Preparedness through edible landscapes 

The need for preparedness with increased knowledge about what one can eat and how it can be produced in a household is growing. With a greater distance between city and countryside, knowledge about how to cultivate and what conditions are needed for local supply decreases. The concept of edible landscapes is a new term, so this knowledge is new even for those who are experienced in cultivating in their own garden.

The idea of this project is to create a platform for edible landscapes at Gotland Green Center AB in Roma. In an initial phase to build up various advisory services and concepts so that knowledge can be spread in many different ways and by several parties. Also, that this becomes a place where people can come for knowledge, education, and learn the basics of self-sufficiency.

In the edible landscape, we imitate and learn from a deciduous forest, which is one of the most productive biotopes on earth when it comes to biomass. We work with natural succession instead of against it. In traditional cultivation, we need to process the soil annually, add nutrients, water, and have a high degree of weed control. In a traditional forest, no one waters or fertilizes. We imitate a forest, but we plant varieties that both constitute good human food and benefit biodiversity, over very long periods and with minimal effort. The biggest work lies in the establishment and then around harvesting and processing. If we plant nut trees, fruits, berries, and edible herbs, we make an effort with direct positive effects as well as results over several generations regarding food supply, preparedness, water conservation, carbon sequestration, improved soil health, and increased biodiversity.

One usually establishes an edible landscape in four layers: tree layer, shrub layer, herb layer, and a ground layer to imitate how it looks in a traditional forest, with the difference that one chooses species that are specifically edible.

By establishing an edible landscape at Gotland Green Center, the opportunities to spread knowledge about these concepts that we can assume need to play a larger role in a society where we must adapt to live within the planet's limits also increase.

The project is carried out in collaboration between Gotland Green Center AB, Mathilda's Garden AB, Matbyrån Gotland AB, and Favas by Fabian.

Concrete goals in the project:
– Establish and develop an edible landscape at Gotland Green Center AB
– To develop advisory services for individuals who want to develop their gardens / hazel stands into edible landscapes.
– To develop and implement test courses on how to develop gardens into edible landscapes.
– To develop advisory packages on how to support food entrepreneurs / activity providers to create experiences around edible landscapes.
– To create recipes based on raw materials from the edible landscape and test conducting food experiences with the edible landscape as a base.

– In the long term, this project means increased knowledge among the civilian population on how to develop edible landscapes in their gardens. By several companies jointly developing both knowledge about edible landscapes and services on how to spread this knowledge to different target groups, preparedness is built up in a much broader way.

Text published/updated 2026-06-08

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