En route home from school today, my daughter asked, ‘Can we go to the market?’
‘The market’ is a space of many small grocers, speciality food shops, bakeries, shops selling primarily vegetables and fruits, and small restaurants and cafes in our neighbourhood.
When we ‘discovered’ the market, a week or so after moving to our new home in northwestern Poland, we were really excited. It’s a real treat- but also just supremely practical- to have so many great quality ingredients a 5-minute walk from our home.
Over the summer, the walk to the market a few times a week (or more) became a ritual and regular habit.
Not only do I appreciate this as a convenience for us as adults, but the fact that my kids have also adopted the ritual and seem to really enjoy it is something very cool to witness.
The ‘Sustainable Urbanism & Planetary Health’ curriculum we are developing, to create materials and an approach to engage youth more in discussion and awareness on sustainable urbanism, includes a module on ‘Community’. Within this module is space to explore ‘What is a Neighborhood’ and also what neighborhood means for us.
As I’ve often lately been engaging with kids for whom English is a second or third language, this can also become an interesting exercise in exploring the concept of ‘neighborhood’ in different cultures (and the literal translation of the word in different languages).
For me, neighbourhood is ideally the exact feeling I get, going to the local market with my daughter on a weekday afternoon, picking out ingredients for school lunch tomorrow and dinner tonight, getting her a couple of needed school supplies, and along the way enjoying some small chat with the shopkeepers, many of whom there is mutual recognition with as we are regular customers.
I love the idea of also exploring neighbourhood rituals via children’s perceptions. In collaboration with 4 other individuals, we have an active pilot underway for some activities for the ‘Mobility’ portion of the ‘Sustainable Urbanism & Planetary Health’ curriculum. I’ll be piloting my activities locally next week and look forward to engaging local youth in discussion and activities about local mobility and the city.
This is just the beginning, and I look forward to more (it would be an ideal twinning project with educators and community facilitators in other cities).
What neighborhood rituals are you enjoying or do you yearn for?
Photos and text: Annika Lundkvist, founder at Pedestrian Space