Blackburn Urban Food Futures is a research-based project which has included a series of free workshops delivered by the National Festival of Making, the Making Rooms, and experts in urban agriculture from the University of Salford between February – May.

During the workshops, participants have learnt more about urban growing, built their own self-watering windowsill food systems and are co-designing the ‘ideal’ food growing system for Blackburn.

Festival visitors are invited to help build the system over the weekend and understand more about how we can grow healthy food in towns and cities.

Blackburn Urban Food Futures is being led by Dr. Andy Jenkins and Dr. Laura Coucill from the University of Salford, who are experts in urban agriculture and architecture, alongside expertise from the Making Rooms and National Festival of Making. It aims to share more about urban food production, its benefits, and what, as a community of local organisations and residents, we can imagine for Blackburn.

This is a research project, and an extension of the Think it – Make it – Grow it project run by the University of Salford. We will work with partners with the hope of finding a temporary home for the system beyond the festival weekend.