TURNING dead palm fronds into a sexy, next-gen fertiliser may help save the EarthCare Centre at Hawkesbury Campus of Western Sydney University.
The EarthCare Centre is in the spotlight of the university’s accountants and has been given a year to prove its worth to the university.
The EarthCare Centre is a working demonstration site for organic gardening and sustainable technologies. It is a joint project of the Henry Doubleday Research Association and the Alternative Technology Association.
The building was constructed by volunteers out of materials paid for by sponsorship from businesses. It has been used by WSU students interested in sustainability and organic gardening for 20 years.
Having paid a peppercorn rent since it began as an organic garden in 1994, it was told by the university last year it would have to pay rent of 10s of thousands a year under a new business model.
Head EarthCare volunteer Eric Brocken said after negotiation they got the amount down to $11,000 per annum, but the university also wanted to lay claim to ownership of half the building after three years.
Late last year, after what Mr Brocken said was a misunderstanding in negotiations, EarthCare volunteers were asked to vacate the site by February 21 this year.
Former students started a change.org petition addressed to the Vice Chancellor ‘Save the WSU EarthCare Centre’ which was signed by 951 people and attracted many supportive comments, including some from former students living overseas who acknowledged the significance of their experiences at the centre.
Then in January the university had a change of heart.
“We have been given a stay until December this year and if we prove that we can strongly contribute to teaching and research then we should be offered a long-term licence,” Mr Brocken said.
“We are now focused on a business plan and ways to satisfy the university that we are a good partner. The centre is unique globally and we need to convince the university that we are worth more alive than dead.
“But the uni will have to start putting a value on some of the things we contribute, too.”
If the centre successfully demonstrates its worth to the university it will be allowed to stay – at $11,000 pa rent.
The university did not answer any of the Gazette’s questions about the situation, instead issuing a statement defending its stance.
“Western Sydney University has been working actively with the EarthCare Centre to come to an agreement over their ongoing occupancy on the Hawkesbury campus,” it said.
“The university is not asking for commercial rental rates. It is only asking for facility cost recoveries associated with providing EarthCare with access to the facility on campus, together with EarthCare demonstrating to the university that it is strongly engaged with the university’s learning, teaching and research activities.
“The university has agreed to extend EarthCare’s lease until the end of 2016, as it continues to work with the group to find a resolution.”
Looking ahead as to how they will satisfy the university’s criteria, Mr Brocken said they would like to work in with the Bachelor of Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security degree in a more formal way.
It would also like to act as a bridge between the university’s sustainability scientists and local farmers, working with the farmers to find ways to implement the scientists’ discoveries.
“We’d also love to work with the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment – they have learned a lot from the research for the EucFACE forest experiment,” Mr Brocken said.
The uni’s EucFACE experiment is measuring the long-term effects of carbon dioxide on forests.
“We’re well placed for exploring more biological farming techniques such as multicropping, crop rotations, soil management and building improved ecosystems which lead to more nutritious food and require less pesticides,” Mr Brocken said.
One research area he was excited about was biochar –where plant materials are burnt in a special furnace to create a brilliant charcoal fertiliser which is very efficient at locking up carbon in the soil and generating nutrients. The centre has two biochar furnaces it will be experimenting with this year with the School of Science and Health – and the university’s discarded palm fronds will be first into the flames.
Geochemistry masters student James Robinson will be hands on with the biochar experiments, working to create the best recipe for biochar.
“We can then market it outside here to offset costs,” Mr Robinson said. Mr Brocken said they would also run workshops so others can learn how to produce it.
The centre’s volunteers are now in the process of setting up an advisory panel of experts to help them create a business model, with local politicians and advisers in accountancy, legal matters and PR. Macquarie MP Louise Markus said she would help with this.
- One of the comments from the Change.org petition: Chenchen Zhao – I am signing because Earth Care means lot to students whose major is Agriculture. We have a place to learn organic planting. We can put what we learn in to practice here. And volunteers in earth care is very professional and delicated! we learnt a lot from them. Our teachers are very glad to use this place for teaching and actually they have done this before! Thousands of "NO!" I would say if someone wants to stop earth care!
