Lisbon Vertical Farming

Reculture’s vision is of a world in which everyone can grow their own food in the most efficient and sustainable way possible.

Environmental impacts:

• Reduction on the dependence on synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and toxic herbicides;
• Promotion of local production and consumption, by creating a cooperative system that avoids the dependence on large retailers;
• Reduction of CO2 emissions, when compared with the traditional vertical systems, that require artificial lighting (50% less energy inputs required, such as climate control, air conditioning, humidifiers...). Additionally, it avoids the emission from the transportation of goods, typical of conventional agriculture;
• Water reduction consumption: 10 times higher yields per square metre (with €1.250/sqm/year, assuming €10/kg,), using 90% less water when compared to conventional agriculture;
• Reduced vulnerability to climate change, when compared to organic and other eco-friendly farming techniques, that cannot be scaled up quickly to meet global demand;
• Reduced land exploitation and pressure.

Social impacts:

• Food education, through events and workshops that connect the community, customers and beneficiaries;
• Improved quality, variety and nutritional value of the food provided, in a country where 1/3 of the children are overweight, 1/10 of the households suffer food insecurity, and ½ fail to eat the recommended daily amount of fresh fruit and vegetables;
• Innovative production: globally, over 1 billion tons of food is wasted every year, wasting almost ⅓ of all Earth's farmlands, creating 3 billion tons of greenhouse gases, and costing $750 billion per year. By creating centers of sustainable micro production in the heart of our cities, this solution leads to food sovereignty for all.

Reculture is a collaboration between an architectural studio (Parto Atelier) and an established social entrepreneur (Bruno Lacey). Together, they bring the necessary skills in business development, design, urban planning, horticulture, and community engagement. 

Bruno has spent the past 7 years as the founder of Urban Growth, a social enterprise that creates and maintains communal green spaces in London, in order to make the city greener, healthier, and happier. Having moved to Lisbon in 2019, he met Parto Atelier while installing green walls for clients such as the Cultural Centre of Cabo Verde. When Covid-19 hit, they teamed up to pursue their vision of a future Lisbon, socially just, sustainable, healthy, and resilient. They signed the exclusive distribution agreement with Sky Greens (a company from Singapore that has developed a rotating vertical farm) in June, and within weeks had submitted their successful funding application for €75,000, and had secured the garden of the Museum of Lisbon to be the location of the first rotating vertical farm in Europe.

The company's legal name is Association ABUNDANTQUOTIDIAN (AQ). AQ will be the exclusive distributor for Sky Greens in Iberia until August 2021, with continuity expected once sales targets are met. Sky Greens’ technology, backed by 10 years of product development, provides the means to create an urban food revolution. The promoter’s vision is to create hundreds of urban micro-farms in the hearts of communities. The plan is not to simply sell farming infrastructure, but offer “farming as a service”, empowering individuals and communities to grow their own organic-quality food in a financially sustainable way.

Food Temple - will be used to demonstrate what the technology can do and also experiment with different growing techniques, crops, labour cycles, harvesting, packaging, and distribution systems. The Food Temple will also be a place to celebrate the growing and eating of food, including a kitchen and dining area so that visitors can learn about and enjoy the crops produced together, from seed to plate.

Farming as a Service (FaaS) - using the Food Temple to prototype and experiment, we will develop turn-key solutions that make urban farming accessible, affordable, and lucrative. We will hold potential clients’ hands every step of the way, from site surveys to design and installation, providing start-up materials, ongoing supplies (compost, seeds, plants, packaging), and maintenance contracts. We will also develop an online platform that connects growers with potential markets, and offer sales and distribution services for crops and secondary products (jams, dried herbs, soaps, etc).

Cooperative Model - all of this will be delivered and managed through a cooperative model, of which all suppliers and clients are members. All the tools, techniques, and materials will be open-source (except for the Sky Greens towers themselves), and stakeholders will be invited to collaborate in the experiments to optimize growing techniques. By unifying all the stakeholders through shared benefits, the promoter hopes to create a resilient, collaborative system of food production and distribution.