COWICHAN GREEN COMMUNITY

Late Breaking Announcements

CGC's June 25th AGM was a huge success with over 35 community members attending to hear a presentation by Michelle Colussi, from the Canadian Cente for Community Renewal, in Victoria. CGC has offered to be the lead organization in a pilot project for a revised "Resilience Model" community including using concepts as outlined in the "Transition Town" movement.

Eight new CGC board members were elected, along with four past directors staying on for another term.

This is a pivotal time for CGC and this community - we look forward to working closely together as we continue taking the next steps in becoming more self-sustaining.

"Where Community and Environment Meet"

Cowichan Green community has been involved in many facets of environment and community over the past decade. We have had workshops in outdoor air quality, indoor air quality, healthy housing, healthy babies, green gardening, community gardening, in fact wherever we saw a need and a community to work with, we did it. Here are some of our current projects:

Food Security

Many groups are working together on food security. We are hoping to bring representatives from many of them together to create a Food Security Coalition. The Coalition will develop a Community Food Charter for the Cowichan Valley.

We plan to create a liaison with representatives from regional and municipal government for the purposes of increasing awareness of community food security and local food issues in the Cowichan Valley and building relationships and partnerships with regional and municipal governments.

Community Based Research Study

In three regions on Vancouver Island, including the Cowichan Valley, several community groups are undertaking a process of community exploration that will potentially assist in promoting food security and sustainability. The anticipated outcome will allow for a better sharing of information and access to research and resources between universities and community groups.

As part of this information gathering process, we are asking members of our community to please log into the survey monkey below and spend approximately 10 minutes to answer a few key questions.

Having a closer working relationship with our universities will strengthen our work and allow our whole community to benefit. Thank you for your time. A draw will be held from the list of participants and there will be a prize! So enter now! Any questions, please contact Judy Stafford at 250-748-8506.

Click here to take the survey

Cowichan Car Share

Kinsmen Neighbourhood Park Community Garden Expansion

Cowichan Green Community is currently working on expanding the exisiting community garden at the Kinsmen Park on Alderlea Street. We are planning to offer several hands-on workshops at this site and also we are hoping to build a community tool shed and compost area. The District of North Cowichan and the City of Duncan fully support this project, so please check back as more information becomes available regarding the workshop schedule and the date of the 'work party' to construct the new raised garden beds. (Probably Saturday, April 4th)

Warmland House Community Garden

In partnership with the Canadian Mental Health Association - Cowichan Branch, CGC has been working on a grant which will see the implentation of a community garden on the location of the Warmland House, which is currently undergoing construction. This is an exciting project, which will entail setting up a complete Edible Landscape model on the property, including rain catchment, fruit and nut trees, as well as community garden space. Plans are underway and we look forward to updating on our progress as the project is launching in the very near future.