Make Your Ceramic Compost Container, Community workshop, May 9, Saturday, 14:30 – 18:30

Make Your Ceramic Compost Container 

Community workshop

with Kevin Lai,  Josh Snow and Kesem Yahav

Join us for a hands-on community workshop designed for residents of the Nieuwmarkt neighborhood, where you’ll create your own ceramic garden compost container, handmade from clay and designed to work with nature in your soils.

In the workshop, you’ll start with raw clay and shape it from scratch. Roll it, form it, and design your compost vessel exactly how you want. After it’s dried and fired in the kiln, you can collect your finished ceramic compost container about two weeks later.

This workshop is part of a larger project called Bodemzorg Amsterdam, an initiative by gunkspace in collaboration with the Nieuwmarkt community, Wageningen University, AMS Institute, and Gemeente Amsterdam. This project is supported by Stimuleringsfonds Creative Industrie.

The project’s organizers and researchers are Kevin Lai and Josh Snow from Wageningen University. Together, they are regenerating urbanized soils through community composting, soil education, and citizen science in Amsterdam’s Nieuwmarkt neighborhood. Soils are the foundation of city life, yet decades of extractive urbanization have left them paved over and contaminated with heavy metals and microplastics. Composting organic waste in the neighborhood can improve soil health, increase biodiversity and climate resilience, and reduce waste — and everyone in the community can contribute.

Why ceramic?

Clay is breathable, durable, and eco-friendly. It keeps your compost healthy by allowing air and moisture to flow, protects soil life, avoids harmful chemicals or plastics, and naturally returns to the earth if broken. Ceramic makes composting simple, safe, and beautiful.

This workshop will be hosted by ceramic designer Kesem Yahav from Kesemy Design Studio, located right in the Nieuwmarkt neighborhood.

In this 4-hour session, you’ll:

• Learn about the state of urban soils in Amsterdam, why healthy soil matters, and how community composting can make a difference
• Make your own ceramic compost container for your garden

The workshop is mostly subsidized by this project to keep it accessible to all.

This workshop is prioritized for Nieuwmarkt residents. We hope that by joining our workshop, you are willing to place your compost container in your geveltuin and balconies. Together we make compost visible in Nieuwmarktbuurt. 

Bring your curiosity and creativity, and join us for an afternoon of making, learning, and supporting healthier urban soils!

When: Saturday, May 9
Time: 14:30 – 18:30
Where: De Boomsspijker, Recht Boomssloot 52, 1011 EC Amsterdam
Cost: Includes all materials, tools, firing, drying, and cookies

-The workshop is in English

-This is an adult workshop

-For all levels. The workshop is intended for beginners but is also suitable for the more experienced.

-Please be on time or a bit before

-We offer a relaxed and supportive environment.

Group size: max 12 people

Duration: 4 hours