Biospheric Foundation Circa 2013- 2015
For several years this was the official website for Vincent Walsh's Biospheric Foundation and its Biospheric Projects.
The Biospheric Foundation, based in an Urban Splash mill by the banks of the River Irwell in Blackfriars, was supposed to be a state-of-the-art urban growing centre that featured chickens, bees and greenhouses on its flat roof, a forest garden outside and an `aquaponics' system inside, where fish waste provides the food source for growing plants, and the plants provide a natural filter for the fish's water.
Three years later, the Biospheric Foundation Community Interest Company, which ran the project, had gone bust, with debts totalling £105,265, including £46,893 to the Salford City Council, with assets estimated to bring not a penny back to creditors.
By 2015 Vincent Walsh had moved on with a new company, Biospheric Studio. With £100,000 of funding in September of that year from a private investor, Vincent Walsh was planning on developing a new mobile mushroom farm, with the intent to sell the fungi to The Lowry Hotel in Salford and to the restaurant Tampopo in Manchester UK.
Content is from the site's 2013 - 2014 archived pages as well as other sources.
The Biospheric Project: An Introduction with Vincent Walsh
Interview with Vincent Walsh, Project Manager at The Biospheric Project, a Urban Farming Project commissioned by Manchester International Festival, Salford City Council and Biospheric Foundation CIC, Salford, Greater Manchester.
METHOD
The Biospheric Foundation is a Socio-Ecological Urban Research Practice.
The Foundation provides a platform to develop research, design and enterprise through a prism of new ecological & technological urban culture.
The Foundations R&D, investigates advanced ecological urban systems. We integrate, densify and persify ecological systems and networks, designing urban agroforestry, hydroponics, aquaponic, vermiponics, aeroponics, Bio-facade’s, continue productive landscapes, architectural forms.
URBAN FARM
Biospheric Project is a first multi systems urban farm in Europe.
The Project is situated in the heart of Blackfriars Community, East Salford.
RESEARCH CENTER
The Biospheric Foundation works with a variety of UK institutions and European independent research teams.
COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT
The Biospheric Foundation works with Vertical Village, Salix Homes, Contour, and Greengate Housing Corporative.
OUR PROJECTS
The Foundation has developed an array of hyper localised production, distribution networks in the heart of Blackfriars, East Salford
78 Steps is a localised whole food store, creating better access to healthy food in the local community, supplied by a range of high quantity hyper-local distributors and district producers. 78 shop is a mere seventy-eight steps from the Biospheric Project, located at the base of Newbank Tower next to the Vertical Villages community rooms. The first community led whole food grocers in the City of Salford is part of a wider plan at the Biospheric Foundation that aims to create new enterprise and employment, empowering the local community of a sustainable change.
The Biospheric Box is a portable multifunctional unit made from a 20ft shipping container. Designed in collaboration with Whitecrate with a fully interchangeable interior to adapt to different community settings, its aim is to challenge and revolutionise people’s relationship with food.
As a whole-food shop it can make fresh fruit and vegetables available in areas where access would otherwise be limited, while as a demonstration and information point it can provide help and advice to make healthy lifestyle choices much more accessible and convenient.
Whole Box is a whole food retailer supplying a wide range of organic, local and whole foods across Salford and Manchester. We are a food retailer with a difference, producing food on site, as part of The Biospheric Project, alongside The Biospheric Foundation and Manchester International Festival, working with local food producers and direct buying from well-known ethical wholesalers. Why not buy from our range of whole foods today.
THE PROJECT
The Project was Commissioned by Manchester International Festival in 2013 and produced by The Biospheric Foundation and Manchester International Festival. In this formerly derelict mill, innovations in design and food production have been brought together to show how forward-thinking cities can develop sustainable food solutions for the 21st century.
Part vertical farm and part laboratory/research centre, the project brings together different food production systems, waste systems, food distribution systems in a single self-regulating and sustainable method. Explore the building to see how these systems relate to each other, and witness first-hand how these experiments into food, technology and design can help secure the future of food production in our cities.
Forest gardening has been practised around the world for centuries, but it didn’t gain a foothold in the UK until Robert Hart introduced it in the 1960s. Based on the principles governing natural woodland ecosystems, a forest garden is a low-maintenance system designed to have a range of direct uses for humans – from edible crops to medicinal plants.
