Urban Agriculture Research and Education Centre - Concept Paper - Richmond BC Canada
“Kwantlen University College, School of Horticulture and its research/outreach arm, the Institute for Sustainable Horticulture, in partnership with the City of Richmond and its citizen groups working in food sustainability, will develop and implement North America’s first formal, post-secondary centre and programming expressly focused on urban and urban-rural interface agriculture food systems.”
“The centre’s overarching goal will be to support and advance with research, expertise and educational support, a viable, sustainable, food production sector in the urban and urban-rural interface as a critical element of vital and sustainable 21st century society. Key to program function and success will be the development of a Research, Teaching and Demonstration Farm facility and emphasis on practical skill and knowledge development and application.”
“There are many who desire to engage in urban-rural interface agriculture but have no access to land or sense of how to go about finding such. Likewise many with small parcels sitting idle would like to have them utilized. Partnering with other community groups, the centre would serve as a clearinghouse, matching small acreage owners with aspiring urban and interface agriculturists. This would be an incredibly valuable and important outreach/development function of the program. To similar end, it would be extremely valuable to establish a micro-loan program to support start-up urban and interface agriculture entrepreneurs. Other creative ways to make land available to young aspiring food producers would be explored (e.g., usufruct) and studied.”
“The program should endeavor to address local regional issues but at the same time connect with the wider urban and urban-rural agriculture community, which is substantial. One mechanism for this is to develop and position the centre as a world leader in and model for advancing urban and urban-rural interface agriculture research, education and development. Such an entity will attract scholarly interest from around the globe.”
Note: This paper was presented to the City of Richmond as a potential partner. Other partners are possible/likely.
Contact:
Kent Mullinix, Ph.D.
Sustainable Horticulture/ IPM Specialist
Institute for Sustainable Horticulture
Kwantlen University College
12666-72nd Ave.
Surrey, B.C. Canada V3W 2M8
Email: Kent.Mullinix@kwantlen.ca
604- 599- 3260
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