AYUDH PORTRAITS: NICO GEMIO

I'm Nico, I'm 26. I am originally from Southern Spain and currently based in Amsterdam, where I work for a non-profit organisation called B Lab. B Lab's vision is of an equitable and regenerative economic system for all people and the planet.

In 2019 I came together with a friend and we started to build an urban gardening system for people like us to be able to grow their own food and enjoy the experience behind that in the center of cities. First we started as a youth association, but then we realised that we could help a lot more people by offering products and services as a  company too.

As of today we facilitate learning programmes, run an online shop, and create urban gardening projects from scratch for municipalities and organisations. I think what makes it unique is that we had a clear, fix mission to accelerate the transition towards sustainability in cities – that is at the center of everything we do and it made it easier at times to make decisions or to 'pivot' our activities when needed

AYUDH actually played a huge role in enabling me to pursue this dream, as I got all of the inspiration during the European Voluntary Service that I took part in at the Amma Center Germany, where I was also able to attend a Permaculture Design Course and learned a lot about organic agriculture

If you have a big ambition or idea, you will likely need the help of other people. So a key obstacle to overcome is having the humility and courage to ask for help, and  developing the patience and curiosity needed to keep looking until you find the right people who share your vision and level of commitment to the idea.

If I could give advice to people who are still trying to find their dream, I would say: keep exploring the real world. That involves: stop scrolling social media! In Permaculture Design we say that the highest productivity of an ecosystem is in the edges of it, so keep looking in the margins of your city, your social circles, or the subjects that you were told you should study. Don't be afraid of judgement  and, if you have good intentions, don't ask for much permission to do or create things.

Follow Nico’s company through their instagram: @urbangreenclub