Plural Values of Urban Foragingscapes in Edible Cities

Urban foraging, the practice of picking unmanaged or hardly managed plants and fungi in public urban green spaces, has an important role in the procurement and consumption of food in cities worldwide. Yet, case studies have also shown that competing interests relating to public urban green space use may lead to conflicts – rooted in different value systems – between urban foragers, green space managers and citizens, constraining the practice of urban foraging within urban food systems. This research aims to advance the understanding of plural values of urban residents towards urban foraging, and to explore the potential of urban foraging in relation to urban food systems transformations and edible city initiatives. We use a pioneering approach across four European cities that combines assemblage ethnography, photovoice, arts-based focus groups, Q-methodology, online surveys and visioning workshops. Moreover, we use participatory and inclusive ways of involving socio-culturally diverse groups of foragers in research processes.