With the urban garden project we want to blend the natural and the digital world in one and the same eco-system. We will explore how this fusion takes place: investigate in a digital way the growth, blossoming and decay of plants while they are submitted to the natural elements as wind, rain, snow, etc.

Can this evolution be generated, controlled, enhanced or imagined in artworks? Is our environment programmable? How does the fusion of natural and artificial matter produce new organisms, new environments, new natures? How does technology animate nature and space, and how do users and programs animate matter?
We observe the physical connections between people, nature and sensor-networks. We introduce natural processes as composting and organic gardening in a creative meshnetwork that combines natural and artifical elements in one media-ecological system.

Can we talk about ‘urban permaculture’, as an intrinsic part of this media-ecological system? What is Permaculture? Permaculture is about designing human environments that have the stability, diversity and resilience of natural ecosystems. Permaculture integrates renewable energy systems, energy efficiency, food/gardening systems, natural building, rainwater harvesting, urban planning along with the economic, political and social policies that make sustainable living possible and practical.
Permaculture is an approach to everyday life that integrates all the facets of people’s lives to enhance environmental sustainability within a permanent, sustainable agricultural and cultural system – a diverse, complex eco-system, where all of the elements interact in mutually beneficial ways to produce a whole which is greater than the sum of its parts. It is is a valued way of designing and creating sustainable systems. It has relevance for anyone with a concern to improve the environment and the quality of life.

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