Urban Resilience, Food Security and Ecological Health Promotion

1. International Short Course - Italy - South Africa
Urban Resilience, Food Security and Ecological
Health Promotion

2. Introduction - Urban Environments, Ecological Health and Food
Security
The environments in which we live are key determinants of health and prosperity.
Food security and nutrition are fundamental to improving public health and are
often constrained by urban and social Environments reflecting social and historical
inequities. These social determinants of health are largely responsible for health
inequities and difference in health status experienced across nations and socio-
economic classes. Urban form and the built environment also impact on health in
multiple ways, including access to economic opportunities, environmental quality
and physical activity patterns. Urban design and development interventions
informed by the fields of food security and ecological health promotion represent
a powerful way to enhance public health and stimulate more equitable economic
participation.
Presentation of the Course
CESTAS, with the support of the University of Bologna (DISTA - Department of
Agroenvironmental Sciences and Technologies and the Agriculture Faculty) and the
University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, and in cooperation with
Siyakhana Initiative for Ecological Health and Food Security, is proud to introduce
the International Short Course in South Africa “Urban Resilience, Food Security and
Ecological Health Promotion”.
The international short course is an intensive 3 weeks-program, one week (12-15
September 2011) in Italy (Bologna) and 2 weeks (9-23 October 2011) in South Africa
(Johannesburg), for a total of 93 hours lectures and practical training.
Objective of the course is to provide participants with theoretical and practical
competences with regard to the promotion of human health in a dimension of
environmental sustainability, food and nutritional security, sustainable urban design
and urban agriculture. Through an interdisciplinary approach, participants will gain
an insight into the following core concepts:
- Health Promotion – Socio-Ecological Strategies for Healthy communities
- Food security and nutrition
- Health and Urban Form
- Sustainable urban design
- Permaculture and Agro-Ecology
- Climate Change and Urban Resilience
Participants will be able to conduct a situational analysis of an intervention
program, identify opportunities aimed at strengthening interventions, integrate
participatory community mobilization processes, design and recommend
intervention strategies to realize the opportunities identified.
Students will get in contact with the complexity and challenges related to these
issues, with a focus on the South African urban and peri-urban contexts.

3. Essential information
THEMES sustainable development, urban agriculture, food security, health
promotion, urban resilience
DURATION 3 weeks (12-15 September / 9-23 October 2011)
ENROLLMENT Registration form and payment by 29/07/2011 - Min. 12 participants
COST 1,500 €
SEATS Bologna – Johannesburg
LANGUAGE English
TEACHING OFFICE CESTAS (Bologna)
Target group Requirements
The course is open to: - Good knowledge of
- graduate; post-graduate students, PhD holders English (written and
- undergraduate with experience and motivated spoken)
interest in the relevant field: territorial planning - Good social and team-
and sustainable development, health and work skills
nutrition, urban agriculture - Coping skills
- Strong motivation
Certification
After successfully completing the course, to all participants will be issued a
certificate of competence.
Participation fee
The fee amounts to 1,500 € and includes:
- Course in Italy (18 hours of taught classes)
- Course in South Africa (75 hours of classes and study visits)
- Lodging in Johannesburg in double/triple rooms, breakfast included.
- Insurance (Resident no problem + RCT + injury-death-tropical sickness)
- Internal transportation by minibus to field trip sides
- Meals during the teaching sessions in South Africa (lunch + coffee break)
- Logistic assistance during the whole period of the course
- Teaching materials
The fee does not include the flights, other meals and the eventual lodging in
Bologna. An estimation of the extra costs amounts to about 1.230 €:
- Flight Bologna-Johannesburg (roundtrip) 900€
- Dinner (for 15 days) and weekend meals 250 €
- Daily transportation between accommodation and lecture venue 80€
Participants may, upon request, choose to let CESTAS book of the flight on their
behalf, by paying the necessary amount directly to CESTAS.

