Another green roof bylaw hits North America + trading paper for prickly pears

-Rosemont-Petite Patrie, a borough of Montreal, is the newest city to mandate  the installation of green roofs or green walls on buildings.

Congrats to Rosemont-Petite Patrie for joining the club. 

-Wednesday, May 2 tune in to Living Mandala for a free webinar on aquaponics with applied permaculture. If you're in the upstate New York area, you can try the hands-on workshop.

-This articles deserves some publicity. First of all, it’s written by a namesake....Kelven. I mean, it’s not how I spell it, but close enough. On the serious side it opens our eyes to how urban farming can be the key to survival for undernourished prisoners in Zimbabwe. 

 Lastly, in what I hope becomes a blueprint for urban agriculture and recycling around the world in Mexico City the Ministry of the Environment has set up a barter market where one can trade recyclable trash for credits at local farms.

Green roof athletic field...North America's first

Totally forgot to post this one. North America has its first green roof field, I think second in the world. Worcester Polytechnic Institute will have their soccer, softball, field hockey, lacrosse and rugby players playing atop an underground parking lot. 

Arbor Day tribute

Today is Arbor Day across North America!!!! Did you know it's a State Holiday in Nebraska?

On this day, of all days, we should share why trees matter, pay attention to lessons of the past and not replicate those unbelievably sad tragedies. For those who want only the tree related material, fast forward to around the 14:40 mark.

Let's end on a happy note. Since everyone should get in on Arbor Day fun, here are some tunes for us all:

-Peter Gabriel & Youssou N'Dour - Shaking the Tree
-Joni Mitchell - Cactus Tree
-The Andrews Sisters - Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree
-The Beach Boys - Day in the Life of a Tree
-The Toadies - Away
-They Might be Giants - Arbor Day

Urban agriculture bonanza

Urban agriculture is many things to many people. Frequently food is about social justice. From NY to San Francisco to Washington DC we have examples all within the last week, big and small, up high and low, demonstrating how food implores urbanites to act. 

More news:

-The City of Vancouver has joined a chorus of other cities changing their bylaws to allow more urban agriculture. Question to anyone out there, is it common for municipalities to have legislation caused by one plant (marijuana) prohibiting the sale of others (everything else)?

-Colorado has it’s first urban agriculture extension agent. Looks like he is the only urban agriculture extension agent  in North America so far!

-Remember this title: The State Of Urban Farming In The United States: Enhancing The Viability Of Small And Medium-Sized Commercial Urban Farms. A recently awarded $453,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture will allow researchers at Penn State to study urban agriculture in fifteen cities. Can’t wait for the  findings. 

-Lastly, Rick Foster and Michigan State University are totally with me. I love this quote “Detroit ‘could be the research and innovation engine’ for urban agriculture around the world”. They are certainly dreaming big.

Urban agriculture job posting in Buffalo

Buffalo's Massachusetts Avenue Project is looking for a full-time Youth Training Director. Your primary responsibility would be to coordinate and implement an urban agriculture training curriculum. Looks like a great opportunity, deadline is May 4, 2012. Good luck!

Living architecture word of the week: Metro-agarians

I wondered what all-inclusive term would be created for all of those involved in disparate urban agriculture activities. One university professor says Cleveland (and other post industrial cities) could become 100% self-sufficient if they put their arable land to work.

 -Buffalo definitely falls into this post industrial group as well. I tend not to hear or see much about the urban agriculture scene in Buffalo; good to know it’s stronger than one would even guess. By the way, how much more appealing is the word "post industrial" than rust belt?

 -Still coming down a bit from Thursday’s council meeting. It’s always interesting to see government at work and those in favor of green roofs will no doubt call the decision a win. But I think we all win with the decision that everyone can now apply for a city rebate.

 -More good news: I did a quick permaculture program post a few weeks ago and found out soon after that if you’re an EU citizen and want to take a permaculture course in Malta it can be done FOR FREE! Wow!!! However, if you are from Malta there’s no freebie for you. I know, strange. There's always Nicaragua!