Our forest garden is being designed to grow more than 50 species of trees and more than 100 plant species, including fruits, berries, perennial vegetables, medicinal plants, herbs and spices, edible flowers and other supportive species. Its location in a densely populated area of the city allows us to study how inner-city land may be modified and adapted for food production. The forest garden has been created using agricultural processes such as alley-cropping, bio-trenching and guiding, resulting in a low-maintenance, high yield growth system.
Earthworms can play a vital role in food and plant growth. Worms are a crucial part of the Biospheric Project: they improve the quality of our soil and crops; they support waste reduction and recycling, which reduces landfill, water pollution and ultimately greenhouse gas emissions; and they even serve as a food source for our fish. Our worms are European nightcrawlers (Eisenia hortensis), a small to medium-sized worm that weighs around 1.5g when fully grown.
Inside the vermiculture pods, worms break down organic waste from the Biospheric Project, our WholeBox vegetable scheme and our shop, 78 Steps. The worms ingest and aerate this decaying waste, depositing castings that are rich in nutrients and microbes that are used to help grow plants throughout the building
In the Biospheric Project’s in-house mushroom laboratory, we are growing a variety of organic mushrooms (shiitake and oyster mushrooms, for example) on a number of commonly available, recycled substrates, including woodchip, sawdust, coffee grounds and chaff. In doing so, we’re aiming to develop a deeper understanding of techniques that could be used for indoor urban mushroom production. In particular, we’re hoping to determine the conditions that would be necessary in order to increase production to the point at which we could provide local restaurants and communities with fresh supplies of this nutritious and tasty foodstuff.
Roof garden is one of the largest spaces in the building, and is home to leaf crops, honey bees, chickens and renewable energy systems. Designed as a modern-day Garden of Eden, over time it will become a green beacon in an urban environment.
The main growing space in the roof garden is the 15-metre polytunnel, in which we plan to grow leaf crops such as spinach, kale, lettuce, herbs, micro-herbs and possibly some grasses as well as a few edible flowers. Using a polytunnel results in higher temperatures, which improves the conditions for plant growth. These higher temperatures allow us to experiment with crops normally grown in warmer climates while also increasing the overall crop yield.
Aquaponics is a combination of aquaculture, the process of rearing fish, and hydroponics, the process of growing plants in water. In aquaponics, these two disciplines are brought together in a way that benefits them both.
Fish produce two waste products: ammonia through respiration and solid waste. If these waste products are left to accumulate in the tanks, they can become toxic to the fish – but by using aquaponics, we can filter out this waste and put it to better use.
The ammonia-rich water is pumped through a series of filtration beds containing two types of bacteria that convert the ammonia into nitrite, then into nitrate. Our plants absorb this nitrate and use it as a nutrient for growing. After the plants have removed the nitrate the clean water can be re-circulated back to the fish tanks and the cycle can start again
The Bio-façade prototype is a system designed to optimise the food productivity by developing sustainable hyper-localised food system. The prototype aims to test the façade for a future implementation within the cities on unutilised building walls. From the perspective of the Biospheric Foundation, the Bio-façade research program aims to challenge traditional ways that ecological and technological infrastructure is implemented with cities.
The research program pertains firstly to develop advanced Ecological Urban Systems that merge Biospheric methods with technology and bring together the architectural hardware with ecological software; secondly to promote an hyper-localised networks for food distribution. The Biospheric Façade was developed by Belfast Queens University, Biospheric Foundation, Siemens, BDP Architects, Saint-Gobain, within an ongoing collaboration initiated by the Biospheric Project.
£400,000 SALFORD BIOSPHERIC FOUNDATION GOES BUST WITH £100,000 DEBTS
Star date: 2nd December 2015 | www.salfordstar.com
A Salford Star Exclusive
SALFORD COUNCIL OWED OVER £46,000 AFTER GIVING BIOSPHERIC PROJECT £300,000
"We grow citizens and got nowt, while our Mayor invested in growing mushrooms. That just about sums up our Mayor." Graham Cooper, Oliver's Youth Club
Three years ago, at a time of huge cuts, Salford City Council handed £300,000 to the Manchester International Festival as sponsorship for the Biospheric Foundation's `innovative city farm' in Blackfriars, with Salford Mayor Ian Stewart announcing that it was "money well spent". Another £100,000 came via the Festival itself.
