VITALGREENHOUSE
VITALGREENHOUSE is a five-year, ERC-funded research initiative (2024–2029) that brings anthropological and ethnographic insight into the complex world of industrial greenhouse agriculture. From the nurseries of the Netherlands to the greenhouses of southern Spain, we investigate how growing practices, other than human dynamics, and technological systems intersect to shape food production in Europe.
By observing what happens inside the greenhouse, from seed to harvest, from human to insects, we aim to map the social, technological, and environmental entanglements that shape this sector. In Europe, greenhouses are under pressure to adapt to changing needs. The push to enhance horticultural productivity, coupled with concerns about land, biodiversity loss, and chemical exposure, is challenging Europe’s traditional industrial production model. The ERC-funded VITALGREENHOUSE project will apply ethnographic methods to investigate how scientists, growers, workers, and environmental groups enact various forms of sustainability. It will also develop an analytical framework that views sustainability as a relational practice, while also conceptualising greenhouses as vital landscapes.