Community Garden Australia

Community Gardens Australia

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an organisation helping cities feed themselves

Community gardens and city farms are places where people come together to grow fresh food, to learn, relax and make new friends.

Community Gardens Australia (CGA) is a community-based organisation that networks community gardeners, city farmers and those engaged in other community food systems, that educates and advises on community gardening and advocates for citizen-based urban agricultural initiatives.

AIMS

OBJECTIVES

The aims of the CGA include: ■ facilitating the formation and management of community gardens and similar social enterprise by making available information, networking opportunities and, where possible, advice ■ promoting the benefits of community gardening and urban agriculture to creating cities of opportunity ■ positioning community gardening and urban farming as a leading activity within the community food movement.

Within the limits of its capacity, CGA will: ■ advocate on behalf of community gardeners, city farms and related initiatives ■ provide useful information on its website and social media ■ provide presentations and advice to local government, other institutions and communities interested in establishing community gardens and related initiatives ■ document the development of city farms and community gardening in Australia ■ provide a community garden and city farm mapping system through which the public may contact community gardens.

STRUCTURE Community Gardens Australia: ■ maintains its website and social media as sources of reliable information ■ maintains an email members distribution list for notification of events and information relevant to community gardeners ■ has contacts in different states ■ is a voluntary member-based organisation — new members are welcome ■ operates as an incorporated association ■ relies on members to provide information and to organise activities ■ may, in some regions, organise events and national gatherings.

BACKGROUND CGA was previously know as the Australian City Farms & Community Gardens Network (ACFCGN) which was started by Dr Darren Phillips in 1995.

Darren’s idea was to set up an Australia-wide network of people interested in community gardens, city farms, urban agriculture and community education centres.

He organised contact people in different states who could provide information on community gardens and notify enquirers where they could find the gardens.

CGA’s website fulfills some of those functions, however the ability of the voluntary contact people to provide advice depends on their available time and opportunity.

IDEAS FOR SUSTAINABLE LIVING IN THE CITY… publication produced by Community Gardens Australia

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OUR SUCCESSES

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Successes of the Network include: ■ publication of the 1996 Australian City Farms, Community Gardens and Enterprise Centres Inventory ■ organising community garden open days in the Adelaide and Sydney regions to bring community gardeners together ■ listing on the City Farmer website, Vancouver, Canada ■ lobbying for the inclusion of White’s Creek Community Garden in local government landuse planning ■ liaison with Botany Council for the establishment of a community garden ■ provision of horticultural training to South Sydney Council’s Waterloo Estate community gardeners ■ for Marrickville Council, assisting a new community garden develop a social design for decision making, solving conflict and communication

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Community Gardens Australia PRODUCED by… Community Gardens Australia DESIGN, TEXT & PHOTOS by… Russ Grayson

DISTRIBUTED by…

for the City of Sydney, assisting in the resolution of conflict between a landholders and community gardeners presenting on community garden development to a community gardening conference at Canberra University advocating for community gardens and farmers’ markets and issuing a media statement following erroneous industry allegations congratulating the City of Joondalup on changing its decision on retaining a footpath food garden publication of print newsletters advising on the establishment of a number of community gardens in Brisbane cooperation focused on nutritional health and gardening between the South Australian Department of Health and local community gardens

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presentations at the Blue Mountains Wild Aware environmental festival information provision in person and via website to researchers and tertiary students consultation with Gardens for Western Sydney group to establish community gardens in Sydney’s west and south-west providing advice to community and local government workers in regional NSW establishment of partnership with Australian Community Foods and participation on their website numerous interviews on commercial and ABC radio as well as in print media establishing of partnership with Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance and participation in Fair Food Week.

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International Public License. http://creativecommons.org Community gardens, non-government educational, advocacy, local government, sustainability educators and community organisations may reproduce and distribute this brochure under this same Creative Commons licence. This Creative Commons notice must appear on the document.

Please inform us if you reuse the brochure: info@communitygarden.org.au

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