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Our Corporate Target: The City of Fremantle will promote an understanding of the One Planet Council program with its staff and commit to supporting community projects and targets based on increasing the number of community and / or sustainability projects and / or the level of support (financial and staff time) by 2020.

Our Community Target: The City of Fremantle will promote an understanding of the One Planet Council program with the community and commit to enabling at least 3000 people per year to engage in One Planet related activities (10% of population) - including community and cultural events.

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Everybody loves to live and work in a vibrant community and the City of Fremantle strives towards ensuring it provides a huge range of diverse community, sustainability, arts and cultural experiences across the annual calendar.

The City works to ensure a healthy community by providing services to support best practice food safety and innovative cultural food offerings; including an incredible 'unique food' vendor' project which sees diverse food and drink businesses supported throughout the city.

Policies are in place to prevent smoking in shared public spaces; particularly around playgrounds and public beaches, as well as alcohol harm prevention policies and a strong public cleanliness ethic.

Healthy transport options such as walking and cycling are also regularly promoted through events and publications.

We also work to ensure a beautiful City, with support for heritage conservation, streetscape improvement and preservation and improvement of green space key tenets of our One Planet Strategy.

The City is a partner in an annual design project with Edith Cowan University called 'The Happiness Project' which is centred on researching what 'happiness' means to Fremantle and using design thinking to enhance happiness in the city.

Current projects

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Our Corporate Target: The City of Fremantle will promote an understanding of the One Planet Council program with its staff and commit to supporting community projects and targets based on increasing the number of community and / or sustainability projects and / or the level of support (financial and staff time) by 2020.

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YOUTH living in a Nimbin housing complex saw the benefits of a community garden and have now installed two garden beds as part of Neighbour Day.

They also repainted the front fence at the complex, called The Nimbin Transitional Housing Units.

Neighbour Day, which runs annually in March, recognises the importance of good relationships with the people in your community.

Northern Rivers Social Development Council's Connecting Home case worker, Heath Mayne, directed the gardening and painting project.

"It is my hope the garden will give the young people living there the sense of community with each other," he said.

"I hope that it will give them sense of shared ownership of the project.

"The young people living here at the moment are really house proud ... which is why I wanted to do this project so they can maintain it and be proud of it."

Resident Malcha, 16, said she was keen to teach some of the other young people new recipes using herbs and veggies from the gardens.

"And making lots of pasta sauce, which will be really good," she said.

"We'll have to look after the garden together, maybe make a roster or something."

Kristy and Zac have been living at the complex for about one month.

Zac said Kristy loved her vegetables, the new garden would save them money in grocery bills and it would keep them busy.

There are four units as part of The Nimbin Transitional Housing Units, which house homeless or at risk of becoming homeless youth for three to six month periods.

"Not all of them have come from the nicest of places in the past, but they're all doing really well and I want to support them in that," Mr Mayne said.

"One of the young people has just got a job so we're starting to work on an exit plan for him, and another has just got an apprenticeship.

"The idea is to get their stability sorted and to move on into private rentals and become independent."

Bunnings donated all the items needed to complete the renovations, including the paint brushes, paint, the raised garden beds, dirt, mulch, and all the tools needed including a hose to maintain the gardens.

Volunteers from the Northern Rivers Social Development Council, North Coast Community Housing, Bunnings and other community members got on board to help with painting and building the gardens.

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At-risk youth work together to build a community garden

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YOUTH living in a Nimbin housing complex saw the benefits of a community garden and have now installed two garden beds as part of Neighbour Day. They also repainted the front fence at the complex, called The Nimbin Transitional Housing Units.

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The urban orchard produces organic fruit, vegetables and herbs.

by James Sherbon

Green space, on its own, is definitely worth adding to a cityscape. But a green space that is used to grow food is even better.

That was the thinking of Josh Byrne, principal at Fremantle-based landscape architect Josh Byrne & Associates (JBA), when he took the project design brief for what was to become the Perth Cultural Centre Urban Orchard, as part of the Perth Cultural Centre development initiative.

