Cultivaction

CultivAction Urban Agriculture Certification Course

This course is for anyone who is interested in learning about gardening, urban farming, and urban permaculture. Students in this course will gain knowledge on how to produce food in their own yards, balconies, community/collective gardens, and other urban spaces. For those who don’t have access to an urban space for practice, we will offer hands-on  opportunities on one of Coop CultivAction’s farms to get hands on experience.

The CultivAction Urban Agriculture course will equip participants with the knowledge, skills, practical experience, and critical understanding necessary to enact meaningful transformations within their local food system.

harvest

COMMUNITY REGISTRATION

REGISTER HERE !

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COST

Community Rate: $875.00

CONCORDIA STUDENTS

Take advantage of our special subsidized rate and pay just $50 for registration! 

Concordia Students - Subsidized Rate Application Form

ACCESSIBILITY

We prioritize community accessibility while ensuring fair compensation for our workers. Those unable to pay the full fee have two options:

  1. Make an Affordability Rate Request   
  2. Learn by Volunteering 
  3. Concordia students  apply for a tuition subsidy

Graduates will earn a certificate in Urban Agriculture

Why is Urban Agriculture Important? 

Agriculture is one of the leading sources of global pollution, industrial farming is destroying our biosphere and chemical pesticides and fertilizers have negative effects on our health. Buying locally grown food is a great way to minimize your environmental impact, and learning to grow your own food is even better! Food prices are on the rise; a study from Dalhousie University, the University of Saskatchewan, University of Guelph and University of British Colombia found that food prices increased by 10.3% in 2022. Growing your own food is a rewarding way to reduce your carbon footprint, save money and learn practical skills that you can share with others. Whatever your motivation, with a little bit of knowledge and practice, it is possible to grow an abundance of healthy fruits and vegetables and participate in a movement to cultivate a more resilient and food secure future. 

Learn how to:

  • Grow food in urban (or peri-urban) environments
  • Incorporate SPIN (Small Plot Intensive Farming) methods 
  • Become more self-sufficient by producing a variety of fruits and vegetables at home or in the community
  • Understand community food systems and apply the knowledge to urban gardening/farming
  • Run a social economy based urban farm
  • Cultivate annual and perennial food plants
  • Incorporate permaculture methods into urban gardening/farming
  • Get the most production in an urban garden/farm
  • Understand gardening cycles – what to do in different seasons
  • Incorporate mushrooms into your urban farms/gardens
  • Forage in urban areas
  • Use natural methods for pest control
  • Distinguish between weeds and beneficial plants and flowers

To better serve you, we're excited to announce that the Urban Agriculture Certificate program is now available in two locations!

Cultivaction

Option 1

Coop CultivAction Loyola Farm

Located at Concordia University, Loyola Campus. The Loyola Farm is behind the TB building – 7079 Rue de Terrebonne, Montreal, Quebec H4B 1E1.

SCHEDULE

This Course runs biweekly on Tuesdays evenings from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., from May 14 to October 15.

  1. May 14

  2. May 28
  3. 
June 11
  4. 
June 25
  5. 
July 9
  6. 
July 23
  7. 
August 6
  8. 
August 20
  9. 
September 3
  10. 
September 17
  11. 
October 1
  12. 
October 15

About the Course 

This urban agriculture course is offered biweekly for the entire growing season. The course consists of 12 engaging classes beginning in May finishing in October. The course is for adults of all ages who want to learn how to grow nutritious food in an urban setting. Whether you are looking to transform your property into an edible garden, learn how to maintain a community garden, or you want to improve your existing gardening skills, this course will provide you with theoretical knowledge and practical skills to support your journey towards becoming more self-sufficient.

 

Class Topics Include

  1. Introduction to Urban Agriculture, Regenerative Agriculture, Permaculture, Urban Foraging, Edible Urban Planning, and SPIN Farming
  2. Setting Up a Garden/Urban Farm – Seeding, Transplanting, Building Infrastructure
  3. Healthy Soil – Regenerative Food Systems and Cycles
  4. Mycology and mushroom farming
  5. Introduction to Plant Ecology – Maintaining an Annual Garden
  6. Introduction to Plant Ecology – Maintaining a Perennial Garden
  7. Different forms of Urban Farms – Field Trip
  8. Natural Solutions to Common Garden Problems
  9. Healthy Soil, Healthy Plants
  10. Post Harvest, Seed Saving, Preservation
  11. Putting your Garden to Bed
  12. Harvest Party

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

ERIK CHEVRIER, Ph.D., Part-time Professor at Concordia University

Erik Chevrier has been a driver of sustainable food systems at Concordia University as a part-time professor, activist and student.

As a part-time professor, Erik has taught Food and Culture and Food and Sustainability, and provided his students with opportunities for hands-on learning and critical-participatory-action-research. He enables his students to learn by doing and empowers them to become community leaders, urban farmers, and sustainability activists. 

