Community gardening EVENTS, TRAINING & COURSES...

Gardening skills & sustainable living - training & education

The following community gardens and sustainability education centres asssociated with the Australian City Farms & Community Gardens Network offer workshops and courses in:

• skills for community and home gardening
• sustainable living.

Go to the websites of the organisations to find their current education and training schedules.

Some centres offer educational activities to schools and children.

NSW

Campbelltown - Macarthur district...

The Macarthur Centre for Sustainable Living

The Macarthur Centre for Sustainable Living is a nonprofit, community driven organisation which promotes sustainable homes and gardens through providing information, education and the demonstration of skills and ideas. We celebrate the Macarthur region's cultural diversity and explore sustainable living options with activities such as festivals, markets, workshops, research, art, food, gardening and music.

1 Mount Annan Drive, Mount Annan NSW 2567
Phone: 02 4647 9828 Fax: 02 4648 2356
info@mcsl.org.au

To find our current workshops and events go to: http://www.mcsl.org.au/main.html

Sydney...

The Watershed Sustainability Centre

A project of City of Sydney and Marrickville Council, the Watershed is a shopfront information and sustainability skills training centre conveniently located on King Street, Newtown, on the ridge dividing the catchments of Sydney Harbour and Botany Bay. Visitors are welcome to drop in to view the Watershed's displays and resources.

The watershed has an Environmental Business Initiative with local businesses, a volunteer educator's program, the Watershed Education Projects and the Urban Sustainability Workshop Series

218 King Street, Newtown (Sydney).
Phone: 02 9519 6366.
watershed@marrickville.nsw.gov.au

Go to the information and events link at: www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/Environment/TheWatershedSustainabilityResourceCentre.asp

Randwick City Council

Randwick City Council Sustaining Our City initiative offers workshops and courses organised by Council's Sustainability Education Officer, Fiona Campbell -

Sustainability at Home

A five evening course held over successive weeks at Bowen Library (Maroubra) that includes:

• energy efficient home design and renovation - led by Terry Bail, an architect specialising in energy efficient building design and materials
• home water efficiency - led by John Caley, a water engineer specialising in water tanks and water harvesting/ storage/use; greywater and blackwater systems
• nontoxic home cleaning
• reducing waste in the home.

The course assists householders, individuals and families to:

• adopt easy changes to personal and family behaviour to make their lifestyles more sustainable
• take easy actions to reduce global warming and Randwick City's ecological footprint
• relocalise their buying of food and services to support Randwick City's local economy.

Sustainable Kitchen Gardening

A course held over five successive Saturdays at the Randwick Community Centre training garden. Trainers include Emma Daniel, horticulturist and landscape designer; Steve Batley, landscape architect and Permaculture designer; Fiona Campbell, organic gardening trainer, Permaculture educator and Council sustainabiliity officer; Russ Grayson, Permaculture educator and regional food advocate.

Course participants learn:

• safe organic gardening techniques for food and native plants and apartment balcony gardens
• to analyse the garden site and design the garden
• to turn their garden and kitchen wastes into compost and vermicompost (worm compost)
• how to analyse and improve their garden soil
• what to plant where
• how to harvest and store rainwater and greywater and how to water their gardens in a time of water use restrictions.

Other activities in Randwick City Council's Sustaining Our City initiative include:

• the annual Ecoliving Fair to celebrate World Envirinment Day - presentations, structured conversations, displays, workshops, fair trade, food and other stalls, guest speakers, performance
• Sustainable Schools Initiative for primary and high schools in the municipality
• Randwick City Council Car Share initiative with GoGet CarShare
• preferential parking for electric hybrid vehicles at popular locations
• Bowen Library Sustainability Book Collection
• Bowen Library Energy Bucket - DIY home energy audit kit
• Council home energy audit
• Council Community Nursery (native plants aand education centre)
• Local Government carbon trading scheme.

Courses, workshops and Council educational activities are planned, coordinated and led by Randwick City Council Sustainability Education Officer, Fiona Campbell.

Information about Council workshops and sustainability education activities: Randwick City Council Community Nursery 02 9399 0933 between 9:00am & 3:00pm, Monday to Friday.