Will amendments be made to Toronto's green roof bylaw? - take two

The last time I trekked to City Hall, there was a bunch happening. My favourite librarians were on strike and there was that whole transit thing. Well, both have wrapped up so it's time to talk green roofs again.

Here's what was on tap:

PG 12.12 - Amendment to the Green Roof Bylaw for Public and Separate School Board Buildings.
PG 12.13 - Creation of a reserve fund as 2012 is the final year of scheduled financial support for the Strategic Infrastructure Reserve.
PG 12.14 - A progress report on the eco-roof incentive program.

Don't know what happened to 12.14 (I think it just had to be adopted), but if you're short on time here's what happened with 12.12 and 12.13 in a nutshell.

On 12.13 Councillor Adam Vaughan put a motion forward to allow all schools (private, public, Catholic and French) to apply for the eco-roof incentive and any other subsidies provided by the City, regardless of the size of the project. Bylaw Amended

On 12.12 Chair of the Planning and Growth Management Committee, Councillor Peter Milczyn asked the chief planner and executive director of city planning to report by May 2012 on a bylaw amendment exemption where soft landscaping on a school site will be equal to or exceed the required area for green roof installation. Forwarded to Council without recommendations

On to the details, including what all of the aforementioned means...

Councillor Karen Stintz was in and out of the room and not present for most of the proceedings. Councillor Ana Bailão (and Vice Chair of the committee) was not present.
That left Councillors Milczyn, Vaughan, Crawford and Di Giorgio to perform the committee's duties.

The talk about green roofs was preceded by a shorter one on affordable housing. I didn't know Michel Labbe from Options for Homes Non-profit Corporation before that, but was thoroughly impressed - eloquent, knowledgeable, persuasive - if I were a betting man I'd say we'll be hearing and seeing more from him and Options in the future.

As for the green roof amendments about 30 people were present. (Far less than the number who turned out when the bylaw was passed many moons ago.)

One person, Virginia Barton from the Toronto Catholic District School Board, offered that because the school board is seeking an exemption from installing green roofs we should all be aware that there is still great interest in "greening their schools". For instance, they are considering installing solar panels (for electricity generation and hot water heating, I think) on 108 of their 210 buildings with 50-60% roof coverage. But they have not looked at geothermal yet because no company has approached them. Note to the geothermal companies, call the TCDSB on Monday!

Passionate arguments were made by several green roof supporters, including two parents who volunteer on their child's school (Jackman elementary) green roof, green roof designers/builders, architects and other advocates and enthusiasts.
To summarize, the speakers outlined the numerous benefits of green roofs, in particular its capacity for mitigating stormwater and the ability to extend the life of the roofing membrane.
Several reiterated the seeming incongruity of the TCDSB passing on an opportunity to install a living classroom and that it's in the TCDSB's best interest to embrace green roofs, as it will save them money over the long haul.

Questions from the councillors ranged from how much maintenance a green roof needs, to warranties, if working with the unions to clean up/maintain the green roof is problematic, if there are any workplace/safety issues.

The bottom line from the city councillors is they have heard from several sources that being required to build a green roof demands some trade off in the planning process. With limited funds, building a green roof for some means having to eliminate a classroom or two inside the building. Also comparing urban Catholic schools to rural Catholic schools is a bit of apples and oranges. Catholic schools in the rural parts of Ontario, who have installed green roofs, may be getting more funding from the province. So they have the capital funding to install the green roof and operational funding to support it for years to come.

All in all the committee seems keen to "improve the urban environment", to quote Councillor Milczyn, and making the subsidies available to the schools makes good sense. (And I think the council will agree.) Especially because someone mentioned a good deal of the eco-incentive money is just sitting in an account and not being used! No one is applying for that cash??? Wow!
It was also interesting to get a quick peak behind the political curtains when one councillor mentioned that the green roofing industry should lobby the provincial government, because the province is the one providing the funding for the schools based on their funding formula.
But with the province in dire financial straits, I don't know if the lobbying effort would yield anything. It's worth a try!
I must mention a couple of councillors went as far as to chastise the TCDSB for not embracing a "theology of compassion" or utilizing their development charges to fund green roofs.