With a strong interest in the political economy of ethical food systems, Erik has meticulously chronicled Concordia’s student-run food cooperatives through his Ph.D in Humanities. 

His community involvement in sustainability at Concordia includes the Concordia Food Coalition, Divest Concordia, the Hive Café Co-op, and more. He has also founded a number of organizations, research projects and educational programs, including the non-profit solidarity urban farming cooperative CultivAction.

Mohammed Al-Duais will co-teach this course with Erik and nico schutte will lead the mushroom class.

Coop CultivAction Loyola Farm

Campus Map

The Loyola Farm is located at the back of Concordia University, Loyola Campus – TB building. 7079 Rue de Terrebonne, Montreal, Quebec H4B 1E1.

Cultivaction Senneville

OPTION 2

Coop CultivAction (Senneville) Farm

Located in the vicinity of Morgan arboretum behind 267 Senneville Rd, Senneville, QC H9X 3X8. We will also visit various collective gardens in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue and neighbouring municipalities in the West-Island.

SCHEDULE

This Course runs biweekly on Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon from May 4 to November 30.

  1. May 4
  2. May 18
  3. June 1
  4. June 15
  5. June 29
  6. July 13
  7. July 27
  8. August 10
  9. August 24
  10. September 7
  11. September 21
  12. October 5
  13. October 19
  14. November 2
  15. November 16
  16. November 30

About the Course

This urban agriculture course is offered biweekly for the entire growing season. The course consists of 16 engaging classes beginning in May finishing in November. The course is for adults of all ages who want to learn how to grow nutritious food in an urban setting. Whether you are looking to transform your property into an edible garden, learn how to maintain a community garden, or you want to improve your existing gardening skills, this course will provide you with theoretical knowledge and practical skills to support your journey towards becoming more self-sufficient.

Class Topics Include

  1. Introduction to commercial agriculture, urban agriculture, permaculture and food systems
  2. Building healthy soil: mulching, composting, plant support and garden materials recycling
  3. Crop planning and companion planting
  4. Sensory testing of soils, building trellis and other garden structures
  5. Seeding, thinning and seedling transfer, convert your garden to an eco-friendly garden.
  6. Garden maintenance, irrigation style and weeding
  7. Different garden designs, backyard greenhouse designs, season extensions and converting your garden to an eco-friendly garden.
  8. Annuals and Crop rotations
  9. Food systems: growing huge amounts of food in small spaces and backyard birds and animals.
  10. Natural Solutions to Common Garden Problems and pollinators
  11. Perennial food forest foundation and mushroom production under different settings
  12. Social economy approaches to urban agriculture
  13. Harvesting, preservation, packaging, and surplus marketing/gifting
  14. Seeds and rhizomes saving
  15. Winterizing your garden
  16. Social involvements: harvest party and crop, seed and seedling donation

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

MOHAMMED AL-DUAIS, PhD, Part-time Professor at Concordia University

Dr. Mohammed Al-Duais, a biologist specializing in plant ecology and phytochemistry, boasts over 17 years of experience in sustainability, agroforestry, and nature conservation. With a focus on projects benefiting marginalized communities and smallholder farmers in Canada and the Middle East, he possesses expertise in university teaching, project management, grant writing, and capacity building.

Dr. Al-Duais earned his Ph.D. in Biology from Friedrich Schiller University, Germany. He held positions as Assistant Professor at Ibb University and Director of the Foundation for Endangered Wildlife (FEW) in Yemen, in addition to serving as Natural Science Specialist at the UNESCO Doha Office. As a Fulbright fellow at the Bioactive Botanical Research Laboratory of the University of Rhode Island, USA, he conducted research for a year. In 2013, he returned to the Institute of Nutrition at Friedrich Schiller University to continue his phytochemical investigation on less-used Yemeni vegetables. Dr. Al-Duais is currently serving as a Research Associate at the McGill Institute for Global Food Security. He is involved in the interdisciplinary research on global food security, with a focus on developing novel methodologies, with a comprehensive ecosystem approach, to tackling the cycle of poverty and malnutrition. He is also the CEO and co-founder “Harvest for Health Inc.”, a McGill startup focused on solving the globally increasing hidden hunger and its consequences.

Dr. Al-Duais plays a key role in food security efforts as a member of the food literacy committee at the Montreal West Island Community Resource Centre. He also holds the position of CEO at Permaculture (PSADB), a nonprofit organization supported by the “Moving Towards Sustainability” Fund of Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue municipality. Under PSADB he managed many agroecology urban projects including Duff-Court Neighborhood Life Committee urban farm and two other urban gardens in Montreal, Canada.

Coop CultivAction Patchwork Farm

If you’re having a hard time getting to the Senneville farm, please contact Mohammad at 514-443-3263 

The farm does not have an address which can make it tricky to find the first time you go there. These instructions will help you find your way. The directions below are from by Santropol Roulant (a neighbouring farm).

English instructions

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