JBA got to work with what was a disused area on the rooftop of a car park in the Perth city-fringe area of Northbridge. An initial attempt at "greening" had seen some grass and garden beds installed, but when Byrne got involved in 2009, it was "all very run-down" - of a piece, he says, with the way in which the entire Perth Cultural Centre precinct had come to be seen, as neglected and uninviting.

"The Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority (MRA), which is the implementation arm of the state government's planning portfolio, wanted to rejuvenate the entire cultural centre precinct," Byrne says. "It's an area of civic open space in between a number of Perth's cultural institutions - the Art Gallery of WA, the State Museum, the State Library, the State Theatre - right in the centre of the city, above the central Perth train station, and basically a linkway between the CBD and Northbridge, the entertainment precinct. So it had tons of potential for renewal - it just gave no one any reason to hang around."

The brief from the MRA to JBA was to make the space live and work again. "It was more than just pretty it up, it was 'get this space working and humming'," Byrne says. "It was a classic rejuvenation, reactivation, make-this-a-place type of approach."

Byrne and his team came up with the "urban orchard" concept, a community garden that produced organic fruit, vegetables and herbs.

"We didn't want to just landscape the space, we wanted to meet the MRA's sustainability objectives, and we thought the best way to do that was to create a community garden that was a resource for all. So we put in garden beds and planter boxes - made from recycled waste from other parts of the building works - and planted fruit, vegetables, herbs and companion plants," Byrne says.

The plants are managed organically and are harvested and planted seasonally. "We chose 30-odd productive fruit trees - including different varieties of citrus, stone fruit, guava and olives - to provide fruit at different times throughout the year. Then we had about 300 square metres of productive annual vegetable garden beds, for vegetables and herbs, underneath these fruit trees. To ensure that the trees were pollinated, we put borders of perennial companion plants around the outside of the garden to ensure that there were always flowers to attract in pollinators, bees and wasps. In the early years, as the fruit trees were growing, the focus was really on vegetables; but now the fruit trees are coming into production and maturing, there are opportunities for ongoing fruit picking."

There is even a native wetland.

Community garden

From the start, it was a community garden. "We wanted an 'open-pick' model, but we wanted strong community involvement," Byrne says. "The design exercise was up and under way in about 2010, and for the next three years, we ran seasonal workshops and busy-bees on the weekends, and we would put the invitation out through social media and get a bit of local media coverage. We would have anywhere from 100 to 200 people roll up and over two to three hours, we would do the seasonal harvest, and replant the next season's vegetables."

The idea was that the people who came along to help out would share in the produce, but more importantly, Byrne says, is that the urban orchard gave people the opportunity to learn how to grow food. "That's a skill that has been lost fairly quickly in recent generations, but there is a resurgence in interest around local food production and so on. We definitely wanted to foster that."

Now a lush setting with the city skyline as a backdrop, the urban orchard is host to a range of cultural events throughout the year, and a refuge for those seeking to escape the Perth CBD. But it is still a functioning garden and a community asset. "We have an arrangement with one of the local community garden groups, which has a contract through MRA to do some base maintenance, but they also volunteer as staff, and trainees and students and other volunteers roll up, and tend to the gardens, and learn new gardening techniques," Byrne says. "It's been a hugely rewarding project for us to be involved in."

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The city feeding the city: Urban orchard bears fruit

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Green space, on its own, is definitely worth adding to a cityscape. But a green space that is used to grow food is even better. That was the thinking of Josh Byrne, principal at Fremantle-based landscape architect Josh Byrne & Associates, when he took the project design brief for what was to become the Perth Cultural Centre Urban Orchard.

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These fact sheets are offered by the Australian City Farms & Community Gardens Network under a Creative Commons licence for community gardeners, non-government organisations, local government and sustainability educators to download, print and distribute unchanged.

Here's some ideas for returning food production to the city in community gardens. The fact sheets are a collection of ideas to get you started in your community garden using some of the basic techniques for productive gardening.

View flipping books via issuu.com

About the ACFCGN

COMMUNITY GARDENS AND CITY FARMS are places where people come together to grow fresh food, to learn, relax and make new friends.

