Helping Canberra’s community gardens take climate action

Twelve Canberra projects have received a grant through the Community Garden Grants Program.

They will each receive a share of $100,000 in total funding.

The benefits of community gardens

Community gardens offer opportunities for local climate action.

The program also helps Canberrans connect and learn in a shared space.

The gardens give easy access to fresh produce and increase the resilience of local food production.

Havelock Community Garden

The Canberra Student Housing Co-operative is a 2024 recipient.

They plan to use their grant funds to turn the Havelock Community Garden in Turner into a communal food production space.

This will make it a place for community connection and socialising.

They also see it as a means of engaging and educating the student community on growing and maintaining a garden.

“Education is a big part of what we’re trying to do. Through the grant, we can carry out all these projects we wouldn’t have been able to do before,” Cooperative Director Benjamin Mason said.

While volunteers and skills are plentiful, cost has been a barrier.

“This grant means we will be spending less of our budget on the inventory required to run the garden. It means we can now start gardening,” Benjamin said.

Growing their own food will bring substantial cost benefits, as well as environmental and social ones.

“We have our own bulk food storage that all residents can access as part of the housing co-operative. The overarching plan is to eat the food from the garden, but anything we can’t eat fresh will be used in our pickling program,” he said.

2024 Community Garden Grant funding streams

There are two funding streams in 2024.

In Stream 1, there is a total of $40,000 to:

• improve and enhance existing gardens
• build non-food-related gardens.

In Stream 2, there is a total of $60,000 to:

• set up large-scale food production community gardens
• build significant infrastructure to increase food production in existing gardens.

2024 grant recipients

Stream 1:

• Canberra Environment Centre: $7,835.76 to boost capacity to produce food in their community garden and increase resilience to climate change
• Canberra Organic Growers Society Inc: $2,000.00 to buy zero-emission power tools for the Charnwood Community Garden
• Holy Spirit Parish, Gungahlin: $2,641.79 to enhance the productivity and sustainability of their existing gardens
• The Food Cooperative Shop: $2,872.72 to install vertical garden infrastructure and hold composting workshops
• Red Hill Primary School P&C: $4,068.65 to plant a bush tucker garden and enhance existing food gardens
• Church of Christ Ainslie ACT Inc: $3,922.60 to improve seed raising capabilities, build more garden beds and create a frog bog along with native plantings
• Canberra Student Housing Co-operative: $2,239.00 to convert the Havelock Community Garden into a communal food production space
• Miles Franklin Primary School P&C: $8,000.00 to build the Gambara Garden, complete with fruit trees and vegetable gardens
• Scullin Community Group Inc: $2,832.84 to plant an edible sensory hedge at the Scullin Shops.

Stream 2:

• Old Narrabundah Community Council: $18,947.00 to install secure fencing around their newly renovated gardens
• Canberra Muslim Community Inc: $22,000.00 to build the GM Multicultural Community Garden at Gungahlin Mosque
• SEE Change Belconnen: $22,470.41 to build the demonstration verge garden network. This will build verge gardens in five locations across Belconnen.

The Community Garden Grants Program began in 2015. It has since supported 87 community garden projects.

Find more information on the Community Garden Grants program and this year’s recipients at the Everyday Climate Choices website.

^{The Canberra Student Housing Co-operative plans to use their grant funds to turn the Havelock Community Garden in Turner into a communal food production space.}

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