Sustain: The Australia Food Network is hosting the third in this year’s series of Urban Agriculture Forums as part of Urban Agriculture Month in Canberra.
Sustain has long advocated for a significant expansion of urban agriculture across the country to make Australia’s towns and cities ‘edible’. The organisation’s research – detailed in its recently published report, ‘Growing Edible Cities and Towns: A survey of the Victorian urban agriculture sector’ has shown that resourcing is a key constraint.
Food system change requires government engagement at all levels: local, state and federal. Fittingly, one of the speakers at the Forum will be recently elected independent Senator for Canberra, David Pocock.
Attendees will also hear from returning Churchill Fellows and Canberrans keen to see the nation’s capital become a thriving urban food hub.
Speaker lineup
- Executive Director of the Canberra Region Food Collaborative (CRFC) Michael Claessens, head of Regional Development Australia’s ACT division, a participant in the Future Food Systems CRC. Claessens’ current focus is on building an Australian-first integrated and sustainable city-region food system. As part of that mission, he helped establish Canberra’s first vertical farm installation and Tuggeranong’s first major sustainable food project.
- Plant ecology and physiology major, permaculture teacher (alongside David Holmgren), sustainable organic farming advocate and passionate urban food gardener Fiona Buining, who runs microgreens supplier Ainslie Urban Farm and recently returned from a Churchill Fellowship to the USA, Canada, The UK and the Netherlands, where she explored urban farm ventures that provide vocational pathways for aspiring food growers.
- Dr Nick Rose, food sovereignty and sustainable food systems activist, William Angliss Institute lecturer in food systems, food policy, and governance and food movements, and Executive Director of Sustain since its establishment in January 2016.
- Gavin Hardy, multi-award winning landscape architect and engineer. expert in permaculture, environmental design and ecological sustainability, particularly in subtropical Australia; creator of impressive urban subtropical permaculture garden Eco-flat Brisbane and numerous other sustainable landscapes; qualified Living Smart and Retrosuburbia facilitator; Queensland coordinator of Community Gardens Australia; Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship recipient; and a regular contributor to Northey Street City Farm.
- Naomi Lacey, a permaculturalist passionate about promoting healthy food systems and sustainable lifestyles, and cultivating community who helped establish the first community garden in Palmerston, near Darwin and became involved with Community Gardens Australia (CGA) in 2015, becoming its President in 2019, awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2019 to learn from community garden networks around the world.
Key details
When: 7 December 2022, 10am-noon AEDT
Where: Level 1, Endeavour House, 1 Franklin Street, Manuka ACT. View on map.
Tickets: $!5-$30 + booking fee. Note that refunds are available up to one day prior to the event.
Register now!
While the session is free of charge, pre-booking is essential.
To register, click here.