Vic Park is not the only council area to have adopted an Urban Forest Strategy to protect and improve the canopy that keeps our streets cooler and people breathing better. But we are one of the very few that drew that strategy from the bottom up. The Vic Park Collective proudly supported and actively participated in the effort to develop an Urban Forest Strategy for our town, and now we would love to involve the community in implementing that plan.
We are joining forces with the newly formed Vic Park Urban Foresters – a group of people passionate about our trees who wrote the UFS – to give away a microgrant of $750 for anyone in Vic Park willing to help enhance our urban forest. And we are also throwing some mentoring in to make sure your idea gets off the ground and makes a difference for our suburb.
What’s a microgrant?
We have a little bit of money that we think can get more people engaged in the Urban Forest journey. Any person or community group with an idea to enhance our canopy cover can apply. Ideas may follow under 3 categories:
Planting: Getting more trees planted
Educating: Increasing knowledge about the urban forest in Vic Park
Promoting: Creating a buzz about the urban forest
Once we’ve received all ideas, a panel of specialists will help us pick the best one, which will receive $750, plus up to 10 hours of mentoring from the Vic Park Urban Foresters.
It’s that simple! So spread the word, get your ideas flowing, and let us know what is your plan to keep Vic Park a green and liveable suburb.
Key dates:
Application opens June 9th, closes July 21st
Evaluation from July 21st to 26th
Awarding July 28th (80% of grant paid upfront, 20% paid once finished)
By December 31st, we would like to see copies of receipts and photo monitoring (before, during and after) to make sure the winning project was a success, and to learn what to do better in a future round of microgranting.
Before, during and after your project, we would like to take pictures and promote your story to encourage more people to do the same.
It’s easy to participate. By July 21st, send up to 500 words about how your idea would enhance the urban forest to hello@vicparkcollective. Include specific actions you will undertake (planting, educating or promoting), how they will enhance canopy and what you need to make them happen.
Urban forests offer a wide range of benefits, including the provision of wildlife habitat, reduced air temperatures, improved water quality, mitigated air and noise pollution, not to mention beautiful greenery that helps people live better.
The Vic Park Urban Forest Strategy was researched, developed and written by the Vic Park community, and endorsed by Council in 2018. The strategy aims at increasing our urban canopy (trees of 5 metres or more) to 20% -- currently we are just below 10%. There’s lots of work to do and we need as many people as possible on board!
We can’t wait to receive your idea for the Vic Park urban forest!
