Central Coast Food Resilience Labs 01: World Food Day
What could a more resilient Central Coast food system look like?
Let's build it together!
Join us this World Food Day for a participatory day of mapping, collaboration and systems thinking as we explore our local food system, strengthen connections and cultivate what comes next.
Food reaches our plates through a complex network that most of us rarely see.
As communities face the combined pressures of fire, flood, drought, extreme weather, supply-chain disruption and increasing food costs, strengthening the resilience of our local food system is becoming increasingly important.
Across the Central Coast, growers, producers, food enterprises, community gardens, educators, organisations and individuals are already doing valuable work.
The opportunity is to make that work more visible, connect the people involved, better understand our local food system and explore where we might build more resilience together.
On World Food Day - Friday 16 October 2026 - we’re inviting people from across the Central Coast food system to come together for the Central Coast Food Resilience Lab.
It is an experiential and participatory workshop in collaboration and systems thinking, applying those skills directly to the food system here on the Central Coast.
Together, we’ll begin building a clearer picture of what already exists locally, where our strengths and dependencies lie, and where stronger relationships, new ideas and greater local capacity could make a difference.
Central Coast Food Resilience Lab: World Food Day
Friday 16 October 2026
9:30am - 4:00pm
Narara Eco Village
Central Coast, NSW
Locally sourced shared lunch included.
Please allow enough time to participate in the full workshop, as the activities throughout the day build upon one another.
WHAT WE’LL DO
CONNECT
Meet and build relationships with people working, participating and creating change across the Central Coast food system.
MAP
Build on the Central Coast food mapping begun in 2025, identifying local growers, producers, suppliers, distribution networks, community gardens, food initiatives and other food-system assets.
EXPLORE
Take part in facilitated activities exploring collaboration, decision-making, competing priorities and what it means to work across a complex system.
IMAGINE
Identify existing projects, gaps, opportunities and possible future initiatives that could strengthen food resilience across the region.
ACT
Explore emerging ideas through the Resilient Communities framework developed by the Global Ecovillage Network, considering the ecological, social and economic dimensions of community resilience.
EAT
There will also be time to connect with one another over a locally sourced shared lunch.
WHO IS THE LAB FOR?
We want to bring together a diverse cross-section of the Central Coast food system.
The Lab welcomes:
Growers and producers · distributors and suppliers · community gardens · food businesses · educators · multicultural communities · community organisations · resilience practitioners · sustainability networks · local institutions · and people interested in the future of food on the Central Coast.
You don’t need to be an expert in food systems to participate.
You might grow food, sell it, distribute it, teach about it, cook it, advocate for it, research it, organise around it, or simply care about where our food comes from and the resilience of the community you live in.
Your knowledge, experience and perspective are an important part of the picture.
WHY WORLD FOOD DAY?
Our gathering takes place on World Food Day - Friday 16 October.
It offers an opportunity to bring a global conversation about food home to the Central Coast and ask:
What do we already have?
Where are the gaps?
Who needs to be connected?
And what could become possible if we worked together?
FutuResilience Events aims for the lab to create a starting point where we can cultivate a shared picture of our local food system, stronger relationships between participants, and practical opportunities for further collaboration.
SLIDING SCALE TICKETS
We want the Central Coast Food Resilience Lab to be accessible to people from across our community, regardless of financial circumstances.
For this reason, tickets are offered on a sliding scale from $10-$100.
There is no difference in the event experience you receive. Simply choose the contribution that best reflects your current circumstances and capacity to pay.
Ticket suggestions
$10-$25 Accessible Contribution
Suggested rate if finances are currently tight or a higher ticket price would create a barrier to your participation.
$30-$50 Sustaining Contribution
Suggested rate if you are comfortably able to contribute towards the costs of delivering the Lab.
$60-$100 Supporter Contribution
Suggested rate if you have greater financial capacity, are attending through an organisation or business, or would like to contribute more to help make lower-cost places available to others and support the continuation of the Food Resilience Labs.
WHAT TO BRING
Bring your curiosity, your experience and whatever knowledge you have of food and community on the Central Coast.
If you know of local growers, producers, community gardens, food businesses, distribution networks, education programs, community initiatives or other local food-system resources, we especially encourage you to bring that knowledge with you.
Most importantly, come ready to listen, contribute, collaborate and imagine what could be possible.
CONNECT · MAP · IMAGINE · ACT
Central Coast Food Resilience Labs
An initiative of FutuResilience
Together, we’re working towards a more connected, visible and resilient local food future.
We’d love you to be part of it.
Support the Food Resilience Labs
Want to contribute a little more?
Your donation helps us grow the Central Coast Food Resilience Labs and keep future events accessible to our community.
Contributions support the practical work behind the initiative; bringing people together, mapping our local food system, engaging growers and community organisations, creating accessible resources, and developing opportunities for future collaboration.
By contributing, you’re helping build stronger connections between the people, places and projects already shaping food resilience across the Central Coast.
Every contribution, big or small, helps cultivate what comes next.
Thank you for supporting a more connected and resilient local food future.
Tickets for good, not greed Humanitix dedicates 100% of profits from booking fees to charity
