Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 61.60
Liaison Mike Versteege
Submission Date Feb. 3, 2012
Executive Letter Download

STARS v1.1

University of Alberta
ER-T2-2: Organic Garden

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.25 / 0.25 Trina Innes
Chief Sustainability Officer
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have an on-campus garden where students are able to gain organic farming and/or gardening experience?:
Yes

A brief description of the garden:

CAMPUS COMMUNITY GARDEN - NORTH CAMPUS
http://www.su.ualberta.ca/services/sustainsu/garden/

The Campus Community Garden on North Campus uses as many sustainable agricultural practices as possible in order to showcase environmentally-friendly gardening techniques. For three years, between 2003 and 2005, the 244 square meter garden was shared between Sustain SU and the surrounding Garneau Community, where volunteers worked their individual plots. In 2006, Sustain SU’s Community Garden merged with the Garneau plots to become one large co-operative garden where volunteers work collaboratively on learning about and tending to the entire garden. In 2008, the garden expanded four meters to the north and now measures more than 300 square meters. In addition to creating nature-connected recreational opportunities for students, the mandate of the garden is to:

- Promote a sense of community and local, organic food production by harvesting food in a sustainable manner, without the use of pesticides, chemicals, or genetically-modified plants.
- Provide the campus community with an opportunity to apply classroom knowledge within a living laboratory and amongst peers.
- Provide organic, local, fresh, and healthy food for garden volunteers and the wider Edmonton community through either the Campus Food Bank or similar programs, promoting food security and community in the process.

Students, staff, and community members are all welcome to participate in this garden project. Garden volunteers are responsible for preparing, planting, maintaining, and harvesting the garden. The level of experience in gardening ranges from first-time planters to dedicated gardeners. Since volunteers learn directly from seasoned gardeners and through organized gardening sessions, volunteer training is ongoing. Sustain SU hires a garden coordinator in the spring to provide support and knowledge to the volunteers. The garden coordinator also organizes several educational sessions over the summer that provides information on gardening techniques and management.

CAMPUS COMMUNITY GARDEN - AUGUSTANA CAMPUS
In 2011, the Augustana Campus also developed a community campus garden to provide a source of local food for the cafeteria. The Augustana Earthwise Club provided the student volunteers required to construct, plant, care for, and harvest the garden.


The website URL where information about the garden is available:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

While Sustain SU's Campus Community Garden was included in this credit, additional UAlberta groups host gardens on our campuses, including:

1) Green and Gold Community Garden on South Campus
http://www.publichealth.ualberta.ca/collaborators_partners/community_engagement/green_gold_garden.aspx

2) Campus Saint Jean's jardin communautaire
http://www.csj.ualberta.ca/index.php/la-vie-au-campus/jardin-communautaire/


While Sustain SU's Campus Community Garden was included in this credit, additional UAlberta groups host gardens on our campuses, including:

1) Green and Gold Community Garden on South Campus
http://www.publichealth.ualberta.ca/collaborators_partners/community_engagement/green_gold_garden.aspx

2) Campus Saint Jean's jardin communautaire
http://www.csj.ualberta.ca/index.php/la-vie-au-campus/jardin-communautaire/

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.