Ashoka
From a desire to raise awareness on climate change to an ambitious and successful landscape architecture company, Commensalist redefines landscape design and agriculture, for the better.
Adventurer at heart and on a quest for self-discovery, Louis De Jaeger decided aged eighteen to travel around the world. From Central America to North Africa, Louis witnessed the effects of climate change on all continents: water scarcity, soil degradation, loss of biodiversity. “I saw that we are destroying the planet in so many places. In the United States, I saw thousands of kilometers dedicated to monocultures. I saw people dying of hunger in Central America because their fields were so depleted that it was impossible for them to grow anything. But it’s not a phenomenon that only happens far away from home. In Europe, it’s the same story.”
Struck by this alarming reality and the urgent need for solutions, Louis realized that only an ecological approach to agriculture could save both the planet and people. He started learning about permaculture and took a degree in Agro- and Biotechnology. Armed with this knowledge and a strong vision, Louis founded Commensalist in 2018, a landscape architecture company dedicated to healing the soil and creating landscapes that can support life, both for humans and other animals.
Giving and receiving, with no strings attached
“Our name is our philosophy,” Louis explains. “Symbiosis means different kinds of organisms living together to mutual advantage. Commensalism is also a relationship between two living organisms. But in this case, they can also live without each other. For instance, a bird makes a nest in a tree. The tree doesn’t care, the nest doesn’t harm it. The bird benefits from a safe place and is happy. Unintentionally, the bird eats animals or insects that might harm the tree. Both tree and bird are gifting something to each other, helping each other, and neither is harmed in any way. Their relationship happened by chance, so they are not dependent on each other like organisms living in symbiosis. If everyone in the world became a little bit more ‘commensalistic’, the world would be a better place. It’s one of the most beautiful ways of living together.”
Tailor-made planting plans
Far from being utopic, Commensalist offers practical solutions to attain its goal. The team composed of landscape architects, agroecologists, and agricultural engineers, helps landowners such as farmers, governments, and communities to reinstall sustainable and long-lasting ecosystems on their land. Concretely, the company designs plans for landscapes that can generate food for at least three generations. Always mindful of their client's wishes, and depending on the soil, climate, and existing ecosystem and biotope, Commensalist creates unique and tailor-made planting plans for each project.
Louis is particularly proud of a recent project in Kortrijk, where the team has converted two hectares of land into a community food forest, which will provide income for its owner and support 100 families. “People will be able to come and pick fruit themselves, children will come and learn from nature. The project isn’t really big, but it shows that a normal person who isn’t specialized in agriculture or farming can achieve great things. Because it is a human-size project, it is a great source of inspiration for people.”
Heal the Earth, inspire people, and have fun while doing it!
Teaching and inspiring people is an important part of Commensalist’s work, as Louis highlights. “I started this company with a desire to inform people about existing solutions to tackle climate change because we cannot plant seeds in the ground if we haven’t planted seeds in people’s heads first. Our awareness-raising campaigns are our greatest strength.” Among his campaigns, Louis started ‘Bye Bye Grass’, which encourages people to plant more trees and flowers in their gardens and mow their lawns less often. Through campaigns like this, and through books, articles, and documentaries, Commensalist highlights how small actions can have big repercussions on fighting global warming. And it has a global reach: the company actively re-invests in projects around the world, acting as consultants on projects in Nepal, India, and Belgium, amongst others.
Eager to improve Commensalist, to have a greater impact and scale-up, Louis seized the opportunity offered by the Impact Programme to learn more about scaling strategies and impact measurements, supported by the expertise of Ashoka, ABN AMRO, and Accenture.
Find out more about Louis' work HERE