About
About Urban Reforestation
Urban Reforestation is a flourishing social enterprise. Our aim is to inspire and enable sustainable everyday lifestyles and we believe this transformation will happen through:
- Designing and building interactive green places in homes, apartments, workplaces and public spaces.
- Supporting, creating and growing sustainable design projects for communities. ie. Markets, local dinners and waste management projects.
- Offering a range of professional and cost effective services and events to enhance sustainable living in your community.
- Programming your green spaces with exciting workshops in gardening, eco-markets, well being activites, sewing and cooking.
- Creating inspiring sustainable design media content eg. Our internet TV Show – Urban Goes Green, short films on sustainable lifetsyles and collaborating with media agencies such as Channel 7.
Current projects
Docklands Social Garden Project
Our first large scale social garden project is based in Victoria Harbour, Docklands, Melbourne. Over the past three years our social garden and start-up Sustainable Living Centre has been created in collaboration with developers, local council, architects, landscape architects, eco-designers, permaculturalists and last but not least people from the Docklands community. Working side-by-side with the Docklands Community we hope to further develop a permanent, larger scale Sustainable Living Centre, that acts as a multi-use space for education, wellbeing activities, community dinners, farmer’s market, a beautiful public composting bin and larger edible gardens.
Eco-Markets
We have designed and implemented eco-markets in places throughout Melbourne i.e. Whittlesea, Casey Shire and Docklands in collaboration with clients such as Lend Lease, Stockland and Vic Urban.
International Forum on Sustainable Cities Design – On the Edge
In collaboration with Village Well, The Food Alliance, Victorian Eco-Innovation Lab and RMIT University we have designed a food forum called On The Edge. The forum focuses on how we preserve, manage and develop our agricultural resources close to where a majority of people now live worldwide, in cities, will determine the future health, sustainability and conviviality of our communities. Our peri-urban agriculture is a key component of what makes Melbourne the most livable city in the world, and it’s worth protecting, now. To see more on this project, visit; http://www.villagewell.org/Test_K/Events_8/default.aspx?noflash=true
Brentwood Secondary College Learning Garden
In collaboration with Brentwood Secondary College, Urban Reforestation is designing and constructing an educational learning garden for the school. This is our flagship secondary college garden project. The aim of the garden is to teach students about environment and sustainability through gardening, sustainable living programs, energy and water efficiency and much more. Stay in touch for developments on this exciting new project!
Urban Reforestation Vision
Urban Reforestation’s vision is to be leaders in education and design in the environment and sustainability field. We aim to inspire and enable people to engage in sustainable lifestyles through food and community connectedness. To make urban agriculture and sustainable lifestyles; fun, accessible and engaging for everyone! We envisage future programs to include:
- Various activated social garden projects on rooftops, home gardens and public space, in Australia and internationally.
- Education initiatives in schools.
- State of the art website that connects people to their communities and gardens.
- Influence policy and design research in relation to sustainable design.
Sustainable Everyday Design
We are all designers and can make significant change in our communities by growing our own food, participating in community activities and issues, using sustainable transport and being healthy.
The People
Emily Ballantyne-Brodie, Director
Emily’s vision is to inspire and enable a transformation of urban environments, communities and businesses to places that have community connectedness, social entrepreneurship, vitality and lots of green! She has a Masters of Environment and Sustainability from Monash University and studied business and history as an undergraduate. She was awarded a finalist in the United Nations of Australia Sustainability Entrepreneur award in 2011. She believes people can transform our communities towards sustainability through design. Design enables us to ‘re-vision’, be creative, consider aesthetics and set strategies in place to achieve the vision. She has carried out research around the world in sustainable design. 
Erin Maitland, Project Manager
Erin Maitland is the Project Manager at Urban Reforestation and holds qualifications in Business Marketing and Advertising. She has a strong management background with vast experience in event management and marketing. She is guided by the ecological and social sustainability aims of Urban Reforestation, however strongly ties these values in with economic sustainability of the business.
Gabriela Ramos, Volunteer Liaison Officer
Gabriela has always had a sound interest for environmental issues and their solutions. Her mission is to work for communities and help them understand sustainability to create a sustainable world. After studying a Bachelor of Marketing, she went on to complete a Master of Environment at Melbourne University, focusing on environmental sustainability governance and communication. Gabriela loves working at Urban Reforestation; she can see how the organisation positively impacts the Docklands Community and believes in its potential to make a significant contribution to sustainability in a larger scale.
Stephanie J David, Development Consultant
Stephanie is passionate about community development and nurturing it through the design of sustainable urban systems. She is strong advocate for the importance of place and how if absent, decays societies and environments over time. Stephanie has directed her learning and work experiences in exploring how the built environment influences the overall societal health and wellbeing. Stephanie has lived and worked extensively in community development throughout Australia, the pacific islands, the Americas, Central and Eastern Europe and India.
Stephanie holds a Masters of Social Science (International Urban and Environmental Management) and a certified permaculturist. She has worked for a number of government, non-government and business organizations and been responsible for a number of community development projects/programs on a local, state and international scale.
Stephanie looks forward to participating in the improvement of many future canvases in Victoria and working along side equally passionate people and communities to foster permanent change.
Corinne Civalleri, Community Engagement Manager
Corinne is a Docklands resident and community minded electrical engineer. She worked for over 15 years years in the telecommunications industry. She has a passion for the environment and community matters as well as the new technologies which contribute to save and produce sustainable energy. Her favorite pass-time which she loves, is working in the Docklands garden. Corinne hopes to contribute towards creating a better future for her son and future generations by inspiring and enabling sustainable lifestyles in the Docklands.
Lauren Sinreich, Community Development Manager
Lauren has a background rich in working with people to meet their goals and needs in environmental and social initiatives and to build project momentum through community engagement. She studied Communications at undergrad in New York City and completed her Masters in Environmental Studies in New Zealand, focusing on sustainable forestry and community participation in rural Nicaragua. Throughout her experience in the field and visiting communities and cities around the world, Lauren’s been inspired by the different ways people come together. In her view, creating and nurturing connections is a simple, effective and sustainable approach for any initiative.
