Food Forest Our Public Parks: From Ideas to Design

Can we grow more food in our public parks? We think the answer is yes!

Join us to explore this idea in practice.

Food forests are a growing movement around the world, bringing together ecological restoration, community connection and local food production.

Following the enthusiastic response to our June workshop, we're offering another session to explore these ideas further. Whether you attended the first workshop or are joining us for the first time, everyone is welcome. We'll begin with a recap of the core concepts before moving into hands-on design activities and a site visit.

What you'll do

• Recap the key principles behind syntropic agroforestry, one promising approach for establishing food forests.

• Watch an excerpt from Permadynamics, the pioneers of syntropic agroforestry in Aotearoa.

• Visit Te Kōtuitanga (Olympic Park) to better understand the site's landscape, contours and opportunities.

• Practise designing with complementary plant combinations.

• Work in small groups to develop food forest design concepts for the park, considering plant layering, edible species, water, access, pathways, biodiversity and community use.
  

This workshop is ideal for anyone interested in community food forests, schools, marae, community gardens, or anyone with access to land.

You'll gain practical skills and confidence to help design productive, resilient spaces that support local food production, biodiversity, carbon sequestration and stronger communities.

If your local park had a food forest, what would it include?

Thanks to support by the Whau Climate Action Network