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Ecology Action Centre Job Posting: Urban Garden Project Summer Student

The Urban Garden Project supports community run gardens and food projects here in Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM). We are currently looking for a driven and enthusiastic summer student looking for an amazing and challenging summer job opportunity.

The job will consist of working with and supporting five community organizations in HRM with their community food and garden programming. The summer student will work with both youth and adults to build strong community relationships and gardens at the same time. We want someone who loves people and a full schedule. This position will work closely with the Food Connections Summer Student in a team environment and be supervised by the Food Connections Coordinator.

Please note, this position is subject to funding approval.

UGP Summer Student’s duties include:

Working closely with five community organizations to deliver garden and community food programming and support on a weekly basis. This includes facilitating workshops, checking in on the needs of the community and sourcing and delivering needed materials.
Organizing gardening workshops with these specific community groups, which includes: collaborative workshop development, scheduling the programs for each of the sites, procuring workshop materials, workshop facilitation, documentation and follow up debriefing and evaluation;
Writing weekly articles for the Halifax Garden Network blog;
Facilitating the Halifax Garden Network. This includes updating the website with current garden events, communicating to gardeners via email and generally highlighting resources and support available to the Halifax gardening community;
Supporting the work of the Food Action Committee and the Ecology Action Centre.

Required skills and experience:

Experience working with diverse communities on community development projects.
Strong knowledge in organic vegetable gardening and some related topics (composting, rainwater catchment, native plants, garden construction etc.)
Excellent communication skills, able to seek out assistance and feedback.
Loves working with people, able to facilitate large groups, build capacity and create momentum.
Strong organizational skills, able to create schedules and budgets.
Self-directed but also collaborative. Able to facilitate using consensus and capacity building techniques.

Desirable skills:

Comfortable transporting workshop materials via bicycle trailer, bus or car.
Knowledge of local food, food security and food politics.
Experience developing and facilitating workshops and programs.

Important note

Eligible Applicants must:

Have been registered as full-time students in the previous academic year and intend to return to school on a full-time basis in the next academic year;
Be between 15 and 30 years of age at the beginning of employment.

The Ecology Action Centre is committed to employment equity and encourages applications from traditionally underrepresented groups such as women, visible minorities, First Nations, and persons with disabilities.

Terms of Employment

Monday June 4th to Friday, August 24th, 2012

30-35 hours per week @ $14.50/hr

Location: Ecology Action Centre, 2705 Fern Lane

Position and details are subject to funding approval.

To Apply

Please email a cover letter and resume (including 2 references) to garity@ecologyaction.ca

Application Due Date: 5:00 pm Wednesday, May 16th, 2012

We thank all applicants for their time and interest, however only short-listed applicants will be contacted. Interviews will take place the week of May 28th, 2012.

The Ecology Action Centre was founded in 1971 and is one of Nova Scotia’s most active environmental organizations. The Centre welcomes new members and volunteers: http://www.ecologyaction.ca.

I always know it is spring time when my email inbox starts to overflow. Other signs include birds tweeting on the phone lines, crocuses blooming, and everyone is abuzz with plans for the coming season.

This week, here are some (and I apologize, not all), of the exciting things you should check out, apply to, or get involved with if you are interested in gardens and food. As always keep an eye on the Halifax Garden Network Calendar for an updated list of workshops and events.

The Shortlist:

Seedy Saturdays
Plant Propagation and Considerations for Greenhouse Soil Workshop
Passive Solar Greenhouse Design Workshop
Introduction to Permaculture Workshop
Permaculture Certificate Course
Community Garden Coordinator Workshop
Hands On Season Extension For Market Gardeners
Loaded Ladle: Looking for new Board Members
Spryfield Urban Farm: Job Posting

The Long List:

Seedy Saturdays

Seedy Saturdays are amazing events held all over Canada in the spring where local, small scale, and back-yard seed savers and growers get together to share their wares and information. They are great events to go to to purchase your seed supply and to learn a whole lot about what and how to grow certain varieties. Here are dates and times of Seedy Saturday events across Nova Scotia:

Dartmouth, NS

Alderney Landing Farmer’s Market

Saturday March 24, 9-11 a.m.

Contact Sarah Ensslin for more information

Halifax, NS

Captain William Spry Community Centre, 16 Sussex Street

Saturday March 31, 2-4 p.m.

For more information or to book a table to sell seeds, bulbs, and other garden supplies, please contact Marjorie Willison for more information.

Sackville, NB

Tweedy Hall, Mount Alison University

Saturday March 31, 2012 1-3 p.m.

In conjunction with ACORN’s AGM, we are also hosting The POLITICS OF FOOD Forum (Everyone welcome–please help spread the word!), which will feature a series of speakers through the course of the afternoon.

For more information contact Lucia Stephen.

Wolfville, NS

Farmer’s Market building, 24 Elm Av.

Saturday April 7, 8:30-1 p.m.

Our fifth annual Seedy Saturday will feature a community seed exchange, a plant swap, a workshop speaker series, a Town of Wolfville children’s gardening program, free admission, a fundraising table for Seeds of Diversity Canada, and a number of vendors selling local seeds, plants, transplants, composted seaweed, tubers, Acadian forest tree saplings, and much more. Our event takes place in conjunction with the Wolfville Farmers’ Market, featuring 50 additional vendors, free live music, fair trade coffee, and delicious breakfasts and lunches. We hope you’ll join us!

