• Community participants sought for online workshop at 7pm Wednesday 17 August to help design the future of Sydney’s food systems

A Charles Sturt University joint initiative seeks public input to explore ways to design the future of Sydney’s food system.

As part of a knowledge exchange community grant scheme Charles Sturt University, the City of Sydney, and Deliberately Engaging are hosting online workshops for people to envision the future of food in Sydney.

Dr Sarina Kilham, Lecturer in Agricultural Extension and Rural Sociology in the Charles Sturt School of Agricultural, Environmental and Veterinary Sciences, said the input of members of the public is vital to the process of designing better systems to sustain populations.

“We are calling on food systems innovators and community members to envision the future of food in Sydney by contributing their thoughts, ideas and experiences on the future of Sydney’s food system.

“Urban food systems are made up of many people doing different exciting things - gardens, businesses, food sharing, charities – and we invite people in the City of Sydney local government area to participate in an online workshop to hear what they are doing and how it fits with the urban food system.”

Dr Kilham said a ‘food innovator’ is anyone doing something interesting, new, sustainable, disruptive, different, community-oriented and focused on food, such as food sharing, community gardens, new food products, new food services, cooperatives, collectives, markets, food boxes, new ways of growing and distributing food.

Community participants can find more information and register for the online workshop which takes place at 7pm on Wednesday 17 August.

The workshop for Food Practitioners, Growers, Businesses and Innovators was on Tuesday 2 August.