New Distance Learning Course on the Dimensions of Urban Agriculture.

The course will start September 2008 and will be taught
by Diana Lee-Smith and Wendy Mendes. Diana Lee-Smith is the former coordinator of the Urban Harvest programme in South Africa and has supported various cities, like Kampala (Uganda), Nakuru and Nairobi (Kenya), Yaounde (Cameroun) among others in developing urban agriculture research, programmes and policies. Diana is currently writing two books onurban agriculture and health, and gender and urban agriculture respectively.

Wendy Mendes researchers and teaches on the sustainability of cities, local food systems and participatory governance at the
University of British Colombia, York University and
Ryerson. Wendy has worked as a social planner for the City
of Vancouver from 2001-2006, and has in this function
played a major role in the setting up of Vancouver’s Food
Policy Council and Food System.

The course will be fully offered on-line and does not
require participation in any face-2-face meetings or
sessions. Costs for participation amount to Canadian
Dollar 456 (for Canadian and international participants
alike).

Course Description:

In the context of current debates on the global food
crisis, post-oil economy, climate change etc. the
potentials of urban agriculture or localised food
production are more and more discussed. In order to
contribute to these discussions, Ryerson University, ETC
Urban agriculture and the Resource centres of Urban
Agriculture and Food security (RUAF) have developed a new
distance learning course on the Dimensions of Urban
Agriculture. The course will deal in detail with the
different dimensions of UA: its food security dimensions,
environmental, health and social dimensions, economic
dimensions and UA as a strategy to increase cities’
resilience. It will quantify and qualify UA impacts in
these various areas where possible, discuss how to asses
these impacts at local level and illustrate policy and
intervention strategies as to enhance UAs’ contribution in
the various fields. In short, a course that will provide
you more food for thought and inputs for action planning
or policy lobbying.

Please find attached a further description of the course.