L13. Join, or start, a community greening group
Whether you would like to green-up your street, grow some vegetables in a community garden, or add biodiversity to a local park or creek-line, there is likely a volunteer group that will welcome you. These groups can offer new social networks and a chance to advance your skills in gardening and planting for biodiversity.
Some local community gardening groups and initiatives:
- Community gardening groups – Local Food Connect provides a directory of community gardening groups and events, including farmers’ markets, food swaps, community gardens and cooking classes.
- Urban Bushland is a Naarm-based not-for-profit organisation that revegetates urban spaces with native vegetation, connecting communities and creating habitat for native flora and fauna
- ‘Friends of’ groups focus on regeneration of public open space. For example, Friends of Westgate Park and Friends of Merri Creek
- Verge gardening groups, including The Heart Gardening Project or Brunswick Communities for Nature seek to green nature strips, kerbsides and verges.
- Citizen Forester and the City Nature Challenge hosts events for the community to network, learn new skills and build knowledge about green space.
- Landcare, Victorian Friends of Groups and Conservation volunteers Australia provides a directory of community gardening groups and initiatives within greater Melbourne and Victoria.
Case Study University of Melbourne planting days
The University has organised several planting days since 2022 for students and staff to participate in. From these events, over 1,200 understory plantings and trees have been planted on campus.