The Australian City Farms and Community Gardens Network (ACFCGN) is a community-based organisation that networks community gardeners, city farmers and those engaged in other community food systems, that educates and advises on community gardening and advocates for citizen-based urban agricultural initiatives.
Download (1.7MB)
Checklist for new community gardens

Use this checklist to:

record what you like and what you are uncertain of when touring community gardens to collect ideas for a new community garden

think about what you would like in a new community garden and how you might manage it.

After visiting community gardens, organise a debriefing session to collate, from this checklist, what you like, what you don't want and what needs further investigation for inclusion in your new community garden.
Download (pdf 184 KB)
Safety in the community garden

Safety in the community garden is mostly thoughtfulness and common sense. This fact sheet covers a few of the common considerations for safe gardening.
Download (pdf 924 KB)
What is community gardening

A basic introduction to the practice of community gardening. Suited for distribution at introductory information sessions on community gardening.
Download (pdf 2.1 MB)
What is organic gardening

An introduction to an approach to food production that is safest for gardeners, soils and nearby environments.
Download (pdf 4.1 MB)
How to compost

Turning waste into fertiliser is a practice in all community gardens. This fact sheet offers a simple method of compost production.

Suitable for distribution at compost production workshops and to people new to the practice.
Download (pdf 2.2 MB)
How to build a no-dig garden

A simple method, based on the no-dig gardening method developed by Sydney organic gardener, Esther Deans, that makes use of old newspaper (or similar paper waste) and straw for easy-to-make garden beds.

Suited to distribution to participants in workshops and courses.

Illustrations by Rob Allsop, Quietworks.
Download (pdf 1.2 MB)
Integrated pest management

An intelligent, observation and knowledge-based approach to controlling garden pests without recourse to synthetic chemical controls.
Download (pdf 3.1 MB)
What is crop rotation

A simple, four or five phase method of gardening that can reduces the incidence of soil-borne pathogens and restores soil fertility.
Download (pdf 3.7 MB)
What is permaculture

A short introduction to the permaculture design system.

Permaculture is a thinking tool that is useful at the design phase of community garden development.
Download (pdf 1.4 MB)
The sustainable home

Many community gardeners also seek ways to improve energy and water use in their homes.

This fact sheet introduces some of the principles in conservative energy and water use and other ways to make your home safe and low-impact.
Download (pdf 4.1 MB)
Blogging our stories

HOW WOULD YOU LIKE to blog about your community gardening experience, about your garden, your ideas, the gardeners, the plants, the design and management of community gardens and city farms?

It's not hard to do this. That's why we have written this brief guide about writing blogs for the Australian City Farms & Community Gardens Network's (ACFCGN) website and social media. By following the material in the 'how to write' section you will create informative and interesting blogs that are published on our website.

Blogging our stories can be motivating to those just starting out and to others who have been growing the communal way for some time. It's the sharing of our experience and knowledge that is key to building thriving and productive community gardens and city farms and to building the social movement emerging around these things.

The Network's website and social media are the ideal place to get our stories out as they have national - even international - reach.
Download (pdf 662KB)
The media release

AS A MEANS for organisations to distribute information, the media release is an artefact of the old journalism of newspapers, print magazines, radio and TV that continues in the era of online media. It is old and perhaps a little tired, but it has not yet expired.
Download (pdf 466KB)

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These fact sheets are offered by the Australian City Farms & Community Gardens Network under a Creative Commons licence for community gardeners, non-government organisations, local government and sustainability educators to download, print and distribute unchanged. Here's some ideas for returning food production to the city in community gardens.

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Objective Inclusive to all the community

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Objective Inclusive to all the community

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Free library

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The Little Free Library movement has come to Perth.

The movement provides free education and cultural services in a box slightly larger than a mailbox, with four of Australia's 35 registered Little Free Libraries now in Perth.

The movement started with the Little Free Library book exchange in 2009 in Hudson, Wisconsin. Founder Todd Bol built a miniature one-room schoolhouse in his mother's memory, filled it with books, and put it on a post in his front yard. Today there are over 25, 000 Little Free Libraries worldwide.