Now, the Community Interest Company which ran the Biospheric Project has gone bust with debts of over £100,000, including £46,893 owed to Salford Council. There's also stories of dead fish, starving chickens, community equipment being held to ransom or wrecked, and exploitation of volunteers.
The Biospheric Foundation, based in an Urban Splash mill by the banks of the River Irwell in Blackfriars, was supposed to be a state-of-the-art urban growing centre that featured chickens, bees and greenhouses on its flat roof, a forest garden outside and an `aquaponics' system inside, where fish waste provides the food source for growing plants, and the plants provide a natural filter for the fish's water.
"This farm, laboratory and research centre will benefit one of our most deprived communities" said Salford City Mayor, Ian Stewart, as he handed £300,000 of Salford Council money to the Biospheric Foundation back in November 2012.
"Encouraging people to grow and eat their own produce while showcasing Salford as supporting innovative, cutting edge research as part of this major international festival is money well spent" the Mayor added.
Three years later, the Biospheric Foundation Community Interest Company, which ran the project, has gone bust, with debts totalling £105,265, including £46,893 to Salford City Council, with assets estimated to bring not a penny back to creditors.
As well as the £300,000 from Salford Council, the Manchester International Festival (M.I.F) chipped in £100,000 with support from the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, the People's Postcode Lottery and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.
Just after the project opened, in July 2013, the Salford Star interviewed Jane Cleary, Director of Local Learning at M.I.F, who explained that the "legacy is really, really important for the project in order for it to make sense...The intention is that the company will continue to run, so it becomes an asset for the community for the next five to ten years..."
Instead, the Foundation was officially dissolved at the end of September, having received an average of £125,000 a year in public funding. Its legacy is a lot of acrimony from community groups, activists and volunteers, not just about its debts but also about how the project was run under the leadership of director Vincent Walsh, who was paid £15,000 towards his PhD studies.
One volunteer, who doesn't want to be named, worked at the Biospheric Project for up to five days a week for almost two years but left in March disillusioned with the director...
"The animals were being mistreated as far as I was concerned" he says "I was trying to fight him for the money for chicken feed and stuff like that. Every month it was a battle for £30 or £40 to get a couple of bags of corn and whatever else they needed.
"Most of the fish died, I'd say, in the week I left" he adds "There were leaks in the aquaponic system and I was constantly having to put water in. At weekends Vinny was supposed to be doing it but when I'd come in on the Monday the plants hadn't been watered so they'd died and there was no fresh water going to the fish. After about six weeks of that, out of 350 fish over three hundred died in a ten day period."
The volunteer also talks of his struggle to get bus fare to go in and `volunteer', staff and volunteers deserting the project and the whole aquaponics system crumbling after the first few harvests. Indeed, the only thing, he said, that seemed to be functioning at the building was a new business, growing mushrooms to sell to posh restaurants.
"I think it's mismanagement" he explains "I think once Vinny's PhD was completed he lost interest completely. There could have been a legacy if it was handled right. He was supposed to help people from the local community into work which never materialised. Did he exploit people? I wouldn't be surprised, I was doing up to five days a week volunteering..."
Has anything good come out of the Biospheric Project? "Probably not..."
Meanwhile, local community groups which came into contact with the Biospheric Project were disgusted with how they were treated. Salford Involved had its gym equipment held hostage at the building with, initially, cash demanded for its release – or it would be scrapped.
Involved was hiring a floor in the Biospheric Project for woodwork, arts and crafts schemes and also used it for storing weight lifting equipment intended for a community gym it was opening in Broughton.
After the group had handed in its notice to quit the building, members had removed furniture using the lift but when it came to moving the weight lifting equipment were told that it was faulty and couldn't be used. Involved got an agreement that, because the faulty lift was the Biospheric's problem, it could store the equipment at no extra charge.
"We opened the gym and contacted Vincent in July this year asking when we could pick it up, only to be told the lift wouldn't be ready until 2016" recalls Involved's Nick Burke "We offered to contribute towards getting the lift fixed but got no reply. We'd ring him and he wouldn't answer the phone.
"The next e-mail we received he said he'd got some people in and we had three options – we could pay him £25 a week indefinitely; we could dismantle the equipment, although the manufacturer said don't, or they would dismantle it and sell it for scrap!" Nick adds "We got the email on the Wednesday and needed to answer by the next day, and had to action it on the Monday."
