In Victoria, we are fortunate to have Neighbourhood Houses — although the changing demographics mean many in our communities do not tend to know about, or appreciate, how amazing Neighbourhood Houses are and can be. After some demographic research and doorknocking, I have planted myself in these commons.
For the 2015 Sustainable Living Festival, I created an event at SPAN Community House in Thornbury to showcase existing courses and activities and to launch ‘Sustainable Sundays at SPAN’ — an incubator for skills sharing and new program development.
At this event, a local punk rock musician played the old piano to entice people down the hall to the new Resilience Library and workshop, families played tennis and made moss balls with edible weeds, and recently arrived Indian neighbours cooked lunch that we ate while admiring art or discussing our creative writing pieces. It was special that our future carpentry teacher showcased their hand crafted wooden puppets and local gardeners taught us how to make compost and grow food from cuttings in the community garden. The day ended as relaxed as it started with tai chi by a master trainer and a taste of the radical permaculture Doing It Ourselves Choir to come.
Read the full article at Australian Greens
Go to the GEO front page
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