AUT Community Gardens
Welcome to AUT Community Gardens - a university-wide initiative which aims to promote sustainability, nutrition and holistic wellbeing in a collaborative environment.
Our gardens
North Campus
Home to various initiative spaces, including raised garden beds, fruit tree orchard, the sensory herb garden, the outdoor classroom, Matariki gardens, and hāngi pit.
South Campus
Home to 12 large, raised garden beds available for student projects, staff, and the local community. The gardens can be found behind the gym.
City Campus
The AUT City Campus Community Garden Initiative was established by AUTSA along with the Foodie Godmother Initiative. The gardens are located opposite the AUTSA office.
NorthTec - Te Pūkenga
NorthTec is home to four community garden beds. Students manage the beds and have provided produce for the campus café.
Our initiatives
Background
The AUT Community Gardens Initiative (CGI) is a university-wide initiative that supports nutrition, sustainability, and hauora (health) of AUT and the local community. The initiative was established in 2019 as an integral component on an experiential learning initiative for a level 7 course (Lifestyle Nutrition) within the Bachelor of Sport and Recreation. It involved a collaboration of communities and projects across AUT with shared visions and priorities in the principles of manaakitanga (reciprocity) and kaitiakitanga (guardianship).
The CGI has since developed into a university-wide sustainability project supported at many levels across all three campuses (North, City and South) and with involvement across the university including academic staff, estates services and sustainability management personnel. What began in the first year as the planting of some vegetables and a small fruit orchard, now boasts expansion of the fruit orchard at the North Campus, planting of native kawakawa and horopito, construction of raised garden beds, the inclusion of the City Campus gardening club, development of the Matariki garden space adjacent to the whānau (family/community) room at North Campus, and the construction of the outdoor whare (classroom).
Impressions of our gardens through time
We take photos often to showcase the progress of our work and initiatives – take a look yourself.
Meet the team
Meet the AUT Community Gardens Initiative Steering Committee behind the strategic vision and future direction of the project.
Contact us
Interested in getting involved with AUT Community Gardens?
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