Peace and Hapiness at the UAS13

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Alone and Unaware, the Landscape was Transformed in Front of Our Eyes
Buildings Began to Stretch Wide Across the Sky, And the Air Filled with a Reddish Glow
The Soundless Dawn Came Alive as Cities Began to Mark the Horizon
Mechanical Sounds Cascaded Through the City Walls and Everyone Reveled in Their Ignorance
A Brief Moment of Clarity Broke Through the Deafening Hum, But It Was Too Late
Our Happiest Days Slowly Began to Turn into Dust
The Sixth Extinction Crept Up Slowly, Like Sunlight Through the Shutters, as We Looked Back in Regret 

The Red Sparowes – At the soundless dawn

Zjef Van Acker, who is this guy? I feel that not everyone knows me, so here's a small, habitual introduction to myself: Hello, my name is Zjef and I'm a horticultural engineer from Belgium. Welcome to my Urban-Agricultural-Summit story:

When I graduated in june 2012 I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life. During my studies I had developed the idea that I would find a job, make a career and live the happy family-life. But as graduation came closer and closer,...something felt seriously wrong about that pretty picture. At first I thought it was the fear of being accountable for myself. But when my father passed away, being responsible was the only thing I could do (I am still gratefull for the support of family and friends I received in that period.). But even with all this new weight on my shoulders, the ill feeling about my plans for the future remained. It all seemed so unreal and I didn't know why.

After months of worrying, sobbing and taking brain breaking decisions, I eventually found out what to devote my life to. The name of my blog probably already gave that away: “Zjef and the quest to build a Vertical farm” just isn't that subtle. And so it happened that by the end of January 2013, I found myself at the center of Vertical Farming at the Urban Agricultural Summit in Linkoping, Sweden. It was a eye-openening experience, because never in my life did I encounter so many like-minded people. Everyone present agreed: If we want planet Earth to be a livable place for the next seven generations to come, we need change. Period! I was glad there was no bullshit and no skepticism, only the will to change and a plain old cooperative spirit. The prevailing thought among participants on the UAS13 was:

 We need to change our Values!

 A very pretty sentence indeed. But what are those values? What is driving us to do what we do? this is a very interesting question that, once in a while, everybody should reply to. And please, don't address your answers to me, answer them to yourself. That's what I did when I graduated. For a couple of months, I stopped being interested in plants, and focused more on my philosophical side. What do I want? What do I need? I found out that I've always been in love with nature and with friends. But somewhere along the way I had forgotten that... My mind had pushed them into the background and the deceptive values that fuel our magnificent economy had gained the upper hand. Money and success had put on their sexy dresses, they had booty-called me...and...I had fallen for them. Fortunately it is never too late for a wake-up call. I believe that it is possible to live your life in peace and happiness, if everything you do is inspired by the values you treasure. But of course, that's only a small part of the happiness-puzzle.

At The Urban Agricultural Summit 2013

It looks like I'm deviating from the subject, the Urban Agricultural Summit. For me, the coolest thing about it were the round table discussions. It were moments when you could discuss solutions for a variety of issues with many people, who all had very diverse backgrounds. During those interesting conversations it became obvious to me that the road towards a sustainable society, is one of many different paths. Yet, they are all unified in the same direction, away from money-greed and competition.

Another highlight at the UAS13 was the ceremony of the Plantagon Awards. As a kid I had always dreamed of attending the Oscar academy awards, but this was even better! The award day had already been a long one, so before the ceremony kicked off, Patrick Rota, Mikael Norlén and me decided we needed to reload...at a local bar! I don't know if it was because we didn't eat before drinking, or because the two hours were just brilliant,...but I remember re-entering the summit with a feeling of confidence and bliss. This feeling only enhanced when I got to sit at the table in between two “big bosses”, okay, maybe big bosses is not the correct description, but sitting at that table was just fantastic. To the left of me sat Oren R. Lyons (Chief of the corporate board of Plantagon and Faithkeeper of the turtle clan in the Onondaga Nation), he taught me many things about life, Native Americans and democracy. You can say that he changed my life in 10minutes, and that a pretty amazing feeling. On my right sat Stefan Jakobsson (Director of Business Development with Tekniska Verken), we had many good, fun and interesting conversations. But I think the best part was the moment when it was announced that he was nominated for the Plantagon Awards for his individual commitment in the field of Urban Agriculture. Stefan is an extremely cheerful and modest person, and although he did not win this year, my hopes go out to the future! Off course, the ceremony wasn't only an amazing experience because of the people I got to sit with, overall it was a magnificent event. It felt like I was a part of an important part of history, and that's just a very epic thing to experience.

