This is to reminder that you are welcome to post your sustainable-city related events, initiatives, research & even questions & ideas for free DIRECTLY on SustainableCitiesNet.com!

SustainableCitiesNet.com is a communications hub as “a portal to the future of cities” that are ecologically, socially and culturally sustainable. It serves as a network and communication system to deliver information, to connect people and projects, to accelerate the city’s transformation across the world. For more information about this site please visit “About“.

To contribute a post click here and follow the instructions. If you have any problems posting your data please contact either:
Ferne Edwards, Project co-ordinator & site moderator, at fedwards @unimelb.edu.au or
Simon DAlfonso, Technical support, at dals @unimelb.edu.au.

Please see some information below about a novel idea from Herdshare, http://herdshare.com/. I, for one, would love to learn more about it. Do you know of any other similar examples? Comments are welcome!

Milk from your own cow!
As the ‘locavore’ movement gains momentum, we’re realising the benefit of sourcing our food locally more and more. Here’s a new initiative to help us source raw milk locally too. It’s called ‘Herdshare‘. How it works is you pay a farmer a fee for boarding your cow, (or share of a cow), caring for and milking the cow. You then obtain (but don’t purchase) the milk from your own cow… It’s kinda like owning a share in a crop, racehorse or a bull, but better. It’s still in the development stages, but if enough of us express our interest it really could happen.

If you are interested please pass it on or register here http://herdshare.com/

As reads from their website, “TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader. The annual conference now brings together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes). This site makes the best talks and performances from TED available to the public, for free. More than 200 talks from our archive are now available, with more added each week.”

TED is a fantastic, inspirational resource which offers a range of talks that would engage the Sustainable Cities Net audience. For example, related themes include A Greener Future?, Design Like You Give a Damn, Inspired by Nature, Technology, History and Destiny, The Power of Cities, The Rise of Collaboration, and more…. Check it out and enjoy!

Please find a snapshot below of one of the more recent posts from SustainableMelbourne.com. To view the original post visit http://www.sustainablemelbourne.com/urban-design-and-built-form/resource-introduction-to-the-sustainable-cities-round-table-on-sustainable-food-systems-28-may/

Please find below a report about the ‘Edible Cities’ movement which was based on some urban agriculture projects a delegation from London, UK, visited in the US, supported by the US Embassy, as part of an exchange trip with Growing Power, Milwaukee.

The ‘Edible Cities’ report can be found here: http://www.sustainweb.org/page.php?id=432, and is available for free download.

URL: http://www.sfvictorygardens.org/about.html

A local network of home gardens = A community of food producers!
Victory Gardens 2008+
(VG2008+) is a program of Garden for the Environment and the City of San Francisco’s Department for the Environment. A two-year pilot project to support the transition of backyard, front yard, window boxes, rooftops and unused land into organic food production areas, Victory Gardens 2008+ derives its title from, and build on, the successful nationwide Victory Garden programs of WWI and WWII. Victory Gardens 2008+, however, redefines “Victory” in the pressing context of urban sustainability. “Victory” is growing food at home for increased local food security and reducing the food miles associated with the average American meal.

Victory Gardens 2008+ was ideated by San Francisco based artist and designer Amy Franceschini in the Fall of 2006, for which she received the 2006 SECA award from the SF MOMA. Amy Franceschini partnered with Garden for the Environment for the planting of three initial Victory Gardens, and to develop and operate a citywide Victory Gardens program in San Francisco.

Please find information about The Chatham House Food Supply Project published in May 2008.

URL: http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/publications/papers/view/-/id/624/

Chatham House Food Supply Project, May 2008

Download Paper here

Demand for food is increasing because the global population is rising and major developing economies are expanding. Global supply capacity, meanwhile, is struggling to keep up with changing requirements. Four global food supply scenarios have been developed by the Chatham House Food Supply Project to consider the challenges created and their impact on the EU/UK:

• ‘Just a Blip’: what if the present high price of food proves to be a brief spike with a return to cheap food at some point soon?
• ‘Food Inflation’: what if food prices remain high for a decade or more?
• ‘Into a New Era’: what if today’s food system has reached its limits and must change?
• ‘Food in Crisis’: what if a major world food crisis develops?

Across the world the responses to change will be conditioned by uncertainties surrounding the availability of sufficient energy, water, land and skills. EU/UK stakeholders need to start planning now to develop new food supply systems that are up to the task.

More about this project: UK Food Supply in the 21st Century: The New Dynamic.

A reminder of Growing Communities’ Australian School Gardens Network Gathering and the Learning in the Garden Seminar, happening in Brisbane on 13th, 14th & 15 July 2008. With less than 4 weeks to go, make sure your registration is in by the 6th July to secure a place both at the gathering and at the seminar. To download full program and registration form go to http://www.growingcommunities.org.au/litg2008.htm

Since we started promoting the idea of gathering the school gardens community together, we found that there are many people and organisations around Australia working in some capacity in or with school gardens. Many of these people don’t know of or have not heard of one another’s work. We have also found that there is a growing interest in school gardens by NGOs, government and private bodies manifested with, in some cases, increasing support for school gardens initiatives at local, state and federal levels.

As a result Growing Communities see it as crucial that those working in this field should come together to look at these issues. It is of great value to explore ways of working cooperatively and examine the important role that school gardens will have in addressing pressing environmental, health and food security issues affecting Australia today.

We hope to see as many of you coming to Brisbane in July.

Happy gardening.

Growing Communities
192 Boundary Street, West End, Qld 4101
i: www.growingcommunities.org.au

Growing Communities is a community based cooperative enterprise working to promote the establishment, development and on-going support of school gardens, community gardens and city farms in South East Queensland and beyond.

Please find below an interview about The GreenHouse project based in South Africa from Inhabitat.

URL: http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/06/14/the-greenhouse-project-sustainable-living-in-johannesburg/
The GreenHouse Project: Sustainable Living in Johannesburg
by Kate Andrews

In the heart of South African city Johannesburg, a green focused community is transforming one urban park into a seedbed for sustainable living. Directed by Dorah Lebelo, The GreenHouse Project takes a holistic approach to integrating green building and design, efficient and renewable energy, recycling and organic farming into the city’s mindset. The Global Oneness Project recently interviewed Dorah to find out her motivations and intentions for this fantastic sustainable initiative.

Copyright photo courtesy of The Global Oneness Project

Please find below some information about the “Australia 2020 Summit: Final Report” which was recently posted on Australian Policy Online . There is also a link to the full article below.

Australia 2020 Summit: Final Report, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Posted: 02-06-2008

“This report is intended to provide a record of the Australia 2020 Summit and recommendations on each of the discussion areas for consideration by the Australian government. It is based on ideas put forward by participants during the summit discussion sessions, outcomes from preliminary summit events and ideas generated from public submissions received prior to the summit.

The report includes an introductory section and ten chapters which can be viewed and/or downloaded separately.
> Read full text”