What makes a convivial community tool? Investigating grassroots ecological restoration

Abstract

The practice of ecological restoration through native plant gardening is emerging among community groups as a means of addressing degradation in urban landscapes. Despite this trend, restoration remains primarily studied as a professional practice. Grassroots associations support people in growing native plants, but within the research on restoration ecology, there remains little study of how non-professionals engage in the practice. We adapt and expand Ivan Illich’s concept of a convivial community tool (i.e., a tool that is open and accessible rather than restricted to certain users) to ecological restoration through a case study of the Ottawa Wildflower Seed Library. Participants highlighted two main strategies of the seed library: overcoming barriers and supporting emergent practices. The seed library helped people overcome the barriers of plant availability, cost, and knowledge, while supporting spontaneous initiatives from volunteers to further the mission of the seed library. We argue that these two strategies operationalize the idea of a convivial community tool. This research contributes an understanding of one way that ecological restoration can broaden its appeal by empowering non-professionals to engage in restoration and provides a starting point for a novel organizational framework based on Illich’s ideas.

Keywords

• convivialism
• restoration ecology
• community
• volunteer engagement