The development of gardens and parks provides a focus for community building, as Great Start has already recognised. In particular, it offers opportunities for the participation of almost everyone in a community.

Young and old can come together for a common - and creative – purpose, and achieve everything from improving small plots of land to working miracles with the revegetation of a large area, as can be seen in the work done by Ceres in Melbourne.

Ceres (the Centre for Education and research in Environmental Strategies) in Melbourne undertook a complete rehaul of some nearby land. Originally a blue stone quarry and a rubbish tip, a radical transformation occurred after local people were granted long term stewardship of the site by the Local Brunswick Council. In response to emerging social and economic issues, the efforts of countless local residents, from newly arrived migrants, long term unemployed people, young people and volunteers have changed a bleak landscape to a lush community garden.

And after!

A permaculture plan for the site guided the early projects, which included revegetation, building, landscaping and community garden construction. Photos and further information are available from www.ceres.org.au.

Helen Wilson