Notes and Learnings on a Visit to Australia for the Urban Agriculture Forum (November 2023)
It has taken me a full month to process my Australian adventure. It was a whirlwind. A baptism by fire. A gift. It was, literally, the other side of the world.
The trip came about because we at Denver Urban Gardens (DUG), had the exceptionally good fortune to cross paths with Naomi Lacey, President of Community Gardens Australia. Last year Naomi traveled the world on her Churchill Fellowship (The Churchill Fellowship is a program whereby lucky Aussies get to tour the world in deep exploration of a given topic) and passed through Denver as she researched “peak” community garden organizations (A peak organization in Australia = an association).
My trip was a rapid tour of four Eastern Australia cities in one fell swoop, a deep dive on the urban agriculture and community garden “scene” and a skim of the profound relationship between the people of Australia, their history and country. The visit left me full of curiosity, wanting more.
DUG was invited to give a series of keynotes at a series of conferences that were part of the Urban Agriculture Forum which was part of Urban Agriculture Month. The whole undertaking was put on by an accomplished “think-do” organization called Sustain Australia. The theme was “Feeding the Future. Nourishing Country,” and included the three conferences plus hundreds of other events big and small across the country. Topics included indigenous food ways, acknowledgment and sharing, urban agriculture plans, community gardening and food forest models, food access, food justice, food sovereignty, permaculture learnings, therapeutic horticulture, cooking, nutrition and more.
I first became aware of Sustain when Naomi shared the 2020 Pandemic Gardening Survey they conducted during COVID. This is some of the best work I’ve seen on the systemic benefits of community gardening and the community’s relationship with and desire for it. The report not only suggests but provides a roadmap to a thriving urban future where people are deeply and directly connected to the earth, each other and the food they eat. DUG’s vision.
Distilling the messages from the talks, I now believe more strongly than ever, that there are three pivotal opportunities for community garden organizations around the world.
- Positioning: Expand positioning beyond food to include community and climate — let’s make this work resonate with a wider circle of funders, community members and city builders.
- Structure: Establish a strong centralized body that provides system-wide advantages over a decentralized model — increased funding, a louder voice and influence and the concentration of “executive functions,” so each garden can focus on cultivating food, community and climate resilience — their sacred mission.
- Funding: Let’s get this work funded so it can strengthen and grow.
In 2024, DUG will launch the Urban Garden Project (the UGP). While still taking form, this initiative will provide community garden organizations with the support they need to thrive and have optimum impact for their communities. This year we’ll be defining what the structure of the UGP will be and will going into the field to assess the full range of needs.
If you are part of a community garden or a community garden organization, please reach out and let’s talk — linda@dug.org.
Happy holidays to all and I send my deepest gratitude to my hosts and all of the extraordinary people I met on my Australian journey.
Additional links to interesting things:
- Media coverage
- Northey Street City Farms — Brisbane
- Uncle David Wandin
- Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation
- Costa Georgiadis
- Hannah Maloney, Good Life Permaculture
#urbanagricultureforum #urbanagriculturemonth #sustainaustralia #communitygardensaustralia #denverurbangardens #urbanagriculture #communitygardens #nickrose #naomilacey #rabekhaseibert #costageorgiadis #hannahmaloney
