The new Noble Park Community Garden is an initiative of Noble Park Community Centre and is strongly supported by local council and local businesses. Together with key stakeholders, Noble Park Community Centre and Urban Reforestation are seeking to define a vision for the site that will deliver an exemplar community garden for the benefit ofRead More

Please see links below to reports by Urban Reforestation regarding our project Target 3008 in the Docklands, Melbourne, supported by the Victorian Government’s Sustainability Fund and a large amount of in-kind support. 2009/2010 were the years Urban Reforestation engaged the Docklands community, built the demonstration Social Garden for Docklands and began our sustainable lifestyles programRead More

Emily the director from Urban Reforestation was lucky enough to visit Rob Hopkins office yesterday to research the Transition Towns Movement. Thank you very much to Transition Towns Network and in particular Francis for being such a wonderful host. There is a movement for sustainable living going on and it is grounded in place. ThisRead More

Ezio Manzini on the Economics of Design for Social Innovation by Sarah Brooks  Image by Jolien Sumers via DESIS’s Design for Togetherness Slideshare. Ezio Manzini is an Italian design strategist, one of the world’s leading experts on sustainable design, author of numerous design books, professor of Industrial Design at Milan Polytechnic, and founder of theDESIS (Design for SocialRead More

Urban Reforestation Melbourne would like to know your implementation plan? Who will be engaging the community in ‘re-foresting’ Melbourne?   Urban Reforestation Melbourne is an organisation which is equipped to assist the City of Melbourne to achieve their objectives (similar to Green Thumb in New York). Is there a way to partner with social businessRead More

Urban Reforestation is pleased to annouce there is an Urban Forest Strategy for Melbourne. For more information please see the City of Melbourne’s link below. The City strategy aims to: – adapt our city to climate change – mitigate the urban heat island effect by bringing our inner city temperatures down – create healthier ecosystemsRead More

“Wisdom demands a new orientation of science and technology toward the organic, the gentle, the elegant and beautiful.” ― E.F. Schumacher, Small is Beautiful: A Study of Economics as if People Mattered About Today we visited the Schumacher College in Dartington Hall, UK to explore their appraoch to sustainable living education. We were warmly receivedRead More

A good way to grow your own food in your backyard: Aquaponics gardening. As it combines aquaculture with raise garden beds, Aquaponics gardening uses the natural fertilizers produced by fish and is chemical free. Basically, the water from the fish tank is recycled by the plants, which remove all the excess nutrients, before returning toRead More

An interesting article to read on the Treehugger, 12/01/2012: http://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-agriculture/are-islam-and-permaculture-match-made-heaven.html Further to a project run in Jordan and that managed to turn an arid, salty desert into fertile soil, a 1 ha permaculture school farm as well as a 16 ha farm permaculture college are now about to open. Please click on the following link toRead More

Urban Reforestation works from a wonderful office space in Melbourne called “Hub Melbourne”. In a nutshell Hub Melbourne is a professional member community that drives innovation through collaboration. They host co-working spaces, curate experiences and catalyse connections for diverse individuals & organisations. Please click on this link to learn more about them: http://www.hubmelbourne.com/ Urban ReforestationRead More

Urban Reforestation would like to announce the communications brand for our organisation, ‘Sustainable Everyday Design’. The aim of this brand is to communicate all of the up-to-date information on sustainable living and stay in touch with the latest research in relation to architecture, urban design and sustainable design. We look forward to sharing more withRead More

UR is proud to annouce our partnership with the Composting Co. ‘GAEA: The Composting Co’ is a subsidiary of the larger GAEA: Environmental Services brand, which offers environmentally friendly commercial cleaning and waste management services to Melbourne businesses. The Composting Co are proud to offer the collection of spent coffee grounds to Melbourne businesses, soRead More

Urban Reforestation is happy to announce the winner of our Tomato Plant Competition we began at the Aurora Spring Fair we designed with Places Victoria! Andy Wallace’s tomato plant is growing beautifully! Check out this image. Congratulations Andy you have won a $250 planting prize pack full of wonderful gardening goodies!!

The next Eco-City Forum is being held next Wednesday 23 November in Docklands, is themed around low emissions living for residents. Check out the information below.