A Little Free Library is made with recycled materials, but the design is at the discretion of the maker. The books inside can be taken, swapped, or just used to strike up conversation with a literacy-loving stranger.

Bayswater resident and owner of Perth's second registered Little Free Library Rob Strahan said that he liked the sense of community behind the movement.

"I'm a massive fan of books being made to be read," Mr Strahan said.

"We've all got books we read once or maybe twice; I like the idea of community."

According to Mr Strahan children's books were most popular in his Little Free Library.

"Kids books tend to go and not get replaced so we have a hard time keeping up with kids books."

Along with his children Mr Strahan is also bringing a Little Free Herb Garden to his community, allowing neighbours to help themselves to the fresh produce.

Cottesloe resident Loraine Corrie also believes that a plant and produce exchange could be the next direction for the Little Free Movement in Australia. Ms Corrie, along with husband Rob Kornweibel, built their Little Free Library to promote both a sense of community and a love of reading.

"People seem amazed that nothing bad has happened and ask if books get stolen," said Ms Corrie.

"The answer is you can't steal something that is free. The LFL is small and quirky, and seems to promote trust."

Ms Corrie believes that new publications and those by established authors are most popular at the Cottesloe library, and she would like to work on the selection available to children who like to use the pintsized structure.

In Madison, Wisconsin, the Little Free Movement is beginning to move in a new direction. Since 2012 visual artists Rachael Bruya and Jeremy Wineburg have operated Little Galleries. Their two miniature galleries house a new contemporary art show each month between May and November. The Little Galleries accept art proposals from enthusiasts and have a focus on connecting the art show to the site and engaging viewers in unusual ways.

In the works is The Little Free Museum movement, which quickly gaining momentum, and engineer Matt Hirsh says after seeing his neighbours libraries and art galleries, his imminent science museum was an obvious next step.

Also in Madison, Wisconsin, Mr Hirsh has already raised over $2000 through Kickstarter to fund the construction of the Little Free Museum, which will house science exhibits aimed at 11 to 14 year olds, when Mr Hirsh believes interests in science and technology begin to solidify.

"Its not just about sharing ideas," Mr Hirsh says.

"If any single 'little structure' effects change in a single individual's life, I consider that a success.

"I don't have any predefined ideas about what should or will be next for the Little Free Movement. It is exciting because it allows an individual to share his/her passions with a community."

The only thing that limits where the Little Free Movement goes next is imagination. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a Little Free Bakery.

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Little Free Libraries find a home in Perth

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The Little Free Library movement has come to Perth. The movement provides free education and cultural services in a box slightly larger than a mailbox, with four of Australia's 35 registered Little Free Libraries now in Perth. The movement started with the Little Free Library book exchange in 2009 in Hudson, Wisconsin.

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Pop up free clothes store homeless

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Cape Town-based advertising agency M&C Saatchi Abel and the local Haven Night Shelter Welfare Organisation have joined forces to create a pop-up street store that offers free donated clothes to the homeless.

The Street Store consists of a series of multifunctional cardboard posters that turn an ordinary sidewalk or fence into a shop display. Some of the posters have a hole in them, that allow people to use them as cloth hangers. The project asks citizens to donate clothes and shoes they don't wear and leave them 'in' the shop so the homeless can pick them up.

Homeless people usually receive a box with clothing of their size, but they're not able to choose the garments. The Street Store gives them the opportunity to choose whatever they like to wear. The concept makes it easy to donate and pick up clothes. Volunteers at the spot receive the garments and help the shoppers with wrapping up the just been given clothing.

The first Street Store was launched in Cape Town, but more cities around the world are likely to follow. The project is open source, so everyone can set up a Street Store in their city. Head over to thestreetstore.org, print the posters and get a store running on a sidewalk in your neighborhood.

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Sidewalk Pop-Up Store Offers Free Clothes To The Homeless

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Cape Town-based advertising agency M&C Saatchi Abel and the local Haven Night Shelter Welfare Organisation have joined forces to create a pop-up street store that offers free donated clothes to the homeless. The Street Store consists of a series of multifunctional cardboard posters that turn an ordinary sidewalk or fence into a shop display.

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Ideas