The Salford Star has seen the email from Vincent Walsh containing the threats, beginning `You have three choices...',...and the reply from a bemused Dave Fraser from Involved... "I have to say you have a very interesting way of working with people" he writes "it saddens me that you feel it's acceptable to behave in the manner you have chosen..."
Nick takes up the story... "We sent an e-mail saying that we didn't have the money to pay £25 a week and that we have a board and couldn't make a decision that quickly. There was no response. And then we got an email saying that the lift was fixed and we could have our equipment back - if we pay £75 in cash to his building manager!"
The next email from Vincent tells Involved that Scott, the building manager, `has asked that the payment is put into the following account...' and that `When payment has gone through, Scot will contact you for collection of the gym equipment.'
"There was no name on the bank account but it wasn't the Biospheric's account as it was a different number from the one we paid the rent into" says Nick "So we had to do a transfer into a random account – we had no idea who it was or where the money was going.
"We paid up because we needed the equipment" he adds "Then, after we paid, we were told that it was towards the lift being fixed but that's not what we were told. It was not how it was put to us.
"Saying `You have to pay us £25 indefinitely' after you've signed a piece of paper saying the equipment could be stored free, to me, would be classed as extortion" he argues "I also think charging £75 to get the equipment back is extortion. And saying `You have to do this or your equipment will be chopped up and sold for scrap' is, to me, extortion...
"The reason we're going public is because I'm sure, in theory, the Biospheric Project sounded like a great thing for the Council and the Manchester International Festival and all the people to be involved with, but the way it was not being managed was quite poor" he explains "I think the person who is the face of the project is not handling himself in a very professional manner.
"This isn't about the money" he adds "We work in Broughton and Blackfriars, this is our area, and we are quite passionate, not only about the community but also other community groups we come into contact with. So we're broadcasting to as many people as we can. We're saying `This is our experience of working with him'. We're not bitter, we've got a great community gym, but it's to make sure that other people won't say `Why didn't you warn us?'. We're more than happy to hear his side of the story but he won't answer the phone to us..."
When Jessica Kevill of the Bee Collective went to collect her equipment that was being stored at the Biospheric building, she too saw a different side to the Biospheric Project...
"I tried to get my stuff back and the lift was broken so I left it a couple of weeks and contacted him saying I was coming over with a van to pick it up" she recalls "I went in with someone who was helping me and we were shocked. Everything was all over the floor, the plants were dead, there was soil everywhere, the fish looked half dead and all my bee keeping stuff was full of mouse poo.
"There was a massive mouse infestation" she explains "The extractor which I use for extracting honey, a food product, was full of mouse poo; the mice had burrowed through all my frames, which are really expensive, the bee suits were totally ruined, I was gutted and must have thrown away about £300 of equipment that day.
"But the Bee Collective really doesn't have that kind of money" she adds "All our money goes back into bees, making sure we're educational, that people understand the importance of bumble bees and honey bees.
"Since I got my equipment back I haven't been in touch" she says "But before that he was expecting me to come in and raise funds for his project. I'd be doing it as the Bee Collective but really the money would be going to the Biospheric Foundation."
"Even though it was a Community Interest Company I think he just found the quickest way of getting the most amount of money to help fund his PhD and didn't give anything back to the community" she argues "Everything has just gone downhill and it's a proper shame because he took the money to give something back to the community but has just not provided it. It's sad. The Manchester International Festival should have been asking `Why isn't this working?'...
The Salford Star contacted the Manchester International Festival which stated: "Manchester International Festival is sad to hear that the Biospheric Foundation is not able to continue in its present form.
"MIF's partnership with The Biospheric Foundation (The Biospheric Project in 2013) supported the development of an innovative growing environment in an unused urban space, and delivered a successful public programme of workshops, events, training and open days for nearly 4,000 people (including schoolchildren, community members, local researchers and general public) during the Festival and in the months afterwards.
"It delivered new knowledge and skills for over 1,000 participants and more than 200 volunteers during MIF's involvement in 2013 alone - 79% of whom were confident of being able to use their learning further."
The Salford Star then asked whether there were any accounts or reports, with the £400,000 funding broken down into where it was spent. We asked whether M.I.F or Salford City Council had any scrutiny function with Biospheric, and which organisation is ultimately responsible for the accountability of the £400,000. M.I.F did not respond.
