lifestyle. In addition to community gardens and so-called “Pflück-mich-Stationen” (plants free for all to harvest; project ‘Stattgarten’), there are many businesses dedicated to principles such as “organic” and “regional” (e.g., Greißlerei 2.0, gutding). Initiatives such as Emmaus CityFarm and Fairwurzelt show that working in the garden and with plants can have positive effects on personal development. The main driving forces behind these projects are a growing ecological awareness and the wish to use existing resources more sustainably. At the same time, social aspects and criticism of society are also important when it comes to designing such projects.

Within the framework of the project workshop, the students gain an in-depth insight into the project landscape of St. Pölten. By intensively addressing the concept of urban subsistence, the students are afforded a multi-faceted theoretical approach to this field. Among other aspects, this shows clearly that the term “subsistence” can no longer be used exclusively within the meaning of growing one’s own food. The concept includes, for example, self-supply in the context of the distribution of existing food. The (collaborative) use of publicly accessible green areas or orchard and vegetable patches (in short: urban gardening) is also part of urban subsistence – as is the acquisition of traditional knowledge on preservation techniques or so-called “old varieties”.

Building on this, the participants of the project workshop will develop a research project with a focus on one of the topic spectrums of urban subsistence. The challenge faced by the students lies in the need to develop a project that not only complements existing projects and initiatives well, but that is also participatory and sustainable in nature and meets the needs of the intended target group. Finding this target group is part of the development project as well.

The following representations and lines of thought can be helpful for developing a project idea: When it comes to food distribution, the criticism of the so-called “throwaway society” and the demand for more sustainable consumer behaviours is complemented by the issues of (more) equally distributing existing foods, making healthy organic food “affordable” and feasible for socially disadvantaged groups, and helping economically weak groups to free themselves from the dependence on large food companies and discounters.

Most of all, the idea of collectively working in the garden or harvesting food holds a lot of potential for bringing together people from different origins, age groups, genders, or social backgrounds. Keywords such as inclusion, integration, and empowerment are only a few of the aspects that can be addressed and positively supported through urban gardening projects.

Last but not least, the field of knowledge transfer also harbors potentials for boosting the self-esteem of different groups of people and for preserving, learning, and disseminating “old” or “foreign” knowledge. After all, traditional expertise regarding “old” vegetable and fruit varieties, herbs, or preservation techniques (e.g., canning) is in the hands older (female) persons most of all. By passing on their knowledge, these persons feel that their competencies and skills are valued. The same can be true for asylum seekers or displaced persons. Passing on existing knowledge about special processing techniques or medicinal herbs also facilitates exchange between people of different origin and getting to know each other at eye level.