ATHABASCA — Green-minded and forward-thinking Athabascans gathered to put the community one step closer to realizing the area’s passive solar potential with the final formal session of food research and feasibility project Athabasca Grown.
The goal of the project, which included five monthly sessions on varying aspects of food production, consumption and local food economies, is to create a sustainable business model for passive solar greenhouse growing in Northern Alberta to extend the growing season and put local back into the food equation.
“This has been in the rumblings in the community since before this project, this area has been talking about a passive solar greenhouse, there was a workshop back in 2020, so here we are — this is going to happen,” said Cara Shan, Athabasca University researcher and project co-lead along with Mike Gismondi.
“The community was ready to talk about this, especially considering, obviously the tariffs recently, but the drought, ongoing concerns of COVID, all of these milestones that have brought this to the forefront.”
Over the last six months, what started as a handful of names and email addresses scrawled on a sign-up sheet at community registration night has rooted, risen and blossomed into an email list of 250 Athabascans, sold-out seminars, and cross-sector community collaboration.
“We met tons of people. People talk to me at the grocery store, and I can’t remember everyone’s names, but I spend a lot of time there now,” said Gismondi.
Though the May 8 session was the last of the formally planned seminars, the feasibility study is not over yet. Shan and Gismondi’s final report will be released in the fall, and though the real work will begin once the research is completed, the team asked anyone with relevant skills to offer to sign up as a contributor in the meantime.
“I’ve done lots of these studies, and they go on a shelf and then nothing happens,” said Gismondi. “But this one has momentum.”
“You don’t have to do the whole project; I’m 73, I’m not doing this (forever). I’ll grow things, but I’m not going to be here for 25 more years. I’m thinking who wants this? Let’s help and see what we can do.”
Thinking like 'prosumers'
During the session, locals were asked to think like prosumers — both producers and consumers — with the aim of narrowing down the who, what, where, and how of making the dreams envisioned throughout the process of the feasibility study into a reality for the Athabasca area.
After a light dinner, attendees were split up into four groups to move through individual stations, one for each of the questions posed; who else needs a seat at the table, what features a passive solar greenhouse in Athabasca should have, how to create a sustainable, replicable business model, and maybe the biggest question of the evening, where a passive solar greenhouse should be located.
Gismondi asked guests to consider the kind of leadership qualities that benefit a team of community champions heading the passive greenhouse project, such as soft and hard skills both inside and outside the realm of growing and food production itself.
“How do we get from where we are today, to forming some kind of group of people who can carry the project forward?” said Gismondi.
“Remember, it’s a community passive solar greenhouse, we don’t want to forget the C in front of it,” he added. “It’s not just a simple business greenhouse.”
Guests highlighted opportunities to bring groups like the Aspen View Public Schools board and leadership, local educators, as well as service organizations into the conversation.
Skills and knowledge in all aspects of design, construction, and maintenance of a physical structure were identified, along with the ability to manage both the tech and the food production itself, as well as a range of different voices and perspectives from around the community.
When considering what features, amenities and structural needs should be considered in the design and planning of a greenhouse, guests heard a summation of the community feedback and input gathered over the last five sessions.
“We’ve heard people want a community centred food system, they want a place for relationships to grow, they want to keep money in the community. They want — you want a place for education and skills development, essential food skills to be taught maybe in conjunction with the school,” said Shan.
In the form of rough sketches, locals suggested green features such as solar panels to generate energy, a root cellar for food storage year round, a point of sales for consumers to buy direct, and educational and volunteer opportunities for community members.
One guest suggested taking advantage of the thermal mass — ability to absorb, retain and release heat — of large buildings already in town to minimize heat fluctuations at night and in colder months, and creating large refrigerated storage spaces to meet potential commercial demand.
For how, attendees reviewed business basics essential for ensuring and securing funding, identifying risks, and creating a sustainable model for a growing operation with both community and commercial customers.
Beyond crunching the numbers and ensuring the business runs in the black, the how also involves management of the human resources identified by the who discussion, effectively marketing to keep regulars returning and entice new buyers, as well as the technical operations for food production in the first place, all while paying the bills.
The question of where to locate a community passive solar greenhouse was present at every station, and each attendee had the chance to weigh in on which spot they thought would be the best potential location.
“There’s eight properties that we’ve earmarked around town that either people have suggested to us, or we’ve sought out, or they’ve been reasonably offered as ideas for where we might site a possible solar greenhouse,” said Lori Claerhout.
Guests were asked to consider year-round sunlight availability, building orientation, access to town utilities and existing access roads, wind, heat sinks, and community accessibility and visibility as variable factors at each suggested location.
Attendees were asked to consider the pros and cons of placing the greenhouse near Athabasca Cares, on the Ag Society grounds, between the high school and multiplex, two locations near the AU community garden, two locations on the old high school hill, or near the skate and spray parks at the Riverfront.
Each site comes with its own pros and cons, elements that will ultimately shape the end-product and which aspects of the community vision will take priority. All attendees were able to cast votes for their first and second choices, but the organizing team said the exercise was more of a straw-pull than a deciding poll, and work to better understand and identify more potential locations will continue in the coming months.
Locals interested in staying tuned in for updates on the wrap-up research work, the final feasibility study report, and plans to turn Athabasca’s passive solar potential into reality can sign up for email updates and newsletters at athabascagrown.ca.
