Reflections on a Workshop with Kristie Cabrera
Disability Justice remains almost entirely absent from UK community gardening and agroecology. There has been little discussion on what it means to be a disabled gardener or grower, what accessibility looks and feels like, what happens when growers (inevitably) become disabled and how ableism can be addressed across the sector.
To begin addressing this gap, we hosted a workshop with Kristie Cabrera, a U.S based accessibility and inclusion consultant, who brought a depth of experience and care to the conversation we are lacking. The session, Rooting Disability Justice in Green Spaces, funded by Just FACT, offered an insightful, thorough and powerful introduction to Disability Justice—not just as a framework, but as an embodied practice.
From the beginning, the session was shaped with care and intention. Kristie prioritised needs sharing and structured the time in a way that honoured different bodies and learning needs. A lovely technique they used was having a countdown to the next break on the screen throughout the session, which allowed us to concentrate and take in information at a good pace, knowing there would be time to pause and reflect imminently. Kristie shared their access needs clearly at the beginning, which included regular breaks and being asked one question at a time, and encouraged us to share and reflect on our own needs. It made for a gentle and strongly held space where we could learn, and take care of ourselves, at the same time.
Reframing Disability
We begun by exploring the different models of disability and how it is seen through social and medical lenses: as a punishment, pathology, something to be pitied, as a problem to be fixed or something which is constructed through the lack of access in society. Instead Kristie offered the ‘radical’ alternative – the lens of Disability Justice. Disability Justice frames disability not as something to be ashamed of or overcome but as a natural, normal part of the human experience. Reclaiming words like Mad, disabled or crip, as activist A.J. Withers puts it: “the radical disability model says there is nothing wrong with any of us.” It celebrates, welcomes and includes the diversity of bodies and experiences.
Disability Justice sees ableism as inseparable from other systems of oppression – racism, capitalism, classism and patriarchy. Accessibility, while important, is just one part of a wider political project about power, justice, and collective liberation. It is about shifting power and centering those most impacted.
What is the Disability Justice Movement?
Disability Justice is a movement and framework created by queer, disabled activists of colour. It centres the lives and leadership of those most impacted and is grounded in the principle: “Nothing about us without us.”
The framework has 10 primary principles (copied here from Sins Invalid, link below), including:
‘INTERSECTIONALITY: “We do not live single issue lives,” Audre Lorde. Ableism, coupled with white supremacy, supported by capitalism, underscored by heteropatriarchy, has rendered the vast majority of the world “invalid.”
ANTI-CAPITALIST: In an economy that sees land and humans as profit, we are anti-capitalist by the nature of having non-conforming body/minds.
RECOGNIZING WHOLENESS: Each person is full of history and life experience.
INTERDEPENDENCE: We meet each others’ needs as we build toward liberation.
COLLECTIVE ACCESS AND LIBERATION: As brown, black and queer-bodied disabled people we bring flexibility and creative nuance that go beyond able-bodied/minded normativity, to be in community with each other.’
You can read all 10 principles of Disability Justice here: Sins Invalid – 10 Principles of Disability Justice.
Practising Disability Justice in Green Spaces
Kristie shared with us their process to practising and implementing Disability Justice in green spaces and land projects, which involves:
A commitment to learning, identifying, assessing and prioritising barriers
A process of identifying and implementing solutions
Reflecting on and getting feedback on these solutions
Practicing this as a continuous cyclical feedback loop rather than a one time thing
Throughout the session, the emphasis was not on getting everything ‘perfect’ but on being intentional, transparent and listening to those most impacted.
Key Takeaways for Implementing in Green Spaces:
Centering those most impacted: Taking Action on Disability Justice in strategic and purposeful ways in (rather than in performative gestures) is key. Practicing Disability Justice in collaborative ways that invite shared problem solving and feedback from those most impacted, rather than behind closed doors, moves towards embodying the principles.
TRANSPARENCY: 100% accessibility for disabled people is a high bar so transparency and clarity is the next best thing. Thinking about and prioritising what to work on, how disabled people can be engaged and included, and implementing transparency is a good step towards accessibility. Be clear about what your space can and cannot offer. Kristie gave the examples of having detailed explanations of the green space in online promo and on social media, including the physical, sensory and cognitive demands, publishing photos and videos of the garden so people can plan and know what to expect, writing an accessibility statement and asking for help.
EXERCISING CREATIVITY: Think about how people can still have a meaningful and productive experience even if full accessibility isn’t possible. For example, if the pathways can’t be widened or made accessible yet because it is too expensive, but your garden backs onto a street, then plant flowers and vegetables that spill onto the street so that people can engage with nature where they are. Another example could be a garden that collaborates with a local university to print plant labels with braille.
This workshop was an important space where accessibility wasn’t just theorised but genuinely practiced. It invited us to think beyond performativity, and toward cultural shifts—how we organise, share power and include one another.
There’s a long way to go in the UK agroecology sector when it comes to integrating Disability Justice. But this session planted important seeds, and we hope this reflection helps carry the conversation forward. If you’d like to learn more about Disability Justice, check out Kristie Cabrera’s work, or join us for our bi-weekly Learning Circle – email info@cfgn.org.uk for more info.