Simon Hassle Singing at The Plantagon Award Ceremony.
Amazing Singer, Check Him out;
CLICK HERE for his facebook-page

As I write this blog-post, one month has passed since the Urban Agricultural Summit 2013 and I still remember two presentations very lively. On the first day there was the overpowering speech of Oren R. Lyons, he is just a master in the art of touching your soul. And on the last day there was Dickson Despommier, the father of Vertical Farming. He was the first one who actually dared to say what I had always been thinking: Vertical and Urban Farming should not only aim to solve the world's food problems. We have to do more, we owe it to nature and the next seven generations to aim higher, much higher. We need to restore that what we have destroyed and are still destroying: The Planet's ecosystems!!!

I feel that the world and the current policy fixates on the fight against the emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. But there is more at stake than that! My heart breaks when I see the estimation: In 2050, 80% of the global population will live in mega-cities. Do you understand what this means? It means that 80% of the world's people won't be in touch with nature, they won't be in touch with what they really are! We are all a part of nature, and we will always will be a part of nature...Don't you ever forget that! I am 25 years old and I had the privilege to growing up in a place where there still was a lot of nature. As a kid I could climb in the trees, follow the small rivers in the woods and fall into a half frozen lakes. But I've seen so many of it disappear, I've seen so many of it turn into boring lawns or concrete wastelands. I love nature because I grew up in it, because I tasted its divinity. But how will we teach the next generations that nature is important if they only know it from books and stories?

So I start dreaming, I start dreaming when I hear the four words: “Value change for survival”. I dream of a world where nature and community are rated higher than a new shopping mall. I dream of a world where every person can find a connection with nature, only five minutes away. And as I dream, I hope that one day, I will be called a crazy motherfucker when I will buy a piece of land in a huge city, knock down the ugly buildings upon it and plant a beautiful forest!

 That would be a hell of a value-change, wouldn't it?!!

A train of thought...

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At first, embarking on a four-day-train journey from Belgium to Sweden seemed a crazy idea, but in the end, it turned out to be one of my best decisions ever made. Of course, taking the airplane to the Urban Agricultural Summit would have been easier, but as a sustainable-guy, I do have to set an example, right? Apart from that, I had two other reasons to opt for the train ride. First of all I could visit 2 beautiful cities on the way. But the most important reason was the voice within saying: you have to do this!!!!

Many people might have sensed it, many people might have noticed it, but when I departed from Belgium, I was scared as hell! Luckily for me, the magnificent Boris and Rodrigo provided me with safe shelter for my first night in Berlin. In 2011, my cousin and his husband decided that this city would become the location of the first Paleo-restaurant in the whole world. So, opening “Sauvage” can be seen as the official return of the healthiest eating-habit mankind has ever known. This is because the Paleolithic cuisine is created with the food our ancestors ate as hunters-collectors 10.000 years ago: It is gluten free, lactose free and sugar free. And in Sauvage, they do it as sustainable as possible: Like real inventors they create new dishes with local, seasonal vegetables and fruits, combined with fish or meat from wild/organic/grass fed animals (which is actually very hard to find these days). Apart from the amazing taste, that evening I felt like the healthiest man on earth. So if you ever visit Berlin, you should definitely try to score a diner at Sauvage: It will change your life! The evening was also colored by many interesting and inspiring conversations with the fantastic Boris and Rodrigo. But unfortunately, morning came, and I had to continue my train adventure.

Sauvage by night!
Click here for Sauvage Website

Boris promoting Paleo - food (awesome photo)
Click here for Sauvage FB-page

I just wrote half a page about the path which I am following in the pursuit of my dreams. Leaving Belgium was like jumping in the unknown or taking this huge leap of faith. But this explanation just felt wrong, that’s not what it is; I’m not Captain America, I’m not the red knight, I’m not a hero on a quest to fight evil and do good; that’s not what I do. I’m just a normal guy, dealing with normal insecurities, trying to break free from the imaginary shackles I laid upon myself. And that’s another issue: What are insecurities? Are they problems? Can they be solved? For instance death, as something unknown, is it something to be frightened of? Is it something to be solved?

