DREFF Workshop on Community Gardens in Partnership with Banreservas Comes to a Successful Close
New York, August 8, 2012
Saturday, August 4, 2012, marked the close of the 5 day workshop on Community Gardens implemented by the Dominican Republic Environmental Film Festival (DREFF), an initiative of Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) and Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE), in conjunction with Banreservas at Club Banreservas in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The program, which commenced on July 7 and took place over the course of 5 Saturdays, provided participants with instruction on how to create and maintain box gardens, utilizing organic agricultural techniques. The workshop was taught by Cristinia Cruz Minier, expert in botany and environmental science.
The objectives of the workshop were to: create a community garden that will serve both recreational and occupational needs; teach participants about organic box gardening; plant vegetables that are fast-growing; instill a sense of community; and provide a healthy, toxic-free food source for the community.
Twenty people of varying ages took part in the workshop. By the end of the workshop, participants created three raised beds, one 4" by 4" in diameter and two 8" by 5" feet in diameter. Participants learned how to plant and cultivate radishes, tomatoes, spinach, hot peppers and okra. Plantlings were provided by the Department of Agrofishery Extension and Capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture in Pantoja.
The students that completed the workshop agreed to manage the upkeep of the garden on a weekly basis, and a portion of the last class was devoted to distributing responsibilities among participants.
This initiative is the result of an extensive partnership and agreement of collaboration between DREFF and Banreservas, which includes a vast program of activities, including community gardens, film projections, exhibits and discussion forums.
The Vegetable Garden initiative emerged as a result of interest sparked during the talks, panels and workshops conducted by Rose Lord during the I Dominican Republic Environmental Film Festival. Rose Lord represents the Make Gardens Not War, an initiative of the Global Coalition for Peace, which seeks to encourage the creation of vegetable gardens around the world.
The Vegetable Garden initiative is reflective of DREFF's overall mission to interact with leading figures in the environmental community and to make a difference. To date, DREFF has also implemented Vegetable Garden initiatives with Babeque, Loyola and Calzans, CONSA, St. George and Café Con Leche High Schools in Santo Domingo.
About DREFF:
DREFF aims to raise awareness and deepen understanding of environmental issues among Dominican audiences, while celebrating the beauty and diversity of the country's natural heritage. The Festival offers insights into attitudes and actions that contribute to the appreciation, conservation and sustainable use of the planet.
Through screening a diverse selection of high quality films on matters of environmental concern, and by organizing discussion panels with environmental experts, filmmakers and other stakeholders, the Festival seeks to foster dialogue and inspire the Dominican public to adopt practices that will help to ensure the environmental sustainability and health of the country.
By bringing together youth, scholars, experts, activists, filmmakers, representatives of the public, private and non-governmental institutions and the general public, the Festival promotes programs and projects that contribute to environmental protection, conservation and sustainability.
The Festival provides youth and general audiences the opportunity to watch ground-breaking documentary films on environmental topics. Key thematic areas of DREFF 2012 include Oceans, Biodiversity, Green Economy, Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change. The Festival offers ample possibilities for participants to interact with leading figures in the environmental community and opportunities to collaborate in national and international programs that are making a positive impact.
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DREFF 
Related links:
www.drenvironmentalfilmfestival.org
www.environmentaldictionary.org
www.globoverdedominicano.org
www.banreservas.com.do
News History
New York, April 23, 2012
New York, April 22, 2012
New York, April 16, 2012
Community in Action!
Supporting grassroots organizations and communities
Among the goals of the DR Environmental Film Festival (DREFF), is to include and support grassroots organizations and communities, schools and young people in general.
Marcos Diaz
A real Universal Community leader and spokesman for the core values of the UN Millennium Development Goals as it is the Dominican swimmer Marcos Diaz. He will meet a group of youth, who will have a swimming competition, at La Caleta. The expected goals of this activity is to offer an opportunity to youth of disadvantaged areas to interact with Marcos, and to get a better understanding for the role model that Marcos represents for Dominicans and the rest of the world, as well as a better understanding of the sea and this protected area of La Caleta.For more details about Marcos Diaz visit Dominican Get-Together in the Big Apple
Trivias - Dominican Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Environment
to Promote DREFF Video
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