Last week the On the Edge Forum took place. It was a successful day with many people connecting and finding a vision forward to peri-urban agricultural land around our city. Please view this link for the presentations from the day: http://www.villagewell.org/Test_K/Events_W/default.aspx?noflash=true

An exciting announcement! In collaboration with Brentwood Secondary College, Urban Reforestation is designing and constructing an educational learning garden for the school. We are so pleased to be assisting the school as we have been involved with Brentwood’s progressive Green Teams work over the past two years. This is our flagship secondary college garden project.Read More

Okay all -we have a Spring Challenge!! We want you to send through a photo of your tomato plants and you will have a chance to win a UR Pack from us worth $250! Simply post a photo of your prized tomatos on our facebook page and we will announce the winners on the 30thRead More

Urban Reforestation is excited to announce that Village Well and ourselves are running a photography Exhibition “On The Edge” Food Sustainability Around Cities. This will be running along side the food sustainability forum which we have been developed in collaboration with Village Well, Victorian Eco Innovation Lab and the Food Alliance. To register for the exhibitionRead More

Urban Reforestation (UR) is excited to announce we are designing a sustainability focussed market that will be taking place at Vic Urban’s Aurora Estate in Epping on Sunday 23rd of October. Free stall spaces are available for local farmers, growers, gourmet foods, environmental products, arts and crafts. Please see a link to Google Maps forRead More

On the Edge Forum, October 25th 2011 For the past year Urban Reforestation has been working with a wonderful group of people from different organisations around Melbourne, including Village Well, the Food Alliance, Victorian Eco Innovation Lab and RMIT. We are exploring and challenging the ‘re-thinking’ and ‘re-designing’ of our peri-urban agricultural landscape. We areRead More

Recently a landscape architecture firm did some research on our Docklands Garden Project in Melbourne. We thought you would be interested to have a read about what they had to say! The article is by Jen Lynch a landscape architecture student at the University of Virginia.  The research was undertaken as part of a researchRead More

Hi Friends of Urban Reforestation! Happy Spring! We hope you are getting out in your balcony gardens, backgardens or community gardens and digging in with your friends. Two updates for you: 1) This Wednesday evening 7th of Spetember at the City of Melbourne HUB Building we are having a design consultation session for the newRead More

Urban Reforestation has moved the docklands community garden to the harbour side end of Merchant St. Here are some photos of the working bee that took place recently. The garden desperatly needs compost and mulch, so we are calling for any donations of organic matter (veggie scraps) for compost we will be holding another working bee soon toRead More

Thank you to all of those people who attended the beautiful Raw Food Feast on Saturday night. The food and people who came were so lovely! A special thank you to the volunteers! It would not have been possible without you. Thank you Aleksey for his special contributions to get the event off the ground!Read More

Businesses Thinking Globally and Acting Locally on Waste Peter Hardy from GHD will present on his recent expedition on the 5 Gyres team aboard the Sea Dragon, sailing through remote oceanic areas to study plastic pollution, Elizabeth Kasell, Director of Development from Red Group Holdings will discuss plastic recycling, Tania Crosbie, Director of Sustainability atRead More

You may have noticed that the Docklands Community Garden has moved to the end of Merchant Street. This is a transitory site for the garden, which will only be here for about 6 months before moving to the permanent site. All this moving around means that the garden is in need of love now moreRead More

Come and share your ideas and aspirations for the design of a new Community Garden adjacent to Victoria Green in the Docklands. • Wednesday 10 August- Introduction and Design Wish-list • Wednesday 24 August- Design Presentation & Feedback • Wednesday 7 September- Final Design Presentation Where: The Hub @ Docklands 80 Harbour Esplanade Time: 7pm – 8pmRead More

A new Community Garden in the Victoria Harbour precinct adjacent to Victoria Green is proposed. The following short survey has been compiled to assist with the design of the garden to best meet the needs of the Docklands community. The intention of the garden is to provide an additional green space in the area withRead More

Docklands Community Garden is moving to bigger and better location! Urban Reforestation is excited to be involved in the development of a permanent garden site and would like your input in the Community Design Consultation meetings. Come and share your ideas and aspirations for the design of a new Community Garden adjacent to Victoria GreenRead More

The Garden in the Docklands is being moved to a ‘transitional site’ at the end of Merchant Street. Please be advised in the next couple of weeks the garden is going to be in a ‘moving state’! Please be patient until the garden is back together again within two weeks. We have great news toRead More

https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=188555344531759 Please update your info! Thanks and see you at the Feast!