Lastly, the fact that Councillor Milczyn's motion was forwarded to council without recommendation means we could be looking at "a long day" (the Councillor's words) of debating in the future. What he wants to do is have schools with small sites, ones were there is little area available to landscape, to install a green roof.

More to come in May!

Atlanta's low flying giant urban agriculture farm

-In the last two months I would say “the most ignored urban ag project” goes to an urban agriculture farm in southwest Atlanta. Why? Maybe because it has over 10 corporate and civic partners, so it's not a David vs Goliath story? But I think this Atlanta BeltLine Farm project is one to watch. You be the judge.

-Nearly 30% of the land within the Detroit city limits is vacant. Gardens are popping up and people are doing all sorts of creative things with the land without the city’s permission. With so many things in Detroit happening all at once, I think managing urban agriculture is low on their list of concerns. But I truly hope everyone in Detroit embraces this unfortunate opportunity, urban agriculture could lead to Detroit’s resurgence, be a massive source of pride and become what it is known for around the world.

-In San Francisco one particular group is involved in urban agriculture without city permission. NPR did a short story last week on the Guerilla grafters; I wrote about them earlier in the year. At the time I thought they were assertive, perhaps a little sneaky by grafting onto city trees. It looks like it’s actually a form of city disobedience and could be an offense worthy of a fine.

-Speaking of last week, as you know I was totally bummed to read some of the climate change news. Mother Jones heard my call for solutions to the despair. Of note, a scientist claims the sacrifice to establish a true cap and trade system, as one possible part of the solution, could be minimal, only the cost of a stamp for each family per day.

-The pretty much inaccessible green roof at Cincinnati City Hall is in need of someone to provide maintenance...for free. Any green roofers in Cincinnati looking to perform some valuable community service while getting valuable experience call City Hall!

-Lastly Edmonton’s first food and agriculture conference is scheduled to take place May 25 and 26, 2012. According to a local city councillor it’s “an opportunity for Edmontonians to participate in the conversation, so that we can capture and integrate diverse ideas into a consensus around a new strategy.” You’ve got lots to choose from, including focus groups, citizen panels and online questionnaires. Might "the Big E" be in line for a food policy council as well? We’ll see.

Summer summits, courses and songs of the month

Summer is the time for folks to get together. Picnic, bbqs and patios.
In August, Toronto will host it’s very first Urban Agriculture summit. This is for everyone. Developers, educators, community groups, you name it, who want new tools to new tools to advance urban agriculture in their own communities.

-If you are abroad and cannot make it to Toronto, check out a
permaculture course in Poland during the same week.

-In British Columbia a religious group is working with young urban farmers to make almost three acres of land productive again.

-And we're halfway through April, I had better get these songs of the month up before the month is up. Let's choose some slower songs, so we get a chance to slow down and enjoy the month!

Amalia Rodrigues - Abril en Portugal
Rufus Wainwright w/ Martha Wainwright - April Fools
Billie Holiday - April in Paris
Cal Tjader - I remember April

Toronto's planning & growth management committee reconvenes April 19 to discuss green roofs

One week until the big green roof showdown.

Naturally if you're reading this blog you are a fan of green infrastructure. If you want to dazzle your friends with your vast knowledge on all things green, late last month Green Infrastructure Ontario, a consortium of diverse stakeholders across Ontario, the "We Don't Have a Nickname province, jointly released this report.

For the green infrastructure mega fans, there's one week left to reach out to your favorite city councillor on the planning & growth management committee to make your voices heard. I'm sure one or all of the committee members would love to hear from you, you true citizen you.

