Our mission

The Auróra Climate Garden is an eco-forestry project in the heart of the 8th district. In the last 5 years, we’ve created a food forest from a gravel parking lot which is self-sufficient and self-sustaining. With only city waste and volunteer work, our focus on soil building has evolved along with the succession of our space from natural wasteland to emerging forest.

From the start, compost was the dynamo of our garden system. It has turbo-charged growth of the plants and seeds we put in, and of the trees which volunteered from the mulch we put down. Most of our 180 trees germinated from seeds in the garden waste bags that we cover our soil with through winter. We offer local composting for kitchen, garden and other urban waste. Promoting nature-based solutions, we hope to inspire people to view small local interventions as a way to make their city climate proof.

Our project also endeavors to nurture and build a collective of city people who can take care of the environment. We organize tours and workshops for school groups, university students, NGOs and corporate teams. Our programs are most effective when we can present hands-on learning, so people feel they too have participated in our project, and in a solution.

🌱 We build local community – The Climate Garden is an open space where we learn together from each other and from nature.
👉 Learn more on the VOLUNTEERING page.

🌿 We work with nature – We support soil, plants and wildlife with regenerative methods.
👉 Discover the wildlife of the Climate Garden on the BIODIVERSITY RESTORATION page.

🌞 We inspire and educate – We share knowledge and lead others towards a sustainable lifestyle.

🌍 We lead by example – We demonstrate the possibilities of regenerative farming, water conservation and soil improvement in the city.

The primary priority of a food garden is food production, which means it views plants and insects, soil and air, water and sunlight as separate elements. We add or subtract them to help one part, the plant, grow food. This thinking requires input (compost, soil amendments, mulch, water, seeds) to produce something edible. It produces for immediate consumption, with less attention to the long-term stability of the garden.

A climate garden views the area as a system, where all parts interact. If we optimize the design, these parts can produce food, but they can also produce insects, birds, soil, and water. When we prioritize systems thinking, we produce a lot of production results (compost, soil health, water, temperature buffering, biodiversity, mulch, etc.) with little input.

For residents

• Health Benefits: Proximity to natural environments improves residents’ health and well-being.
• Community Composting: A permanent composting station for neighbourhood residents, providing a local source of compost, as well as composting guides and ideas for its use.
• Strengthening Neighbourhood Relations: Provides opportunities for community interaction and deepening neighbourhood relationships.
• Supplementary Resources: Can provide residents with additional food, flowers, or herbs.
• Education and Waste Reduction: Composting and vermicomposting programs in schools to educate students and reduce waste.

For the district

• Information Center: Provides information on composting guidelines and restrictions in the district.
• More efficient waste management: A thermal composter can handle a larger volume and variety of waste than a household composter.
• Stormwater management: Reduces stormwater runoff as a “rain garden”, improving the capacity of the sewer system.
• Community engagement: Provides a venue for various community groups to participate (e.g. cleanups, workshops, projects).
• Improved environmental comfort: Reduces urban noise and wind.
• Drought tolerance and water retention: Creates drought-tolerant areas that collect runoff, increasing the district’s resilience to extreme weather.
• Improved air quality: Contributes to improving the district’s air quality.
• Local carbon sequestration: Keeps the district’s organic carbon stock on-site.
• Climate mitigation: Reduces the urban heat island effect and extreme cold spells.
• Heat island during heat waves: Can act as a “cooling station” for local residents during heat waves.
• Educational model: Sets an example for the restoration of degraded urban areas.

For the environment

• Increase carbon sequestration: More carbon is sequestered in the soil.
• Support biodiversity: Creates a haven for local biodiversity (native plants, insects, birds, etc.).
• Reduce water pollution: Reduces the pollution of stormwater runoff from the district.