Community Gardening As Social Movement.

School children watering some of the plants in a garden bed.

Christian Scott Martone is used to the concrete of the inner city, specifically that in the neighborhood of Santa Tere in Guadelejara. So, it might be surprising to find out that he is quite interested in greenery. Christian says, "I grew up in a city covered in cement, there are more cars than trees, and air and water pollution are real problems. The government initiatives to achieve more sustainable cities are not convincing, so for me, the only real option for change comes from below."

Christian also has an underpinning of education to help him with his vision. He has a degree in international development and sociology from the Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Occidente (ITESO) and a masters degree in the same areas from McGill University. With education in hand, he is focusing on educating primary school students in urban agriculture. While educating students, he's developing a community garden to serve those students and their families.



Back in 2013, a dialogue was held with the neighbors surrounding Parque Clemente Orozco to discuss their needs and promote their participation. It was decided to develop a small garden in the park, made up of three beds, resulting in a harvest of four crops. By these local efforts, the community was able to reclaim and reuse park space that had been overworked, with soil depletion. Then he developed workshops for the local people, which provided training and education in various types of dancing, yoga, planting, bike repair, and urban agriculture, all for free, utilizing the park grounds.

Meanwhile, the effort continues, with the help of school children, to keep the park clean and attractive. Among the projects was a community-painted mural, overhauling a park kiosk, and erecting barriers to keep autos off the park walkways. Meanwhile, Christian keeps working to inspire local neighborhood leaders and business people to duplicate his efforts in other park areas.

Now, some neighborhood business offer courses to those who live in the neighborhood.

As for Christian's vision, he keeps it as the focus of his efforts to turn around a community and inspire hope. Thus, his thoughts about community gardens, "I think of organic urban gardens as a form of resistance, in a city where development seems to be always related to cement and steel, planting edible plants without the use of pesticides becomes a powerful symbolic action to inspire neighbors and the wider community." So, in Guadelejara, the greenery grows against the backdrop of concrete and steel, with the hopes of a neighborhood and a new generation riding upon it.

Christian Scott Martone has big plans.

Thanks to these articles for the information: https://thepollinationproject.org/grants-awarded/christian-scott-martone-donde-huertos-comunitarios-de-mejor-santa-tere-community-gardens-of-mejor-santa-tere/; http://www.congreso.coljal.edu.mx/ponentes/christian-scott-marione-donde; http://www.iteso.mx/web/general/detalle?group_id=817836; and https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&prev=search&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=es&u=http://www.informador.com.mx/jalisco/2013/452564/6/mejor-santa-tere-un-proyecto-de-inclusion-social.htm&usg=ALkJrhgAJGvqwvWjik54PZdDXmebm0-PJA.

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