CERES Community Environment Park

CERES (Centre for Education and Research in Environmental Strategies) grew out of a 1982 community push to grow vegetables and make compost on a derelict landfill site in Brunswick East; the first tree went into the ground in 1981. Today the 4.5-hectare not-for-profit park is free to enter and includes working urban farms, a permaculture nursery, an organic grocery and bakery, and school and community education programs across multiple sites along the Merri and Darebin creeks. CERES draws around half a million visits a year to its main Brunswick East park alone, and reaches close to another million people through its other sites, schools programs and online offerings.