The Agromere "Arena" : bridging the boundaries between the urban environment and agriculture in Almere (NL)

Highly urbanised countries like The Netherlands tend towards a sharp delineation between the rural and urban environment, between food production and food consumption. Growing concerns about food prices, food security and the sustainability of the contemporary agri-food system reluctantly places food worldwide on the agendas of the cities. Could applied agricultural researchers play a role in bridging the boundaries between both environments? Agromere (2005-2009) shows a successful first step in bridging these boundaries in the Dutch city of Almere. Agromere is in this paper described as a research and design ‘Arena’. The Agromere ‘Arena’ fuelled importantly the municipality of Almere to incorporate urban agriculture in the future development of the Almere Oosterwold area. The Agromere ‘Arena’ interfered with the existing networks in Almere using the stakeholder management approach of R. Edward Freeman. To interpret the value of this approach, the work of Mark Granovetter on the relation between interpersonal ties and information transmitting between social networks is used. Trusting a stakeholder as knowledge source is the key factor in transferring new knowledge, suggesting that the role of applied research could lay in creating a ‘trustful’ atmosphere using this stakeholder management approach.