The Noordgesig Primary School Vegetable Gardens project is an example of participatory practice and the reason for this paper. The aim is to monitor and interpret the participatory process that took place for the development of the idea and the creation of the project with the local community. Ιt was not preplanned, the community involvement from the initial planning phase was crucial for its continuation. It started with the basic idea that children can be at the heart of food awareness: they can teach their parents how to garden. The vegetable gardens at the Noordgesig Primary School are a first step toward changing the culture of living in Noordgesig, a part of Soweto where unemployment is reported to be at 85 percent. The project serves as a model for improving the area’s food security: it encourages people from the wider community to participate, to learn, and to grow food for themselves. Recording is important for the series of operations carried out and the focus of long-term process.
In this paper, along with the recording of the work, an attempt is made to put the project in a wider context of similar actions with references to texts on participatory process of projects with social "commitments". Finally, through a conversation with Marjetica Potrč there is an attempt of analyzing and understanding the participatory practice in order to identify specific problematics.