It seems inconceivable that this amount of public money was not regulated on an ongoing basis, particularly when Salford Council had two councillors, Paul Dennett and Derek Antrobus on the Biospheric's advisory board.
The Salford Star e-mailed the two councillors asking if either had ever actually scrutinised the company as `advisory members', and whether they would let the community know their feelings on the state of the project. Councillor Antrobus had an automated response stating he was away until 7th December. Councillor Dennett didn't respond at all.
On top of the £300,000 `sponsorship' given by Salford Council to the Biospheric Foundation, £5,000 was donated from the East Salford Community Committee and an undisclosed sum was also given by the Irwell Valley Sustainable Communities fund towards the project's 78 Steps shop and Wholebox scheme. The 78 Steps was supposed to provide affordable, accessible, organic food grown at the Biospheric building for the community. It shut down last year.
At September's East Salford Community Committee meeting, an agenda item noted that "members were concerned that the Biospheric Foundation had received funding from the Irwell Valley Sustainable Communities fund but monitoring forms had not been completed. Committee members had heard reports from residents that the building and animals had been abandoned."
The neighbourhood manager, Ross Spanner, was to contact officers "regarding concerns with investment, monitoring and animal welfare". The Salford Star understands that his response to the follow up meeting of the Committee last week was deemed unacceptable and investigations are ongoing.
The Salford Star asked Kay Johnson Gee Corporate Recovery Ltd, which is handling the affairs of the dissolved Biospheric Foundation CIC, why there were no asset values in the company and for what Salford Council is owed £46,893. The promised response from Kay Johnson Gee never arrived.
Vincent Walsh has set up a new company (incorporated June 2015) called Biospheric Studio Limited, of which he is sole director. The company currently has an aquaponic installation at Manchester Museum, commissioned for £15,000... `The first ecological system within a museum setting...The ecological hub will visually demonstrate and highlight the array of possibilities of developing technological and ecological systems within the built environment' etc...
The Salford Star understands that Vincent is still based at the Urban Splash building in Blackfriars and that the roof garden is functioning. Yesterday the derelict forest garden was being hastily cleaned up. Meanwhile, the mess that's left in the community can't be obliterated that easily...
Graham Cooper, a community activist and youth worker with Oliver's Youth Club, challenged the handing over of £300,000 of public money to the Biospheric Project from day one...
"People from the community complained and no-one from the Council listened" he says "This story totally validates my challenge going back to 2013 when the Mayor dished out £300,00 for a six week project connected to this organisation, so we could understand how to sell posh mushrooms to shops in Chorlton. I still fail to see the sustainability of this project for the community or the added value, or any benefit for the community in Salford.
"I got fobbed off because it was a one of the Mayor's pet projects" he argues "It's this new mindset of the Labour councillors coming on like they're in Chorlton when, in actual fact, it's Salford. Their silence at the moment is golden. I can understand why the Government is critical of local authorities' spend when over half a million pounds has been wasted on this.
"At the time of making cuts to our youth provision and other public services they gave the Biospheric all this money" he adds "We've had no funding from Salford Council for over five years. We grow citizens and got nowt, while our Mayor invested in growing mushrooms. That just about sums up our Mayor."
* The full breakdown of the £105,266 debts owed to companies is... Salford City Council £46,893 (in five separate amounts); British Gas £18,996; Queen's University Belfast £30,000; BT £291; Beever and Struthers £1; Organic North Wholesalers £1,436; United Utilities £1,024; Vincent Walsh (director's loan) £6,622
AN ASIDE: Was this a scam or just incompetence? From reading the 2016 comments found at /www.salfordstar.com/article.asp?id=3040, it seems as if Biospheric and Vincent Walsh actions were questionable at best and outsight fraud at the worst. Although I wasn't directly impacted by Vincent Walsh or his Biospheric Project, I knew people who were. One of my cousins was a volunteer for about a year until he had to stop and help his mum deal with his pa who was spiralling down into alcoholism after he lost his job. Fortunately my cousin discovered a program with a medication for alcoholism that seemed quite promising. To support his pa and to get him started onto recovery, my cousin left the Biospheric Project. I was intrigued by the program my uncle was under going for excessive drinking, particularly the medication he was on called baclofen. While commonly used to treat multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injuries, baclofen is now undergoing testing as a treatment for alcoholism. Preliminary open-label studies from Italy demonstrated effectiveness of baclofen in reducing alcohol use among the alcoholics. In addition, results from a clinical study conducted by Brown University show alcohol-addicted participants receiving baclofen were able to abstain from drinking for longer periods of time than those who didn’t receive the drug. For a while now, doctors in Europe have been prescribing baclofen as the primary treatment for people who drink excessively. The upshot is my uncle has his drinking under control and my cousin didn't get burned like a lot of the businesses and volunteers who worked on either the Biospheric Project or the mushroom project.
