Coffs Coast Local Food Futures Part A_Final Report - Coffs Harbour ...

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Local Food Futures Project Part A: Final Report Embedding Sustainability Local food as a catalyst for a conversation about sustainability To many, sustainability is a difficult concept and one that is difficult to define. This project has demonstrated that using the issue of local food is a fantastic theme around which to explore and discuss real issues of sustainability. These include consumerism, peak oil, climate change, community resilience to sudden change, personal choices, chemical usage, biodiversity, industrialised agriculture and the centralised power of large supermarkets and agricultural/chemical corporations versus small scale community driven diversified agriculture. Offering best practice examples of sustainability and spaces for conversations about sustainability – building communities of change Conversations around sustainability are now happening and many have been triggered by the project offering activities and events with the space for people to network and discuss these issues in greater depth. On a local scale, the community gardens offer an ongoing example of what sustainable food production can look like, along with other examples of how to live more sustainably (water conservation, waste reuse, renewable energy, bush regeneration and preservation of biodiversity). At the heart of these gardens is also the idea of social sustainability – building a community of change, a place where people can come together to learn new skills and to build a better future together where people share resources. A sustainable future will need many more spaces like these where people can come together, to reunite as a community, moving us away from the individualised and decentralised, isolating approaches of the last 30 years. In addition to the gardens, the project has helped build significant networks and partnerships throughout the community around local food and sustainability that will be ongoing. The value of the relationships that have been built through undertaking these projects together is difficult to quantify or measure but is critical to any movement towards sustainability. Indeed it is at the very heart of it. Integration of sustainability in government policy Some progress has been made towards integration of local food outcomes into council’s policies, plans and strategies and hence decision-making processes. The role and value of local food has certainly been elevated but there is still significant work to be done in this area if, as a region, we wish to ensure that we are best positioned to react to future shocks, such as climate change and peak oil. The threat of continued urban and sub-urban expansion on our limited agricultural land remains. Over time however, with growing community awareness and increasing social capital, the momentum and pressure will build to protect our agricultural landscapes and hence the sustainability of our food supply. Delays or Difficulties Encountered There were a limited number of delays and/or difficulties encountered over the three year duration of the project. These are discussed below: Scope and Capacity for Delivery The scope of the project, as detailed in the Business Plan, was in hindsight, very ambitious for a $250,000 project. There was no inclusion in the budget for salaries, other than nominal payments to cover some volunteer costs. This meant that the work associated with the project was undertaken by community volunteers and in-kind contributions from Council staff. The amount of work involved in delivering the various aspects of the project was underestimated which left people feeling stressed and over committed at times. The Project Manager had to juggle many projects simultaneously limiting their time allocation to the project. In addition there was a degree of frustration felt by the Project Manager with a lack of understanding within Council about it’s important ongoing role around local food and community resilience. Specifically, the importance of council’s role in the development and running of the community garden and the significant regional role that the community garden will play was not well understood. Generating understanding that local food approaches have a critical role to play in a sustainable future and that Council is a key facilitator of this remained a challenge to this project. 20
Community Gardens The main challenge of the project was the identification of suitable sites for the two community gardens and the steps necessary to get approvals for these gardens. This caused a delay of 12 months to this part of the project. Neither of the two Councils involved in the project had been involved in community gardens before. This meant that it was very much a “path untrodden” in terms of policy development. The process was at times bureaucratic but the lessons learnt through this process have now been incorporated into a draft Council Community Garden Policy and Guidelines. There was also a significant amount of time required for education of staff, Councillors and the community about the value and role of community gardens and their acceptance as a valid use of public open space, beyond the traditional use as sports fields. To this end the Local Food Alliance funded Russ Grayson to come up from Sydney for several days to give talks and presentations to both the community and Councillors about community gardens in public open space and their role in generating sustainable communities. Suitable sites were finally identified and both gardens are now up and running. Evaluation/reporting requirements One of the main objectives within the project was to involve and actively work with community groups to support and build their capacity to implement on-ground activities. Whilst this has been extremely successful in creating a wide regional network of those passionate about local food and working together, it has not been without its challenges. Many groups do not understand or see the value in evaluation of projects but are focussed, understandably, on project delivery. It has been challenging to emphasise the importance of consistently collecting quality, quantitative and qualitative data and some of the data collection was not as robust as it could have been. Modifications Extension to grant An extension of 6 months was granted by the Environmental Trust due to unexpected time taken to get all the approvals necessary for the Community Gardens to progress. Business Plan There were only minor changes from the Business Plan to the project activities delivered and associated minor budgetary changes. Lessons Learnt 1. Ensure that groups working in partnership on projects are very clear about their commitments around expected outcomes and reporting when drawing up project agreements. Allow adequate time to support and assist them. 2. Ensure you have allowed adequate resourcing for staff to manage projects. When applying for grant funding include a salary component for staff time. 3. Multi-stakeholder approaches, such as that employed in the design and governance structures of this project, can be extremely effective in real and ongoing change for sustainability in communities. It facilitates grass roots community groups with their existing strong local networks, in linking with, and being supported by, government and other agencies who have the strategic “big picture” and can leverage resources. 4. If at first you don’t succeed, try and then try again and keep trying. Find those who can help and support you. Creating change is always challenging and takes time and persistence. Celebrate your successes and stay motivated. This project has been assisted by the NSW Government through its Environmental Trust 21
Page 1 and 2: Local Food Futures Project Part A:
Page 3 and 4: The Farm Gate Trail & Seasonal Cale
Page 5 and 6: Introduction This project establish
Page 7 and 8: Milestones The Milestone Timetable
Page 9 and 10: Key Focus Areas - Summary of Outcom
Page 11 and 12: Summary of the Focus Area (continue
Page 13 and 14: Key Focus Area: Showcasing Stakehol
Page 15 and 16: Stakeholder Engagement and Particip
Page 17 and 18: Project Timetable Milestone/Activit
Page 19: Schedule C Environmental Trust Outc
Page 23 and 24: This project has been assisted by t
Page 29 and 30: Local Food Futures Project NSW ENVI
Page 31 and 32: Partner/ Stakeholder Communication
Page 33 and 34: Schools Due to site access issue ou
Page 35 and 36: Monitoring & Evaluation Attached se
Page 37 and 38: support of Council approval of the
Page 39 and 40: Appendix C Bellingen Community Gard
Page 41 and 42: Bellingen High School Garden Open D
Page 43 and 44: Monitoring and Evaluation Please se
Page 45: groups. One possibility being discu

Coffs Coast Local Food Futures Part A_Final Report - Coffs Harbour ...

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