Go to the information and events link at: www.randwick.nsw.gov.au/default.php?id=740

Marrickville Council

Marrickville Council is a co-sponsor, with City of Sydney, of The Watereshed Sustainability Centre in Newtown (see above). Council's workshops and events at The Watershed are listed at: http://www.marrickville.nsw.gov.au/livinginarea/environment.htm

Council offers other sustainable living opportunities:

• Cooks River Sustainability and Arts Festival
• Community Leadership Development Program
• Council Community Nursery (native plants)
• Riverlife Tour - discovering your neighbourhood
• Cooks River Clearwater Revival - Riverlife free bicycle tour
• Backyard Biodiversity workshops.

VICTORIA

Melbourne...

CERES

8 Lee Street, East Brunswick. Melways map reference 30 B7
Phone: 03 9387 2609
Email: ceres@ceres.org.au

CERES (the Centre for Education and Research in Environmental Strategies) is a four hectare community environment project located beside Merri Creek in Brunswick. CERES is also the name of the Roman goddess for agriculture. CERES fosters awareness and action on environmental and social issues affecting urban areas. The site has displays and functional demonstrations on a range of environmental issues, energy aand water technologies to show just what can be achieved at household, community and global levels.

What's on site:

• CERES café (open 10am - 4pm, 7 days/week, open at 9am on weekends for breakfast
• community gardens
• Honey Lane Permaculture gardens
• an animal farm (chooks, ducks, geese, goats, turkey, guinea pigs, bees, native and introduced fish, Dexter cows, etc)
• energy generation system, including wind generation, solar power and photovoltaics
• the EcoHouse (public openings: each Saturday morning until 1pm - excluding Dec/Jan)
• Permaculture and bushfood nursery (open 10am - 5pm, 7 days/week)
• multicultural villages - Africa, Indian, Indonesian
• comprehensive display of household composting systems
• several educational trails, such as the Wurundjeri Wander, the 2030 Trail, the Greenhouse Trail and the Waste Wise Trail
• vermiculture and worm farm enterprise recycling organic waste
• CERES site water management systems.

Semi-independent community projects operating on site: the Alternative Technology Association (ATA), the Baking Group, Bicycle ReCycle Shed, the CERES Community Gardens Group, Chook Group and Moreland LETS (Local Exchange & Trading System), CERES Food Project.

About 60,000 students a year participate in education programs in which they learn about:

• global environment concerns (greenhouse and ozone effects, the Rio Summit)
• energy conservation and renewable energy
• waste minimisation and recycling
• aquatic ecosystems and drainwatch
• Melbourne's Aboriginal heritage
• Africa, India and Third World Development
• Indonesian and Melanesian culture
• global futures.

Go to the education and training link then to weedend workshop pages at: http://www.ceres.org.au

CERES Food Project - turining local food into livelihoods
CERES Food Project is a social enterprise producing certified organic food products and accredited training - Certificate Two in Kitchen Operations. The Project is a partnership betwen CERES, Adult Multicultural Educational Services and IWWCV.

Trainer and chef, Rachel Sands, works with a group of women to produce jams, sauces, pickles, chutneys, dips, olives and dried fruit from locally grown, seasonal produce. The products will be sold through the CERES Organic Market, CERES Cafe, weekly community farmers' markets and local retailers.

Trainees learn to work in and operate their own commercial food business while making use of the seasonal production peaks in locally grown, organic produce. As business grows the women will create permanent employment for themselves while gaining exerience in small business, food preparation and English language expression.

Information: Chris Ennis - 0402 166 015 chris@ceres.org.au

Collingwood Childrens Farm

End of St Heliers Street, Abbotsford 3067
Phone: 03 9417 5806

Only 5km from the centre of Melbourne, nestled on a bend of the Yarra River, lie seven hectares of paddocks, gardens, orchards, rustic buildings and shady trees. Collingwood Children's Farm is a not-for-profit community resource providing country experiences for city people. Open daily 9am to 5pm.

Visitors can milk the cow at 10am and 4pm, bottle feed young lambs (seasonal), wander around, feed the animals, help with farm chores, go into the paddocks with the sheep and goats, cuddle a guinea pig, waddle with the ducks, feed the chooks, look for eggs or just sit and unwind under a shady tree or on the banks of the Yarra river.

The Farm has a long-established community allotment garden.

Go to the events link: www.farm.org.au/coming-events/index.php

University of Melbourne courses

Community and Therapeutic Horticulture course

QUEENSLAND

Brisbane...

Northey Street City Farm

Northey Street City Farm is located on Northey Street, Windsor, and offers:

...PLEASE send information about coming community garden events to Russ Grayson at

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PAGE UPDATED... Thursday, 25 October 2007