Permalculture Based Gardening Project
Linking Communities through Permaculture in St George and the Sutherland Shire is a one-year project to increase sustainable practices amongst people from CALD and community housing backgrounds in local government areas. Led by the St George Migrant Resource Centre in partnership with St George Community Housing and Inner South West Community Development Organisation in collaboration with implementing agencies comprising Thai Welfare Association, Asian Women at Work, Pakistani Australian Women’s Association and Resourceful Australian Indian Network, this project is funded by the NSW Government Environmental Trust in support of the Lower Georges River Sustainability Initiative’s “Getting Greener!” community partnerships program.
The project’s social outcomes include assisting communities encountering social isolation overcome barriers to mainstream work and study opportunities; increase food security, and increase social support networks and social harmony.
By increasing the opportunities these groups have for coming together and learning in a safe and comfortable situation, this project aims to strengthen community support networks and their capacity to mobilise human, physical and intellectual resources. Since the project’s inception in January 2011 it has achieved the following:
• Provided training for community leaders in permaculture concepts, gardening skills, leadership and knowledge management;
• Supported communities to design and build communal plots and demonstration permaculture gardens that produce edible, medicinal and ornamental plants and function as hands-on teaching and learning resources;
• Engaged community members in sustainability workshops and study tours;
• Assisted communities to document their own learning processes and culturally specific gardening knowledge.
As part of the project outcome in recording the learning experiences of the participants, a documentation process capturing their knowledge, attitude and practices is currently in the process of completion. This may include testimonies, photos, scrap book stories, audios, recipe books, and a short video clip documentary. Such materials will be used for project replication amongst current and new communities.
The project is currently in its last phase of implementation with plans to support peer-to-peer knowledge transfer from community leaders to community members. Future funding options as well as a strategy to integrate the project into the work of the partner organisations are being explored and will focus on assisting community members to use sustainability practice and permaculture gardening in at-home business enterprises or to enter the workforce as a form of sustainable project transitional strategy. An example of a successful transitional outcome of this project was the success of Resourceful Australian Indian Network in acquiring a small grant from Hurstville City Council for its inter-generational gardening project.
Challenges and Forward Planning:
As migrants face even greater challenges than the general population in regards to domestic violence (DV) (such as victims’ dependency on the visas of the perpetrators), SGMRC will work closely with local DV networks and advocate to strengthen its current DV prevention and management programs including active involvement in influencing the family violence provisions in the Immigration Act and other relevant policy and legislation.
The permaculture gardening project is currently partnering with the University of Technology Sydney’s Shopfront program, working alongside MBA students who will conduct an initial feasibility study for a social enterprise as a model for this project in the future. The expected activities include participatory consultation with communities already involved in the project and research for a feasible business model, management plan and marketing strategy for social venture. The aim is to ensure that the communities involved feel confident enough to run such a venture and are able to use it to reach a wider audience to promote sustainability in the home and/or the local area. Such a social venture would also benefit community members through information and produce exchange.