For more information contact Michelle Fike (902) 697-3344

Plant Propagation and Considerations for Greenhouse Soil

Wednesday, 28 March, 18:30 – 19:30

Ecology Action Centre, 2705 Fern Lane

Facilitator: Rebecca Singer, Native Plants Pollinator Project Coordinator at EAC

Come get your hands dirty and learn some tricks for starting your garden transplants. We will talk about the soil issues involved in greenhouse gardening and how to best use the elements to have strong and healthy transplants to get a jump-start with your garden. Please bring containers to take some seeds home with you! Well meet at the Ecology Action Centre in the board room at 6:30 on March 28th. We’ll later move over to the greenhouse to take a look and plant some seeds. Everyone welcome, no registration required. Free.

Passive Solar Design Workshop

April 14th – 10am-5pm

Ecology Action Centre 2705 Fern Lane

Cost: $75

Come learn the basics of passive solar design for growing food in all seasons through the story of the Bloomfield Community Greenhouse. This full-day, hands-on workshop will equip you with the basics to start designing your own greenhouse!

Topics will include:

Basics of passive solar design.
Designing a greenhouse for winter food production
Factors to consider: Site, solar access, temperature, humidity, light and air.
Thoughtful choice of crops for a winter greenhouse.
Introduction to off-grid solar electricity.
Energy gain and loss in a greenhouse
Design forum – bring your dream greenhouse design and work together on it, or a practice exercise.

Event partners: Ecology Action Centre, Community Energy Cooperative, Full Cycle Builders.Click Here to register. Questions or concerns? Please contact Sonia for more information.

Permaculture for Transition Workshop

April 14-15 9-5 p.m.

St. Luke’s United Church, Tantallon.

You will come out of this workshop with the knowledge for finding positive and practical solutions to creating energy and time-efficient gardens, designing wisely with water, building soil out of nothing, designing opportunities for meaningful community projects, creating a holistic design plan for your property and much more! Cost is $145, and just $65 for the first six under age 30 to register. These low prices are made possible by a generous grant from the Rural Communities Foundation of Nova Scotia to strengthen resilience in our area. To that end we will offer registration exclusively to local folks until March 15. The course includes delicious homemade meals and snacks from gourmet cooks as well as a detailed reading list and handout materials.

To register, email David Wimberly. Visit transitionbay.ca for more information.

Permaculture Design Certificate Course

Earn your certification in permaculture design at The Blockhouse School Project and leave your mark on an exciting new project!

72 hour intensive course
Course runs: May 12-27, 2012
Implementation (optional): May 28-June 2

The course, facilitated by Graham Calder, has a broad curriculum demonstrating the principles, patterns and practices of permaculture design. It utilizes a variety of perspectives from local self-sufficiency to international aid. The course is forged to give a foundation for restoring, rebuilding and reconnecting human ecosystems.

Community Garden Coordinator Workshop

Saturday April 14th, 11-4:30 p.m.

North Branch Library

Free, please R.S.V.P.

This is a free all day event designed to bring coordinators, volunteers and community members who work with Community Gardens together to talk and to learn from presentors and from each other. The workshop will cover communication and building engagement in the garden, soil fertility in the community garden setting, and offer a chance for gardeners to ask questions and share solutions in small conversations.

All types of gardens are invited and encouraged to attend, from the traditional community garden, to school and univeristy gardens, gardens at shelters, family resource centres, youth centres and more. We hope each garden can elect a couple of folks to come and share their garden’s knowledge and struggles. Please R.S.V.P. to Garity by sending the participants names and contact information as soon as possible.

Hands On Season Extension for Market Gardeners

Saturday April 7, 2-8 pm.

Abundant Acres Farm

Join us at Abundant Acres for an afternoon hands-on session to build a low-cost, unheated hoop house (2-4) and stay for the potluck afterwards to talk shop about greenhouse growing and other season-extension techniques. The session is free, please bring something to contribute to the potluck. Click here for directions to the farm.

Loaded Ladle is looking for Board Members

The Loaded Ladle is a Dalhousie-based group that serves free, locally-sourced and communally-cooked meals every Tuesday on campus, while engaging in radical food politics through dialogue and action.The Loaded Ladle is looking for Board Members to elect at our AGM on March 22nd. Many of our long-term members are graduating and moving away, and it’d be great to have some experienced food lovers and activists on Board. We have room for up to four community members, so you don’t have to be a student!

Being a Board Member is an unpaid, volunteer position that requires a certain level of commitment, but not a huge level of work. You would be required to come to weekly meetings, engage in some email discussion, and oversee some aspect of our work, such as planning workshops (or providing the resources so that volunteers can plan workshops), making sure the group sticks to our policies/constitution during their decision-making, or overseeing our paid staff.

If you can’t commit to being a Board Member, we can always use helping hands, and are looking for people to host workshops or help plan events!

To find out more about what it means to be a Board Member, and how to nominate yourself, check out our blog.

To get involved, email us, or find us on Facebook!

Urban Farm Museum in Spryfield Garden and Program Coordinator

Job Announcement
Working at the Urban Farm Museum in Spryfield is a marvellous opportunity to work outdoors with vegetables, herbs, fruits, children, families, and youth during the growing season. Mostly outdoors, some indoor work. Sturdy footwear and protective clothing required.
April 17 to October 15, 2012, Tuesday to Saturday (morning only on Saturdays) 1 evening, and sometimes 2 evenings, per week. Part-time beginning and end of season.
For complete job description, email jamac@ns.sympatico.ca

Application deadline by 5 pm on April 5, 2012

Written By: Garity Chapman

Halifax Garden Network

Tag Archives: ecology action centre

Ecology Action Centre Job Posting: Urban Garden Project Summer Student

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