As I entered Copenhagen, all kind of worries and insecurities still gnawed in my stomach, Untill José Bedoya took me on a walk. He is a fantastic, very open and extremely sapient guy that I met through couchsurfing. He lives, studies and works in Copenhagen and offered me a guided tour. And as we were walking through the snowy city, I enjoyed listening to his vast knowledge about Copenhagen. But we also talked about life, about the mysteries of the universe and about the past, the present and the future. He took great care in listening to my story, my associated dreams and my worries. All of the sudden, something funny  happened: He made me feel as strong and confident as I had never felt before. But what was this mystical force that made me feel invincible? Was it some kind of dormant power of a true hero that had awakened inside me? That would make me very special and unique, wouldn’t it. Hell, everybody wants to be Luke Skywalker, Superman, Spiderman or any other superhero that protects the weak and the innocent. But…the weak and the innocent…doesn’t this sound wrong? Because don’t forget: talking about everyone that is not the hero, talking about that useless and feeble crowd that needs rescuing, these people also include you, yes, YOU! Do you need protection? Do you want to be led? Do you want choices to be made for you? Cause for me, this way of thinking…it just feels…wrong. So, as far as I’m concerned, it is just wrong to describe this change of feelings as the awakening of my long hidden super-power. But how should I describe it then? It took me about two weeks to figure it out.

Anyway, Jose and me had a fantastic time in Copenhagen: We were as relaxed as tourists and we had fun like children. He made me pose with the little mermaid, we jumped on the city trampolines and we did a lot of other stuff that seemed silly, but was actually a lot of fun. Oh, and before I forget, everyone who visits Copenhagen, definitely has to check out Christiana: it started out as a independent hippy-commune in the sixties, and today, it is still a self-proclaimed autonomous neighborhood, which is pretty cool.

Me and my Copenhagen Girlfriend - pic by jose

If I had chosen to take the airplane, I would not have done all these fantastic things and I would not have arrived at the Urban Agricultural Summit with as much confidence. Instead, I followed my guts. And when I arrived in Linkoping, the worries in my stomach had transformed into tickling confidence, the doubts and insecurities felt easy to overcome and I saw joy and happiness everywhere. This was because of a train of thought that helps me to accept all insecurities as a part of life, a train of thought that enables me to meet all worries with celebration and a train of thought that makes me see the beauty of life as a whole.

And that is no superpower, that is something that everyone can do!

Why?

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Ten days ago, I left everyone and everything behind to go on this special and exotic quest. It is a very challenging task to describe the reason why, not to mention the associated feelings. And up till today, the explanation is still very hard to produce. Even though asking “why” has the ability to make you quite uncomfortable, it also holds this amazing and fantastic feature; It possesses the power to change your life.

Just the other day, after the Urban Agricultural Summit, I enjoyed a nice and very slow walk through the city of Linkoping. I reflected on what had happened the past days and months. With a satisfied smile, I crossed the street and took a big detour around a young boy and girl coming from the opposite direction. Passing by, I observed that the shy boy focused on the road ahead, but when my gaze turned to the little girl, I saw that she looked me straight in the eyes with a big, confident smile. During that split second of unabashed eye contact, I noticed something very peculiar in her eyes: it was a look that said; “why”.

Of course, I could have been completely wrong about what was going on inside her head. But that glimpse of wonder and gratitude in her eyes made me think about the saying; “Look at the world through the eyes of a child”. It is one of the many expressions that, a couple of months ago, had helped me to take a step back and rethink my life. It had been a train of thought that had forced me to reflect on what I had been doing and especially…why I had been doing it.

So after I smilingly passed those two children and made a kind gesture by getting out of their way, I was curious. Had the girl been observing me? Had she learned that even small acts like these have the power to change a person’s mood? Or had she just been thinking that my hair looked funny? The answer will forever remain a mystery. But still pondering on this meeting, I wondered whether the girls investigative quality, her researching feature, her exploratory instinct is part of the attitude of a natural born learner. A tiny baby looks at the world with wondering eyes. He is curious for everything crossing his sight. And when the child learns to talk, question-mayhem begins; “why this? Why that? How come this? How come that?...”

This made me reflect, why did I lose this attitude as I grew older? Why did I ever come to think that everything could be explained? Was it because I stopped observing after people told me staring is impolite? Was it because the school-system taught me that every problem has a strictly defined solution? Or was it because of the easy “you’ll understand it when you grow up”-answer to many of my questions?... Who knows… But her curiosity also made me reflect about the important question Chief Oren Lyons had posed during his speech at the first day of the Urban Agricultural Summit. It is one of the questions I had asked myself a lot during these past months:

 “How do we educate 7 billion people about a sustainable society?”

And although life holds many uncertainties like this, there are numerous amazing and fantastic things to hold on to. Did the little girl inspire me or did I inspire her? Was she learning from me or was I learning from her? And is it foolish of me to believe that the world is like that little girl? Can I dream that, one day, the world will look up at that food-producing-skyscraper and wonder “why”?

Well...I guess there’s only one way to find out.

"La tour vivant "by SOA

Chief Oren Lyons of the Onondaga Nation
Onondaga Nation Website