Urban Agriculture Lab

Urban Agriculture Lab

In line with the Urban & Peri-Urban Agriculture Food System Renewal Manifesto of 2018, we are reigniting the discussion in the community to speed up the process of Food Transformation. 

The current food system is undermining the ecological and hydrological qualities of the planet, both directly and via its significant contribution to climate change: 

1. Biodiversity is threatened through land clearing and monocultural crops.
2. Soils are being eroded and degraded through industrial farming techniques.
3. Landscapes are being destroyed by the mining and processing required to produce agrichemicals. 
4. Waterways are being depleted and polluted by over-extraction.
5. Oceans are being acidified and polluted by agricultural by-products. 

Meanwhile, approximately 40% of food produced globally goes to waste each year, intensifying greenhouse gas emissions and creating a further raft of problems.

The crisis is also manifest in social, physical, and mental health impacts. Dietary-related ill-health is the biggest public health issue facing Australia. Our daily lives are relentlessly fast and busy, yet increasingly people report high levels of social isolation. More than ever before, we are disconnected from the social reality and ecology of our food system, and from each other.

We believe that every person is responsible to reconnect with the food system in a way that:

1. Regenerates the natural capital. 
2. Avoids waste and pollution. 
3. Produces healthier food products. 

These are solutions proposed in a Circular Economy. We are dealing with a complex problem that requires a multifaceted approach. We want to enhance the great localised work already happening and provide the synergy needed to foster transformation in the urban agriculture space.

Leading up to the third national Urban Agriculture Forum and the inaugural Urban Agriculture Month, this Urban Agriculture Lab is the first of a series of monthly events happening until April 2021. This is an experimental project and together we will learn and adapt to create the innovation ecosystem required to meet our goals.

Pre-reading material

• Circular futures: What Will They Look Like? Ecological Economics, 175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2020.106703
• The Circular Economy – Parliament of Victoria & Recycling Victoria Policy
• Circular Economy Policy NSW
• Food Initiative

Visual Platform for Teamwork

• MIRO – we will use this platform to collaborate with each other. It will be free to use during the event. You do not need to register unless you already have an account or want to register.

Bruna Iotti Amaral – Sustainability Expert

Bruna has accepted responsibility for her role in making the planet less precarious and leaving it better than she found it. She has experience as a trainer and facilitator working with corporate sustainability. She is an experienced behaviour change professional in both private and government sectors. She also volunteers in the community and making a difference is her raison-d’etre. 

Bruna thoroughly disputes that the profit motive is the only success factor worth measuring, and points to the environmental degradation all around us as proof of its failings. As the global chorus for change gains momentum, she says things that challenge our apathies and doing things that set a good example.  Always with an underlying spirit of love and hope. She is hopeful that a future following the Circular Economy/Doughnuts Economics could pave the way to a more sustainable life.

Dr. Nick Rose - Sustain: The Australian Food Network

Nick has been the Executive Director of Sustain since its establishment in January 2016. With a background in law and community development, Nick brings more than a decade of working at the grassroots and institutional level in several Australian states in food sovereignty and sustainable food systems. 

He is the editor of Fair Food: Stories from a Movement Changing the World (2015) and the co-editor of Reclaiming the Urban Commons: The past, present and future of food growing in Australian towns and cities (2018). Nick is also a lecturer in the Bachelor of Food Studies and Master of Food Systems and Gastronomy at William Angliss Institute. 

Sustain

Sustain works for the transition to a food system that supports flourishing communities, individuals and ecosystems. Sustain’s mission is to catalyse meaningful and powerful connections to enable the emergence of a flourishing and healthy food system, realised through food systems events, research, network-building and consultancy services.

Steven Liaros  -  PolisPlan

Steven Liaros is a director of town planning consultancy PolisPlan. Writing extensively on the future of cities, Steven is exploring how settlement patterns are being reshaped by distributed information and energy systems. 

With qualifications in Civil Engineering, Town Planning and Environmental Law, Steven is currently undertaking a PhD research project in Political Economy at the University of Sydney as part of the process of co-creating a new model for village-scale, regenerative land development based on the principles of the Circular Economy and the Steady State Economy.

Susan Laukens - President, Knox Community Gardens

For the past 10 years Susan has been a member of the Knox Community Gardens in Boronia (Melbourne) with her husband and two children. Susan grew up in country Victoria in an Italian household, where home grown food and home cooking with fresh, seasonal vegetables was considered normal. Susan has continued this tradition with her own family, growing vegetables all year round at the gardens. At her home, they have planted a fruit forest with 12 different varieties. 

In 2017, Susan became the President of Knox Community Gardens. They currently have a growing waiting member’s list and as a result they have aspirations to expand this superb urban agriculture project into satellite gardens in the municipality. 

Susan is a strong advocate within her community, working tirelessly to promote the benefits of community gardens. When she is not gardening, Susan is a registered nurse working within the community nursing sector looking after vulnerable residents in their homes.

 About The Future of Food Systems: Transition & Recovery Series.

In the face of extraordinary challenges and hardships, Australia's food systems organisations have rallied in 2020. While restrictions ease, we know we will never return to where we once were - nor do we want to. Since our establishment in January 2016, we have said that so much of how we manage our landscapes and feed our communities is unjust and unsustainable. The major challenge we face going forward is how to keep the momentum up, grab the increased interest in sustainable and resilient food systems with both hands and transition in such an unstable context. The 'Transition & Recovery' Series will bring together food systems experts to discuss how we can work collaboratively to achieve these goals.

Our Events: 

Sustain is proud to host interactive events - we welcome you to introduce yourself and what you do at the start of each webinar and will ensure you have time to ask questions at the end. If you have a question you can't wait to ask, or a particular area of interest please send it to georgia@sustainaustralia.org in advance. 

Please note webinars will be held over Zoom and will be recorded, so please ensure your settings reflect what you are comfortable with. 

Sustain members are able to attend this series for free! Click here to learn more and sign up to become a member.