Changemaker Interview with The Peace Place Founder Riki Ding

The Peace Place is located in a 100-year-old building, Yanqingli, at 955 South Suzhou River, in Shanghai. Their goal was to make use of the idle resource of an urban rooftop to create an idyllic physical location – almost like an eco-oasis in the city. 

The Peace Place has a beautiful Chinese name. ¨和光同尘¨ or “Tongchen”, originating from a Taoist saying, “hide your splendor and assimilate yourself into the earthly world (“和其光，同其尘”). 

One half is a rooftop farm where plants are taken care of, as entrusted by tenants. The other half is an activity area, where like-minded people can gather to hold different kinds of activities, to reduce the gap between human beings, especially city-dwellers, and nature in a way strives to provide youngsters with a better future environment in the city.

Seeds of Change was excited to meet with Riki Ding, the Founder of The Peace Place, to hear her thoughts and ideas on how it all began, what were the challenges and what they have planned for the future.

PART ONE – STARTING THE THE PEACE PLACE

SoC: Rooftop farming is still a relatively new concept in China. What inspired you to create The Peace Place? 

Riki: In 2016, when my child was 3 years old, I began looking for places to buy supplementary food. As a novice mother, I was very concerned about food safety. I felt like there was not enough information and accessibility to safe fruits and vegetables. This brought me to think about doing farming by myself. That way “what I see is what I eat”, and food safety will be entirely in my hands. 

For most people, traditional agriculture is still seen as old-school and heavy. But for me, I wanted the business model to be lighter and more interesting. That´s how “The Peace Place” was created. The idea was also inspired by a documentary titled “Tomorrow” directed by Cyril Dion, which got me thinking about how the future of city dwellers will be shaped. As you can see - it started with an interest, but now I regard this as my life choice. I hope to change the mindset of our generation and contribute to the city that I love dearly.

SoC: You did not major in horticulture, so how did you acquire the agricultural expertise?

Riki: Through continuous learning. I paid a special visit to teachers and students from the Department of Horticulture of Shanghai Normal University. All my team members, except me, have had a horticulture or architecture background. They have made up for my lack of expertise and, generally speaking, I was learning “on the job”. I also visited many rooftop farms abroad, in places such as Japan and Australia. We carried on deep discussions with all these other places and learned a lot from their experiences.

SoC: Did the Peace Place require a larger upfront investment than traditional agriculture, say, for example farming on land in a rural setting? 

Riki: Yes, for rooftop farming it is not easy to calculate the return-on-investment cost unless it reaches the scale of mass production. Apart from planting cost and labor cost, the construction cost is very high, too, which includes the extremely important step of waterproofing i.e. to prevent the roof from leakage, and after drying, adding a ‘root-blocking’ film, storage and drainage boards i.e. to supply water during the dry period. Then there is the application of non-woven fabric, and of course, soil. All of these are high cost items.

SoC: What was the most challenging issue that you encountered during the inception of The Peace Place?

Riki: Getting long-term support from the property company. There are so many uncertainties and no great breakthrough can be made unless the government or various relevant organizations can provide a certain amount of support. 

PART TWO – ENGAGING IN ROOFTOP FARMING

SoC: What is the current status of rooftop farming, or urban farming, in China?

Riki: In some ways it is scattered, but it is actually also quite common. The earliest form was when property companies made use of the rooftop space by opening them up for convenience and recreation. But for now, no other organizations or companies are taking rooftop farming as a career. 

SoC: Can you briefly tell us about the social and environmental benefit of rooftop farming?

Riki: Sure. First of all, plants in most rooftop farms are hand-planted and cared for. So from an end-to-end process point of view, food safety is ensured. On the other hand, a rooftop covered by green plants can reduce thermal radiation, lower the temperature indoors and improve air quality. Another point that can be easily neglected is that it solves the employment of students majoring in horticulture. I hope that students can apply what they have learned in the university to real life. Also, If you want to get close to nature and wind down at weekends, there is a paradise just in town and you don’t need to exhaust yourself from a long journey to the suburbs. 

SoC: Is there any examples of revolutionary rooftop farming abroad that are worth leaning from?

Riki: There are many. Such as GrowUp Box in London, Beacon Food Forest in Seattle, PASONA in Tokyo, Sky Greens in Singapore, Brooklyn Farm in New York, Lufa Farms in Montreal.

PART THREE – ABOUT RIKI, THE FOUNDER

For this section, we chose 5 questions from the Proust Questionnaire, a fun game made popular by Marcel Proust who believed that an individual’s true nature could be revealed by answering certain questions.

SoC: What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Riki: One house, two people, three meals, four seasons, five elements, six desires, seven passions, eight trigrams, nine songs. That’s what I call perfect happiness.

SoC: Which living individual do you most admire?

Riki: All mothers in the world.

SoC: If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

Riki: Followed my heart when choosing my major in college.

SoC: What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

Riki: Being challenged. I was challenged so many times in the last couple of years. I´ve learnt to prove myself through actions. Explanations are superfluous.

SoC: Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

Riki: Umm… "Ya" just like this "Ummm.." I've always been asked so many questions which I need to think through before answering. And another one – "It's ok", I say it very often. This is also what I say to myself when being challenged or rejected.

Closing Note on Rooftop Farming

Rooftop farming has the potential to meet the demands of fresh food needs in the urban context. It is a growing phenomenon in various cities around the world that also has benefits at the societal level since it can be a perfect place for community gatherings and relaxing. What we also know, though, is that there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to spread the benefit of the rooftop farming culture in China, but Changemakers like Riki and her team are making this happen. 

Let's imagine our city full of life! 

If you want further information about The Peace Place, or would like to arrange a visit, send "THE PEACE PLACE" on our WeChat platform for details.