AND thank you Salford Star for some excellent journalism and uncovering the truth behind this project.
RESEARCH
Vincent Walsh is currently undertaking a PhD focusing on socio-ecological urban development. The action led research developed at the Foundation aims to create the conditions for transdisciplinarity & the emergence of new urban cultures.
Vincent’s research at Manchester Institute for Research and Innovation in Art and Design was chosen as one of the 100 Big Ideas that will change the future by the Research Council UK. The research & papers here aims to connect an array of system thinkers, ecological practitioners, technologist, social scientists, and policy makers, brought together by there fascination for the Biospheric foundation platform .
2014 -2013 BLOG POSTS
Biospheric Project.
Date Sat 12th July 2014
This full day event will explore many aspects of the fascinating world of fungi, techniques for growing them, and their medicinal applications. The first half of the day will be largely focussed on outdoor log culture of medicinal species …
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Medicinal Mushroom Day @ The Biospheric Project.
Date Sat 12th July 2014
This full day event will explore many aspects of the fascinating world of fungi, techniques for growing them, and their medicinal applications. The first half of the day will be largely focussed on outdoor log culture of medicinal species …
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HAPPY SUMMER SOLSTICE FROM BLACKFRIARS FOREST GARDEN ..
Written by Rob Squireson June 20, 2014
An invitation to ‘Excellis in trellis’ – community gardening day,
Friday 27th June 10 – 4.00pm
Its a curious phenomena I’ve observed that we British are pided about when the seasons begin and end. Try googling ‘start of summer’ and you’ll see that half of us think that the solstice is mid-summer’s …
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BLACKFRIARS FOREST GARDEN WORK DAY (MAY)
Written by Rob Squireson May 12, 2014
Its “fun guy” in the Forest Garden!
Community work day – Friday May 30th 10-00 – 4.00
Spring is now well and truly sprung, and the garden is very much alive .. as we head towards our third community work day on the last Friday of May!!
We had another busy day during ...
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BLACKFRIARS FOREST GARDEN BLOG
Written by Rob Squireson May 9, 2014
Blackfriars Forest Garden is a piece of land attached to the Biospheric Foundation, on the banks of the River Irwell, in deepest, post-industrial Salford. The garden is now in its second year. I was asked by Vinny Walsh, founder of the Biospheric, to do some planning for the garden, and …
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FOREST GARDEN VOLUNTEERING DAY
Written by Tree Dietrich on April 25, 2014
Thank you to our volunteers who braved the weather to assist in the Forest Garden today.
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ORGANIC FRUIT & VEGETABLES AT 78 STEPS
Written by Tree Dietrich on April 16, 2014
We are pleased to announce that from Tuesday 22nd, we will be stocking a range of organic vegetables & fruit, sourced mainly from the UK.
Aswell as fruit & veg, we will have a variety of local organic cheese, butter, herbs & spices and fruit juices.
We hope to see you in …
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ROOF TOP MEETINGS
Written by Tree Dietrich on April 11, 2014
We are happy to show off our your new summer meeting space – on our roof garden.
Perfect for a meeting with a difference. It certainly beats sitting in a room with 4 white walls.
Enjoy the views and hospitality provided by the Biospheric Project.
Also available Teas & coffee, tours of the …
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PUBLIC TOUR THIS SATURDAY
Written by Tree Dietrich on April 8, 2014
Following on from the sold out public tour last Saturday, we are please to announce another public tour of the Biospheric Project this Saturday.
If you would like to book in the tour please email tree@biosphericfoundation.com.
Meeting in the Forest Garden at 11am. £5 per person
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HOLD A MEETING AT A VENUE WITH A DIFFERENCE!
Written by Tree Dietrich on April 3, 2014
Did you know?
You can hire out the Biospheric Project for meetings & conferences.
Sit alongside the aquaponics system, or in good weather sit on the roof garden or in the forest garden -
It beats sitting in a boring meeting room with plain white walls!
