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Cultivating Community is contacts for the Australian City Farms & Community Gardens Network in Victoria
Promoting the cultural richness of food, plants and people through community gardens...
Cultivating Community - aims and objectives
Cultivating Community is a not-for-profit organisation that has grown out of support for community garden projects in inner-city public housing estates. It has evolved into an organisation to promote and support the development of community garden projects across the entire community. Cultivating community consists of a management committee, paid workers and volunteers.
Access to such a basic resource as soil is limited in the densely populated inner-city, hence community gardens are extremely popular with long waiting lists common. The solution to reducing waiting lists is to create more community gardens - every city suburb needs one.
More gardening more often
Cultivating Community envisages:
- a thriving network of community gardens in public housing estates and other community areas throughout Victoria
- the development of a practical and transferable model of set-up, training, follow-through and evaluation that will ensure the long-term sustainability of the gardens
- a focus on community building through gardening and environmental projects so as to work more closely with a wide range of people to enrich their quality of life.
Our work is based around encouraging the development of sustainable agricultural practices in urban areas and promoting the cultural richness of food, plants and people through community gardens.
Our Purpose
We envisage a thriving network of community gardens throughout the region.
Our Objectives
- to support and promote community gardening
- to demonstrate the benefits of growing food locally
- to use collaborative processes and practices which value the contribution of all.
Working with housing estate gardeners
In 2000, Cultivating Community successfully tendered with the state government's Office of Housing (OOH) to employ a Community Garden Project Worker. This funding was increased in 2002 when we employed another worker on a part-time basis.
On the 20 June 2002, Cultivating Community successfully tendered with the OOH to manage a total of fourteen community gardens located on public housing estates. For the first time, all public housing gardens would be managed by one organisation.
Cultivating Community is responsible for the management of a total of 17 community gardens on public housing estates across Melbourne, working with people from over 20 language groups.
The gardens are based around the principles and practises of environmentally sustainable horticulture and waste management.
Cultivating Community is committed to grass roots community development and is working alongside public housing residents/plot holders to achieve long term goals of tenant empowerment and self management for the community garden projects.
The housing estate community gardens
There are presently a total of 624 plots available for use by public housing residents on the estates. The aim of the project is to supply a range of community garden support services to public housing tenants.
The areas Culltivating Community staff work in include:
Southern region
- Airlie Street, Elsternwick
- King Street, Prahran
- Union Street, Windsor
- Inkerman Street, Elsternwick.
Northern region
- 229 & 253 Hoddle Street, Collingwood
- Dight/Emerald Street, Collingwood
- Highett Street, Richmond
- Lennox Street, Richmond
- Napier Street, Fitzroy.
Western region
- Alfred Street, North Melbourne
- Buncle Street, North Melbourne
- Gronn Place, West Brunswick
- Lygon Street, Carlton
- Wingate Avenye, Ascot Vale
- Crown Street, Ascot Vale
- Racecourse Road, Flemington.
Our aim in the gardens is to provide hands-on horticulture advice; ensure full plot use; develop working compost/waste management systems, organise community events/berbecues/working bees; ensure that gardens are well maintained and promote the use of gardener lead committees to lead to greater self management.
Through providing the above services we hope to facilitate a sense of community building.
Cultivating Community 2004
Contact us:
Information valid as of: 15 December, 2004.
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PAGE UPDATED... Monday, 15 January 2007
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