Raising Awareness

An important aspect of our project was to develop a strategy to best represent the programme and market it to stakeholders. Over the course of our time in Cape Town, we had three presentations to city agencies and key constituents.

Sustainable Livelihoods Network Presentation:

We presented our programme during the Sustainable Livelihoods Network Meeting on November 1, 2012. Still in the early stages of the project, our primary goal was to inform the department of the project mission. The key discussion topics of our presentation were the overall goals of the project, the major stakeholders, the job opportunities, and our plans for moving forward. After the presentation, the main concerns raised by attendees surrounded the workers: who they would be and where we would find them. They suggested that we hire workers who have already worked on governmental work projects which will allow the City to better assess their work ethic and dependability. They suggested we look into Voortrekker Corridor, a mayoral urban regeneration programme, and Straawerk, a Christian mission group. As a result, we included Voortrekker as a way to find employees in our proposal, but not Straawerk since this group is not focused specifically on finding jobs for the poor.

Sustainable Livelihoods Network Presentation (.PDF, 810KB)

Department of Economic and Human Development Presentation:

We made a presentation to the managers of the Department of Economic and Human Development on November 26, 2012. In this presentation, we discussed our proposed programme, the pilot rooftop garden, and projected costs and revenues. The meeting attendees asked us more difficult and specific questions than the ones raised during our previous presentation. Once again it was stressed that we need to find dependable workers, and it was suggested that we strongly consider workers who have already been involved in governmental work programmes. In our proposal, the salaries for our workers were revenue based but it was advised that we include a stipend for workers, which is now included for the gardeners and supervisor. One sceptical attendee asked us why we were planning to grow produce on a rooftop instead of spaces more conducive to production. We explained that this programme utilizes dead space in the city and is meant to create jobs, not necessarily optimise production The response to this presentation was generally positive and led to negotiations for R200 000 ($23 084)in funding for the pilot garden.

Department of Economic and Human Development Presentation (.PDF, 2.3 MB)

Cape Design 2014 Presentation:

For our final presentation, we presented to city, Cape Town Design 2014, and World Design Capital representatives on December 13, 2012. The discussion topics of this presentation were similar to the last; we

presented a complete programme plan and conveyed the importance of experimentation through a pilot garden. Our presentation was well received by attendees and triggered positive discussion. Some suggestions for advancing the project were to:

• Approach building owners and corporations that value social and economic development and support green initiatives.
• Present carbon footprint reduction as a selling point.
• Consider selling the produce at a premium to allow some of the produce to be donated.
• Consider selling the produce to building occupants at retail price.
• When the programme expands, look into selling to large corporations such as Woolworths.
• Incorporate a relaxation space for building occupants and possibly for the public.
• Allow public access to some rooftop gardens for educational purposes.
• Look into supplemental funding through social media sites like Crowdfunding.

Most of these suggestions were previously brought up and considered by our team. Due to time constraints, we were unable to explore all of them but encourage the City and TEL to do so. If the Prestwich Memorial pilot garden (Figures 9 and 10) is implemented, the City and TEL could apply to be a Cape Town Design 2014 project.
We consider our opportunity to present to the Cape Town Design 2014 board a significant step in helping to promote the programme. Consideration as a Cape Town Design or World Design project had been an ambitious goal of ours since the preparation phase of this project. If our project is included in the World Design Capital project showcase, it will be projected into an international light, giving the programme the support and recognition it needs to expand.

Final Presentation (Cape Design) (.PDF, 2.8MB)

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