Suggestions are helpful right now

On some days, like yesterday, there seem to be a deluge of incredible things happening near and far. Encouraging projects launched and sustained by amazing people. Sunday was not one of those days. Graham Turner says the 1972 MIT study, "The Limits to Growth, was right on the mark and things will get really hairy starting in 2030. We're talking a global economic collapse, unless some drastic measures are taken.

If you're not in a good mood, don't read further because Scientific American brings even more pain .

Time for us to do things very differently, very quickly.

Each city should have their own FBI

-The year of aquaponics continues. In Indianapolis an entrepreneur is drumming up support for a $20 million facility. It is still far from a done deal, but the mayor is involved, team leader is a serial entrepreneur and board member of the local aquaculture association. Let's track this one to see where it goes. I'm predicting big things.

Let's move on from Indianapolis to Agropolis. (Wow, what a segue!) Back in October I introduced you to a truly innovative project in the Philippines. The Agropolis project provides a slew of urban agriculture programs training out-of-school youth to be savvy entrepreneurs.

I was blown away by what they were doing and got in contact with Jose Rene Gayo, who is heavily involved with both the Farm Business Schools and the MFI Farm Business Institute. He was kind enough to answer a few of my questions about the projects.

Of note, the partnership between the stakeholders has entered its third year and the eco-farm tourism entrepreneurship diploma program is two years long (!).

For more information, like how your town can have their own farm business institute (FBI), you can email Jose Rene Gayo at renegayo (at) gmail (dot) com.

Another must have for every big city is an organization designed to navigate bureaucracy, governance structures, and neighborhood dynamics. 596 Acres does just that in Brooklyn. Of course not every one of those 596 acres will be used for urban agriculture, if they were, that's enough land to feed almost 3,000 people!

-Finally last week brought word of not one, but two one-stop shops for urban homesteaders. Detroit's is up and running, Vancouver's will open soon.

The federal farm bill is up for renewal!

The federal farm bill is up for renewal this year, how will this all shake out?
Utne reader’s blog does a commendable job of collecting resources to get Americans up to speed. With this election being even more contentious than previous ones, I wonder if this will be hardly a blip on the radar, a middling issue or lead to a massive battle. My guess, the nation will be caught up in presidential election fever. There will be the normal level of house and senatorial acrimony (not “let’s shut down the government level”), a slightly leaner budget will get passed, but neither Obama nor Romney (the odds on favorite) have ties to this battle so it will not draw big presidential focus or headlines.

-Public hearings into urban agriculture and its place in Montreal are scheduled from June 11-14. The Office de consultation publique de Montréal's has 24 videos up displaying various urban agriculture techniques. Don't forget to look for an urban agriculture expo on May 12 and a conference on May 17.

-BrightFarms is ready to go with a 100,000ft2 facility in Brooklyn. It may be the world’s biggest rooftop farm, for now (that title seems to change hands every 6 months), regardless, it's still epic.

-School gardening coordinator, love the concept and hope that the title and practice spreads beyond Portland. Anyone know how much a school gardening coordinator makes per year or are (substitute) teachers taking on the roles in addition to their normal duties?

-Wind power is not really related to green infrastructure, but I had to share this really cool wind power capacity map.

Urban agriculture inspires more municipal code changes

Boise, Idaho is the latest North American municipality to update its municipal codes to allow urban agriculture within the city limits. In the past two months both San Diego and Minneapolis, to name two, have undergone similar reviews.

-Speaking of Toronto, I don't have the inside scoop but sooner or later it looks like a new art collective/urban agriculture garden/community hub rooftop space will be up and running in Toronto. The About Face Collective's ambitious Everything roof looks like a huge undertaking, but it appears the founders know the system well and have everything in place to go from dream to reality.

-There has been much speculation about what has caused bee colonies to collapse in North America and beyond. Two new studies point to pesticides as a partial cause of the die-off.

-One of my favo(u)rite tangential posts from 2011 explored bending bamboo to make bikes. I had no clue that you can get a degree in bamboo engineering, indeed a very useful tool in your tropical permaculture toolbox.