Raw gourmet food. Did you know that eating raw foods is healing? And that over time your taste buds become so much more sensitive you can distinguish and appreciate the slightest tones and shades of taste? And that raw food improves the color of your skin and of course your complexion? Slim, slim, yum! HaveRead More

I saw this and decided to share here. Check these remarkable photos out: www.alivefoods.com/nutrition.html#b4andafter Curtesy of www.alivefoods.com

Video of Emily and Aleksey presenting an exciting and yummy Raw Food Dinner which is taking place on August 13th in Docklands, Melbourne. To buy tickets go to www.trybooking.com/RSO Event on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=188555344531759

Why Raw Food? Just for fun, imagine that the time could flip and the past would be something we’re going towards. Now remember the beautiful pre-historic tale of Adam and Eve in Paradise? They were living in a perfect union with Mother Nature and the Garden sustained and provided for all their needs. So theyRead More

Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. ~ Native American Chief Seattle, 1854 ~

I do not think the measure of a civilization is how tall its buildings of concrete are, But rather how well its people have learned to relate to their environment and fellow man. ~ Sun Bear of the Chippewa Tribe ~

Last night’s celebration dinner by Urban Reforestation was a success by anyone’s standards: good food and good company.  The William Anglis team in charge of the event, Catchy Events, converted the shell of Urban Reforestation’s store to an artistic hall decorated with blossoms and candles. Guests included representatives from Vic Urban, the City of Melbourne,Read More

Urban Reforestation is announced a finalist in the Peter Szental Award for Sustainability Entrepreneurship with the UNAA. 19 May 2011 The United Nations Association of Australia today announces the finalists in this year’s national World Environment Day Awards. Complete list of the 2011 Finalists can be found on the web link below. Winners will beRead More

What? Urban Reforestation is a sustainable design organisation that has a strong focus on transforming our cities into sustainable places through activating and greening urban spaces. Urban Reforestation is helping to plant seeds for sustainable communities. We are inspiring and enabling places that are vibrant, social, beautiful, soulful, connected, ecologically sustainable and economically sustainable. ARead More

“The Garden is a Symbol of Sustainable Lifestyles in the City” On the 26th of May we would like to invite all Docklands locals and visitors from around Melbourne to the local Food Dinner. Book tickets now to join in the celebrations for the Docklands Garden. This is also a great opportunity for you andRead More

Friday WineDown with Urban Reforestation! Friday 06 May, from about 5pm Hub Melbourne Level 3, 673 Bourke Street Melbourne, Victoria 3000 Urban Reforestation is hosting this week’s Winedown at HUB Melbourne. They’re doing some great work at Hub Melbourne including their Target 3008 Project for the Docklands precinct (supported by the Victorian Government’s Sustainability Fund)Read More

What is beauty? How do we come to appreciate it? What does it mean to be beautiful? We all understand the idea of beauty in different ways, and would all agree that it’s a good thing – but what is it really?  According the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, beauty is “the quality or aggregate of qualities inRead More

How well do you know the people around you? These days with increasing use in technology, people often find themselves socially removed from the people closest to them.  The Story board is a new project that is being developed by Urban Reforestation as part of Target 3008, supported by the Victorian Government Sustainability Fund. WhatRead More

At Urban Reforestation we are learning by doing. There is a lot of research and thought that goes into our activities, so hopefully our work can assist with informing how other sustainable urban developments can occur. Recently we have decided to create a sustainable design research page. This page will Showcase the research we doRead More

By Ethan Kent, Vice President What kind of places do we want to create? What kind of communities do we want to live in? What kind of world do we hope to see in the future? These questions are at the heart of environmentalism today, but are seldom posed. Environmentalism can perhaps best accomplish its goalsRead More

“Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.” Einstien I argue, we need a creative and integrated response to climate change, that moves beyond market mechanisms towards deep culture change that embraces social innovation in our everyday life. Climate change is a major threat to humanity. The scientific evidence isRead More

We are going to be running two exciting workshops in the coming few weeks. They are both FREE. Supported by the Victorian Government’s Sustainability Fund and the Target 3008 Project. Workshop 1 Organic Gardening Sunday May 1st, 1pm-3pm. Workshop 2 Balcony Gardening Thursday May 5th, 6.30pm-8pm. For more information visit our facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=201813836525814

A beautiful day: a clear, blue sky, a warm sun and a slight breeze and pleasant company… what could be better than a leisurely stroll to the Garden?  That’s what about a dozen HUB Melbourne members signed up for last Friday. As we made our way from the inner city down to the Garden theRead More

If you are a resident of Dock 5 or Victoria Point, you may find yourself wondering, over coming weeks – Who are these people hanging out in the lobby? Why do they want to talk to me? And what is that game they always want to play? The answer to all these ponderings is quiteRead More

… there’s something in the garden: a web of fluoro pink and blue stretch across the walls.  This web is a mesh of words and ideas like “belonging”, “social innovation”, “community” and “management”.  But why is it there?  And where did these ideas all stem from? Urban Reforestation’s project Target 3008, supported by the VictorianRead More

“Celebrate The Docklands Garden” To support the Docklands Garden we invite you to a Local Cocktail Dinner and Target 3008 celebration. The Garden is a symbol of sustainable lifestyles in the city. We need the community of the Docklands to support this Garden or for the future. As the famous quote goes “To do GardeningRead More

Everything has been happening down at Urban Reforestation. If the past month has been any precedent, the next few should be something to look forward to. The project Target 3008, supported by the Victorian Government Sustainability Fund, is well under way, perhaps in its most exciting stage at the moment. Free workshops have been runningRead More

City-life is constantly changing – with the times, the people and the technology. But at a fundamental level, everything stays the same – the circle of life. What Urban Reforestation’s Target 3008 photography exhibition “Life in the City” highlights is just that – the unchanging elements of life. Supported by the Victorian Government’s Sustainability FundRead More

Worm farming: fantastic, fun and functional There are many ways that you can reduce your organic waste output. But one of the most intriguing and quirky ways is worm farming! It’s a great way to compost. The farm takes up little space and the compost can go straight into your garden, pot plants or intoRead More

Target 3008: Targeting Cleaner, Greener Living Together Target 3008 is an exciting new initiative brought to you by Urban Reforestation. Funded by the Victorian Government Sustainability Fund and supported by the Monash Sustainability Institute, Target 3008 brings a fresh perspective to the Docklands. It has a strong focus on organic waste reduction through composting, andRead More

In September the Managing Director of Urban Reforestation, Emily Ballantyne-Brodie was invited to attend the Better City Better Life CUMULUS Design Conference at the World Expo in Shanghai. The theme of the World Expo 2010 is Better City, Better Life. Emily reports back on her visit. The Expo stimulates thought and action to promote ecologicallyRead More

Urban Farming is about bringing sustainable food production into the cities, using underutilized space like rooftops and empty plots to create a farming environment in the city. Urban farming can mean anything from a backyard chicken coup, a vegie patch on your window sill or like Urban Reforestation down at the Docklands, a community co-operationRead More

Not only can you come down and help or watch a garden grow but at Urban Reforestation we have workshops and events that will inspire you to create. Our focus is on all things sustainable and we think that covers a pretty broad range of fun and interesting things to learn about. From home brewRead More

It seems the higher our living standards and the greater our technology, the more a sense of community fades away. We of the modern world are tough, independent and dynamic but are we missing something greater? Is it a time to bring back community? At Urban Reforestation we definitely think so, and what better wayRead More

Two months ago CERES started to distribute organic and local fruits and vegetables within Melbourne. Urban Reforestation Shop became a “City Cousin” thanks to Corinne: ” I live in Docklands for year now, last May when I asked Emily from Urban Reforestation if they were planning to have a service of fruit and vegetable deliveries,Read More