Sunshine Studio Atelier: Week Three

Getting our hands dirty and learning about growing food in urban spaces.

Growing food in urban spaces, the end of the carbonaceous era, and a youth perspective of Sunshine were all on the Agenda for week three of the VEIL Sunshine Studio Atelier.

Kate Archdeacon began the day by introducing the students to the growing movement of urban food production and its importance, using her own garden and projects as well as case studies from around the world as examples. Kate invited the students to get their hands dirty planting pea seeds in used coffee cups with potting mix and some used coffee grounds from the café in the food court as fertiliser.

Glenn Cook and Marlise Harris from Brimbank Youth Services joined us to speak about the issues faced by young people in Sunshine, along with the opportunities available to local youth. It was particularly interesting to hear about perceived issues of safety and gangs around the station precinct, compared to the realities as experienced by Glenn, Marlise, members of their team and young people in Sunshine.

Next in the day’s big line up was Prof. Chris Ryan, director of VEIL who spoke about VEIL and Eco-Acupuncture, giving the students a greater understanding of why we do the work we do and how we go about it. Chris emphasised the critical need for change following the end of the carbonaceous era, and the importance of building adaptive, resilient communities and systems of living.

We also heard the final presentations from the student research groups on energy, food, water and transport. With some of the research now on display in the studio, the students will move on to concentrating more heavily on their individual projects.