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FOREST GARDEN VOLUNTEER DAY
Written by Tree Dietrich on April 1, 2014
Thursday 3rd April & Friday 25th April
10.00 AM – 4.00 PM
Meet green fingered people
Get involved and learn about the Biospheric Forest Garden
Enjoy fresh air and physical activity on the banks of the Irwell
Blackfriars Forest Garden was initiated two years ago by the Biospheric Foundation, as a demonstration of how a …
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SIEMENS DINNER EVENT
Written by Tree Dietrich on March 27, 2014
The Biospheric Project hosted a formal dinner for 40 Siemens staff & apprentices with top chef Robert Owen Brown serving up some delicious local food.
Marie Emerson – Siemens
“Each year we hold a dinner in Manchester for Siemens staff and sponsored students, and this year we chose the Biospheric Foundation to …
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BLACKFRIARS WHOLE BOX
Written by Vincent Walsh on October 24, 2013
Manchester International Festival and the Biospheric Foundation have developed the Blackfriars Box Promotion scheme for the local residents of Blackfriars and the wider Salford Community.
We are offering fifty £5.00 whole food boxes for free to the residents of the towers in Blackfriars who are not currently a member of the …
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WILD FOOD DAY
Written by Vincent Walsh on October 17, 2013
Have you ever thought how rich and thriving can be nature in an urban environment? We have invited Jesper Launder to take you on a journey of Wild Food. Get ready to explore the surrounding of Blackfriars developing skills, enjoying Nature’s free larder and tasting wild food.
This day will amaze …
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INTERVIEW WITH VINCENT WALSH PT
Written by Vincent Walsh on October 3, 2013
Vincent discusses how the project has connected with the local community and why the geographical positioning of this research is one of the project’s unique features. He gives an insight into why the project started in Salford and its relevance to local communities, as well as to national and international …
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SHARE YOUR BIOSPHERIC RECIPE
Written by Vincent Walsh on October 3, 2013
How to submit your recipe
If you would like to take part, submit your recipe notes and pictures by Wednesday 9th October 2013 to kate.houlton@mif.co.uk or drop the information in to 78 steps (for the attention of Kate Houlton).
What you need to send
The recipe
Dish name
How many people your recipe will serve
Measurements …
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BIOSPHERIC FIRST CROP
Written by Vincent Walsh on August 16, 2013
The Biospheric Team had the pleasure to get the tools out and cut the first leaf crops. And oh! Were we surprised how much we got out of it: 21 Kilograms (46lb 5oz) of leaves with great colours, great texture and great taste!
Spinaches, kale, good King Henry, sorrel, what a …
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EMERGING HIP HOP AND SCIENCE
Written by Vincent Walsh on August 6, 2013
Over the last 12 months The Biospheric Foundation, with support from the Manchester International Festival, has collaborated with world renowned engineers, architects, scientists, artists. The confluence of such vibrant energies has been an amazing experience.
Going forward, keeping true to our game, the Foundation will continue working with first class and …
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ELEVATED AND THREE-DIMENSIONAL FOOD SYSTEM
Written by Andy Jenkins on July 16, 2013
My name is Andy Jenkins and I am the lead technical designer at The Biospheric Project. I am also a Ph.D. researcher at Queens University Belfast where I am exploring the integration of technological food systems into the existing infrastructures of the city.
The city finds itself in an unexpected situation …
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SCHOOL TOURS AND PUBLIC TALKS
Written by Vincent Walsh on July 12, 2013
This week at The Biospheric Project we have welcomed two local school groups every day, who have each been treated to a tour of the food systems by Vincent Walsh. This large school engagement programme has been commissioned as part of MIF’s public programme and managed by the MIF Creative …
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FIRST WEEKEND AT THE BIOSPHERIC PROJECT
Written by Vincent Walsh on July 8, 2013
What a weekend at The Biospheric Project. We opened our doors of this unique project with a press and partners tour, which saw Vincent Walsh, Project Manager at The Biospheric Project, and his team being interviewed by The Guardian, BBC Today Programme with Evan Davies, The Independent and a host …
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THE BIOSPHERIC PROJECT LAUNCHES
THE BIOSPHERIC PROJECT LAUNCHES
Written by Vincent Walsh on July 6, 2013
Today we have officially launched The Biospheric Project and open our doors to the the wider world to become part of its groundbreaking urban farm experiment. The fortnight-long open house kicks off with the first public talk of this innovative research hub, an in conversation event with Project Manager Vincent …
OPENING OUR DOORS
Written by Vincent Walsh on July 4, 2013
Are you ready to join us at The Biospheric Project?
