Patchworking the Peri-Urban: Reciprocal Transformations in Greater GenevaLoukia Deli, Georgia Drakou, Amin El-Didi, and Svetlana Momcilovic

The region of Greater Geneva is characterized by gaps, figuratively, between the built environment and the surrounding landscape sustaining it, and literally within the landscape itself. This can be seen in the ever-expanding gravel pits, or in the form of disused fertile soil carpeted by hydroponic greenhouses.

The Aire watershed, and its connections to Mont Salève to the east and le Rhône to the west reveals the disconnects on the ground. Investigating the geological conditions of the area one can notice the density of gravel pits and agriculture occupying it, and the pressures of urban settlements and their impacts on its natural continuities.

The term "earthwork" encompasses many meanings. From its ties to the building industry and the excavation and piling of soil material for engineering operations, to its definition as the large-scale sculpting of land as artwork. Though, the term chiefly refers to embankments of soil, delineating a hard boundary, and it is there we find the opportunity to reconsider the border and its conditions, through a reconsideration of the term itself and what it means to work the earth in the ecological transition.

Merely renaturating the landscape in order to protect its image disregards the negative impacts of status-quo practices taking place in the territory. Through reimagining how we interact with soil and water, and how we practice forestry and agriculture, ecological services could be leveraged for a new social paradigm. Alternative methods can be strategically tested in damaged terrains such as Bardonnex, in order to be scaled up, informing policy, and guiding principles of circularity for a collaborative approach to land use.