Grow Wānaka community resilience hub: from food waste to local harvests
Grow Wānaka is a circular model community garden, composting centre, and educational hub in Wānaka, New Zealand. It is a welcoming space for community to connect, learn, share and grow. The project works to enhance community resilience, food security, community connection and wellbeing, while minimising waste through organics recycling, and expanding knowledge and skills through educational opportunities. Operating on a circular model, Grow Wānaka accepts food waste from the urban centre and converts it into a biologically active compost through vermicomposting. The compost is used to grow organic produce as a collective, with produce shared among the volunteer team and weekly surplus distributed to the local Food Bank and community produce pantries. The garden runs weekly working bees and monthly workshops on a wide range of regenerative living topics along with providing experiential education sessions for local schools.
Project story
Grow Wānaka: From Bare Paddock to Thriving Community Hub
In 2020, a group of passionate locals transformed a bare paddock into Grow Wānaka—a vibrant community garden that's now a beacon for sustainable living and connection.
Today, six years later, this thriving space buzzes with activity. Twelve worm farms convert food scraps into nutrient-rich compost. Greenhouses nurture organic seedlings. Heritage fruit trees and hugelkultur gardens flourish across the landscape. And at the heart of it all, a welcoming meeting space hosts morning tea, educational workshops, and shared meals celebrating local kai and community.
How We're Making a Difference
Grow Wānaka operates on a beautifully circular model. We accept food scraps from the community, transform them through vermicomposting, and use the resulting compost to grow abundant produce. Weekly harvests feed our volunteers and stock local food banks and community pantries.
We're also educators. Weekly working bees, monthly workshops on regenerative living, and hands-on school visits inspire the next generation of growers. Through collaborative partnerships across six local and national groups, we're amplifying our voice for systemic change.
By nurturing soil health, building community resilience, and creating local food solutions, Grow Wānaka proves that sustainable change starts where we live.
Project updates
Team
Grow Wānaka community resilience hub: from food waste to local harvests
Grow Wānaka is a circular model community garden, composting centre, and educational hub in Wānaka, New Zealand. It is a welcoming space for community to connect, learn, share and grow. The project works to enhance community resilience, food security, community connection and wellbeing, while minimising waste through organics recycling, and expanding knowledge and skills through educational opportunities. Operating on a circular model, Grow Wānaka accepts food waste from the urban centre and converts it into a biologically active compost through vermicomposting. The compost is used to grow organic produce as a collective, with produce shared among the volunteer team and weekly surplus distributed to the local Food Bank and community produce pantries. The garden runs weekly working bees and monthly workshops on a wide range of regenerative living topics along with providing experiential education sessions for local schools.
Project story
Grow Wānaka: From Bare Paddock to Thriving Community Hub
In 2020, a group of passionate locals transformed a bare paddock into Grow Wānaka—a vibrant community garden that's now a beacon for sustainable living and connection.
Today, six years later, this thriving space buzzes with activity. Twelve worm farms convert food scraps into nutrient-rich compost. Greenhouses nurture organic seedlings. Heritage fruit trees and hugelkultur gardens flourish across the landscape. And at the heart of it all, a welcoming meeting space hosts morning tea, educational workshops, and shared meals celebrating local kai and community.
How We're Making a Difference
Grow Wānaka operates on a beautifully circular model. We accept food scraps from the community, transform them through vermicomposting, and use the resulting compost to grow abundant produce. Weekly harvests feed our volunteers and stock local food banks and community pantries.
We're also educators. Weekly working bees, monthly workshops on regenerative living, and hands-on school visits inspire the next generation of growers. Through collaborative partnerships across six local and national groups, we're amplifying our voice for systemic change.
By nurturing soil health, building community resilience, and creating local food solutions, Grow Wānaka proves that sustainable change starts where we live.
Project updates
Team
Location
New Zealand
Round 3
Jul 1-21, 2026
Supporting community-led nature projects around the world.
Matching funds provided by
