Students: Cate Adams, Emma Clopton, Isabelle Spirk, & Julie Wright
What is the larger dream / goal behind your venture?
The goal of the South Side Permaculture Park is to bring a regenerative food-yielding and educational greenspace to the Bethlehem community. Unlike so many cherished greenspaces found in the Southside, which are located predominantly along the Greenway Beltline, we are nestled within the neighborhood, establishing a beautiful natural environment amongst urban infrastructure. The larger dream is to find a way to successfully carry out urban permaculture in a way that truly emphasizes all aspects of permaculture, especially focusing on its philosophy for community engagement, as opposed to limiting its applications to how we grow in our space. Our project can eventually serve as a model for using gardening and the growth of plants to also grow communities.
With the help of a visual, describe a coalition you will build to address the larger problem you are trying to address.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1BVJxLWc1-Bd2nhfaIjwM1ykev_zZv8hq8lC_wTvyTNs/edit?usp=sharing
What (kinds of) organizations will you bring together? How might the coalition be transformative for the issue? How you might provide leadership and coordination for the coalition.
The Southside Permaculture Park could bring together several kinds of organizations including:
- Academia
- Non-profit organizations
- Foundations
- K-12 Schools
- Social Ventures
- Government
The Permaculture Park’s coalition would be transformative for the southside Bethlehem community. The coalition encompasses many local organizations, ventures and academic institutions that can all work together to bring more greenspaces to the urban ecosystem. Through academia, we can inform and educate the community about permaculture and the importance of greenspace for community and environmental health. Working with other institutions such as Lafayette, who has an impressive agriculture program, would help us strengthen our work at the park. The permaculture park team can also interact with K-12 students from the Bethlehem Area School District through educational workshops, teaching youth about caring for the planet and the importance of adopting sustainable habits.
By including non-profit organizations, we can work with the local community and share resources, knowledge, and partnerships. For example, partnering with non-profits such as the Rodale Institute, which is a research institute for regenerative organic agriculture and how soil health directly affects human health. Working alongside Rodale would allow us to scale up our work at the SSPP, giving us stronger insights on how to grow food, restore soil health within an urban environment, and help us to better prove the intersection of environmental and community health. Also, working alongside organizations such as the Permaculture Research Institute would allow us to truly understand how we can best utilize the permaculture philosophy in a way that would be truly impactful on the southside community. Additionally, it is also important to include social ventures from within the valley to support their initiatives and create impact on a local level. Social ventures such as the Bethlehem Farmers’ Market allows us to become a known project within the community and give us an outlet to share permaculture philosophy, as well as our harvests.
Working with foundations such as the Kellyn Foundation would be a transformative opportunity for the permaculture park and for the community at large. Kellyn has a healthy neighborhood immersion strategy which encompasses their four main initiatives: Kellyn Schools, Kellyn Kitchens, Kellyn Food Access, and Kellyn Lifestyle Medicine. This program gives community members access to nourishing produce, education, and encouragement for healthy habits. Their values strongly align with our mission of bringing a greenspace to the southside that emphasizes the importance of community health.
Lastly, working with government organizations, whether it is with the City of Bethlehem or on a larger scale such as the PA Dept. of Agriculture would involve the government department supporting and promoting permaculture principles through education, research, policy development, and the demonstration of sustainable agricultural practices at the permaculture park.
Creating a transformative permaculture park and leading a coalition for this initiative involves a holistic approach that integrates environmental, social, and economic aspects. To make the coalition transformative, our team can provide leadership and coordination by defining a clear mission, building relationships, setting clear goals/objectives, developing a shared plan, and creating steady streams of communication.