Manifesto - Democratic Landscape

Pictured above is the community garden that I was apart of during my bachelors degree. To me, this place and space embodies what it means to share in a well functioning democratic landscape. A democratic landscape involves the voices of everyone, while there may sometimes still be a chain of command, there is no heiarchy making one voice more important than another's. All people and species are respected and valued in a well functioning democratic landscape. There are a few fundamental points that I believe make this space my favorite example of a democratic landscape.

The board of the garden was made up of over 10 dedicated, passionate and kind people who committed to showing up for board meetings, events and coordinating the complexities of financing a community space without adding costs to the gardeners. The success of this group I believe has less to do with their intellectual capabilities (even though they are all quite smart) and more to do with their willingness to continuously show up for the cause on their own good will. No one was paying them, and I'm sure if you asked each memebr why they'd have a list of personal reasons. I believe democratic landscape requires leaders driven by the good of their cause. It's not to say no one should be paid for the work, but I believe the fact that this group showed up despite having financial income shows their commitment to the functional of this landscape. Every landscape needs steward who are willing to do the same. They also vote on every decision, with each person equally representing one vote, needing a majority for any decsion to be made. At this small of a scale I believe this voting method works quite well.

While I believe this style works well for small scale projects, environments and teams, I think as organization grow there is a greater need for more permanent involvement in a role. In the garden, community connection and growing plants is enough to instill a sense of responsibility and commitment in the board members and the team is small enough that discussion among the group is possible when conflicts arise. However, each landscape is unique in what it requires from its stewards and I don't believe there is a one size fits all approach to democratic landscape functions. I believe every environment needs an approach that is unique to the needs of the community involved.

The next key function of this community garden is the ability to have an engaged community. Beyond the board members, there are 50 beds in the garden each tended by a different family, group or person. Without the active participation of these people the garden would fail. I believe democratic landscape requires not only a dedicated leadership board but also an equally or more committed group of people willing to uphold the well being of the landscape. In a garden people may be literally tending to the grounds, but in community spaces this could also be maintaining the well being of a physical space or engaging in the events and needs of the landscape. This is the second key function of a democratic landscape, having an active group of people willing to uphold the decisions and needs that the leadership board decides on.

If you have a strong leadership board, but no one following then your plans will never fall into place. I believe that the responsibility of the leaders in a democratic landscape are to engage and encourage the group to get involved and stay committed to the environment. There are a variety of ways to go about this, such as respectful communication between the groups and a common goal keeping both groups committed to the landscape.

The final key pillar of a democratic landscape is education. Informing not just the group involved but also the surrounding community is crucial for any landscape to function. Education is very broad, this could be anything from informing the community about your vision to providing workshops and seminars for people to learn about the space. In my personal example the garden did this very well. Not only was it connected to SDSU (San Diego State), a university with over 50,000 students and a large reputation, but also through offering different workshops for members to learn about anything from different growing techniques to how to keep bees. These educational opportunities enhanced the minds of the group, increase engagement and also teach the community about the importance of the landscape they are inhabiting. I believe the third crucial piece of a democratic landscape is about educating both the members involved as well as the surrounding community in the field you are concerned with. An educated population can then make informed decisions surrounding a space.

This is not an easy task for a variety of reasons, it requires strong leadership and a clear understanding of the goals of a space. I choose the garden because again these are defined already and easy to point out. But in many cases this is not as obvious or easy to do. There can be conflicting interests, perspectives and ideas of what the truth of a space is.

Landscape democracy is complex and varied, with each space requiring its own unique approaches and solutions. However I believe that three strong pillars in creating democratic landscapes are an active leadership team, an egaged community group and educational opportunities. As scale increases each sector requires more complex solution but the fundamentals remain, democratic landscape requires an open and honest conversation between developers, stakeholders and the surrounding community. In the community garden these three pillars are foundational to the success and function of the garden, and part of the reason it has been used and appreciated by the surrounding community for so long. It is not a top down approach, but rather a bottom up meaning that there is no voice to small to be heard when discussing matters of importance in the landscape.