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I have been doing a Photovoice project with AVAAL, an urban gardeners’ association in Lisbon, Portugal. AVAAL worked with Prof. Ana Isabel Afonso and graduate student Marta Carvalho (both of Universidade Nova de Lisboa) and me throughout the spring. On Thursday night, we will be holding a photo exhibition at the group’s annual general assembly. Photographers portrayed how urban gardens can be a way of constructing community in a diverse neighborhood and how gardening works as a form of urban therapy and felicidade. They also portrayed and discussed issues like institutional conflicts with the city, the precariousness of clandestine gardeners tending Lisbon’s vacant lots, and the need for public green space that is accessible to all. It has been a pleasure working with this dynamic, thoughtful group of 12 garden activists!

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