Toolmaking for a Human-Sized Agriculture

Together with Will van Twuijver, I am facilitating the workshop ‘Toolmaking for a Human-Sized Agriculture’ which focuses on the relationship between tool design, the human body and the land. It takes place on the 17th of February at the Regenerative Energy Communities Open Lab in Växjö, Sweden!

Most industrial farm and garden tools are typically designed for the average person. They are not optimised for people with diverse body types and are only designed for generic gardening tasks. As a result, humans adapt themselves to tools, instead of tools being shaped after situated human needs and capabilities. At the same time, hand tools fall in disrepair and disuse, but this does not mean they have to be discarded. Repairing these tools can also become an opportunity for improvement and adaptation.

The workshop ‘Toolmaking for a Human-Sized Agriculture’ invites participants to join and repair or repurpose old garden tools. During the workshop we explore how these tools can be made to reflect one’s specific needs, talents, interest and relationship to their local context. Join us for an afternoon of collectively building more personal and localised gardening practices where we shape tools for our needs and that of the land, rather than the other way around!

This workshop is part ofd the Regenerative Energy Communities Open-Lab series. More infos about the workshop here!

About Will

Will van Twuijver is a designer and farmer focusing on agroecology and grassroots initiatives. His work is informed by an overarching goal to design and develop systems that integrate environmental restoration and human wellbeing. He has several years of practical involvement in various food collectives, ranging from Community Supported Agriculture, to waste food processing initiatives. Currently, he is both working as a designer at Aalto University and as a cheesemaker on a biodynamic farm in Helsinki, Finland.