The Biospheric team have been working extremely hard over the last 6 month and we are nearly ready to open our doors. Over the next 18 days visitors will discover how we have transformed this disused industrial site to be filled …
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ROOFTOP AQUAPONIC POLYTUNNEL
Written by Vincent Walsh on July 3, 2013
After months of hard work by The Biospheric Project team, Siemens, BDP, ENER-G, Rock, North and South plus lots of local support, we are starting to see real change at Irwell house. There is lots of activity in, around and on the building, developing all the food systems in preparation …
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LEARNING IN THE BIOSPHERE: PLACES
Written by Vincent Walsh on July 1, 2013
PLACES schools workshops
Catherine Clements, John Bishop and Daniel Wheatley.
www.placesprojects.co.uk
(browse our schools workshop gallery)
Since the early summer months of 2013 PLACES has worked with eight primary schools and one nurseries in Salford and Manchester in response to The Biospheric Project as part of Manchester International Festival. This has been a creative learning project that has …
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THE BIOSPHERIC PROJECT – SIEMENS
Written by Vincent Walsh on June 27, 2013
Inspiring Young People with Technology
Martyn Catlow
As Gold Supporters of Manchester International Festival 2013 Siemens – along with other MIF13 sponsors – have been key collaborators in The Biospheric Project.
For Siemens The Biospheric Project represents a very real way to demonstrate the value that modern technology and industry can bring to projects that …
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THE BIOSPHERIC PROJECT – ENER-G
Written by Vincent Walsh on June 25, 2013
As supporters of MIF13, ENER-G Combined Power Limited are working with The Biospheric Foundation at The Biospheric Project to provide power and heating via an energy efficient cogeneration system. As a global, sustainable energy business headquartered in Salford, ENER-G is delighted to support the project with a Combined Heat and …
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THE BIOSPHERIC PROJECT – BDP
Written by Vincent Walsh on June 21, 2013
From the Muddy Banks of the Irwell….
It’s an exciting time for our ongoing collaboration with the Manchester International Festival and the Biospheric Foundation, as the technical ecological systems emerge to re-animate, re-cycle and revitalise Irwell House, a disused Mill on the banks of the River Irwell.
Part farm, part laboratory and …
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THE BIOSPHERIC PROJECT – FOREST GARDEN
Written by Vincent Walsh on June 18, 2013
We might be busy getting ready for the Festival but when it comes to the Forest Garden, we’re thinking long term. It can take 10 years for an eco-system to be established and as part of our work we’ll be doing extensive research into how to prepare and clean the …
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THE BIOSPHERIC PROJECT – VINCENT WALSH
Written by Vincent Walsh on June 15, 2013
Vincent Walsh has taken time out to give an insight into the thinking behind The Biospheric Project. As the project manager, he discusses it’s aims, the transformation already underway at Irwell House and the importance of the research being developed there.
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WELCOME TO THE BIOSPHERIC PROJECT
Written by Vincent Walsh on May 23, 2013
Hello and welcome!
Thank you for joining us in what we hope will be the start of a biospheric revolution right here in Salford, Greater Manchester. Firstly, an introduction from myself and then a little about what we have planned for The Biospheric Project over the coming months.
I am Vincent Walsh, …
BIOSPHERIC FOUNDATION TEAM
The Foundation comprises of two directors, two project managers, two project assistants, two volunteer coordinators a landscape architect and 30 core volunteers.
BUSINESS TEAM
A high profile collective comprising of SKV Communications, Hill Dickinson, Beever & Struthers and more
BIOPHERIC FOUNDATION TEAM
VINCENT WALSH Founder / Director
STEVE COLES Project Assistant
SOPHIE THOMPSON Junior Landscape Architect
TREE DIETRICH Director
DAVE OLDROYD Project Assistant
DMITRY IGNATYEV Project Manager
MARGARET WESTBROOK Volunteers Co-ordinator
AGGI KATNIA Project Manager
JENNY CHAPMAN Volunteers Co-ordinator
Over the last 36 Months The Biospheric Foundation has brought together a diverse set of public and private organisations help to fund our groundbreaking projects and research programs. Their support is greatly appreciated.