4. Outline of the course
The International short course has an overall duration of 3 weeks, for a total of teaching 93 hours:
the program is based on an interactive teaching method, which will integrate taught classes with
discussions, simulations, laboratories, focus groups, case studies, group works, study trips and
field visits. The program is organized as follows:
Term in Italy (Bologna, 12 - 15 September 2011)
The first stage of the program consists in a four-days long period of taught classes, for a total duration of 18 hours,
which will take place at CESTAS' office in Bologna. The following concepts and activities will be dealt with:
Day 1 – Introductory lecture to Urban Agriculture and Horticulture (4 hours, Prof. G. Gianquinto): Urbanization and
poverty. The role of Urban and Periurban Agriculture (UPA) in mitigating urban poverty. Main features of UPA.
Strengthen and weakness of UPA. The role of Urban Horticulture (UH) for food security and health promotion.
Day 2 – Sustainable production systems for Urban Horticulture (4 hours, Prof. G. Gianquinto): The multifunctional role
of UH. Factors Influencing UH development and establishment: market, access to natural resources and labour,
environmental pollution, climatic conditions. Traditional and innovative farming systems for UH.
Day 3 – Case studies (4 hours, Prof. G. Gianquinto and Dr. F. Orsini): Water saving cropping systems and Simplified
Hydroponics. Case studies from urban horticulture projects from north and south of the world. Participatory approach
and project planning.
Day 4 – Field visits (6 hours, Prof. G. Gianquinto and Dr. F. Orsini): School gardens, Urban community gardens, roof
gardens.
Term in South Africa (Johannesburg, 10 - 23 October 2011)
Day 1 - Introductory lecture: Historical and social context in South Africa / Inequity, poverty and health / Urban spatial
manifestations of inequity /Livelihoods, coping strategies and the informal economy / Health promotion
Day 2 - Introductory lecture: Food security (conceptual and excursion to Wits campus) / Food access barriers /
Nutrition and health / Water infrastructure and health / Environments and health / Social group event
Day 3 - Introductory lecture: Urban agriculture / Permaculture and ecological design / Health promotion and food
security in urban design: Mamelodi case study / Participatory development methodologies / Briefing fieldwork
Day 4 – Urban Social & Spatial Context Fieldwork : Joburg fresh produce market / Informal traders – Yeoville market /
Siyakhana Permaculture Garden
Day 5 – Urban Social & Spatial Context Fieldwork: Tour of Alexandra township, Memelodi, and Bryanston
Day 6 – Fieldwork Debrief and feedback : Reflections on urban context fieldwork / Debate on topics covered and
relationship to fieldwork / Written feedback / Questions to facilitators /Brainstorming research interests / Research
methodology review interviews, participatory observation, focus groups / Introducing host organisations and settings
/ Develop interview guidelines
Day 7 – Community Development Fieldwork: Meeting with host organizations / Observation / Key informant
interviews / Projects: participatory observation / Focus groups interviews
Day 8 – Community Development Fieldwork: Meeting host organizations / Observation / Key informant interviews /
Projects: participatory observation / Focus groups interviews
Day 9 – Group Work: Detailed briefing on assignments / Group work do prepare presentations and reports
Day 10 – Final Presentation and Wrap-up: Presentation of reports and conclusion / Discussion / Presentation of
certificates / Celebration: Shisa-nyama-shared meal and shebeen dance

5. Work experience offered
Cestas will provide for a paid working experience for up to two selected students.
These students will be working for 3 months in a project of international
cooperation managed by Cestas in Africa or South America. The remuneration will
be € 1000 net – flight and insurance will be included while for the accommodation
the students will provide by themselves. Contract typology will be run by the tax
regulations of the destination country.
How to enroll
There is a minimum number of 12 participants required for the course. In case the
minimum number of participants will not be reached, the course will not take place
and the fees will be refunded.
For registering, it is necessary to send no later than July 29, 2011:
- Registration form, with original signature (Attached 1)
- Receipt of the payment of the participation fee
- Curriculum vitae with the authorization of personal data treatment
according to the Italian Legislative Decree 196/03
- Short cover letter
Incomplete applications will not be taken into consideration.
Please send your application either:
by e-mail to margherita.dallacasa@cestas.org (Subject: International short
course South Africa)
by fax at the number (+39) 051 4211317 (International short course South
Africa)
by post of personal delivery at CESTAS, via Ranzani 13/5/F, 40127 Bologna
(please write on the envelope “International short course South Africa” –
Dipartimento Formazione – Att. Margherita Dalla Casa).
IMPORTANT: for travelling to South Africa the expiry date of your passport must be
longer than 6 months starting from the day of departure. For a stay longer than 90
days, you will need a visa, released directly at the arrival in Johannesburg. For
further information please visit the consular office of South Africa in your country.
TEACHING OFFICE
Dalla Casa Margherita
Dipartimento Formazione CESTAS
via Ranzani 13/5/F - 40127 Bologna
www.cestas.org - www.cestasformazione.org
@ margherita.dallacasa@cestas.org
Tel. +39 051 255053 / Fax +39 051 4211317
For eventual changes to the deadlines, rules of enrollment etc. please check
regularly the updates on http://www.cestasformazione.org/site/corsi-
professionalizzanti/urban-resilience-food-security-and-ecological-health-promotion/

6. Lecturer Profiles – Italy
Giorgio Prosdocimi Gianquinto (Horticulture)
Giorgio Prosdocimi Gianquinto is Full Professor of Horticulture at the University of
Bologna and formerly Associate Professor of Horticulture at the University of
Padua. He is currently conducting researches on irrigation and water management,
as well as on plant nutrition and fertilization, both in temperate and tropical
environments. Past projects in which he was involved include the EU's concerted
action EUROPP – Efficiency in Use of Resources: Optimization in Potato Production
(1997-2000) and the CRAFT Project GHIS-GreenHouse Integrated System (2001-
2002). Prof Prosdocimi Gianquinto coordinated numerous research projects in the
field of impact-reduction and management optimization of horticultural production
and further collaborated with FAO, academic institutions and NGOs for several
studies on food security in Côte d'Ivoire, Brazil, Peru, Kosovo and Kenya. He
instituted in 2003 the “Code-Crop: Lab of cooperation for development - Cropping
System and Post-Harvest” at the University of Padua and in 2007 the “Centre of
Cooperation for Development for the Agricultural and Environmental Sciences” at
the University of Bologna.
Francesco Orsini, PhD (Horticulture)
Francesco Orsini is a consultant and researcher in horticulture at the University of
Bologna. He holds a Bsc and a MSc in Agricultural Sciences (Padua), a MSc in
international cooperation (Padua) and a PhD in Agricultural and Food Sciences
(Federico II, Naples). He has worked as consultant in several projects involving
microgardening technologies (Brazil), GMOs perception among consumers (Turkey)
as well as in feasibility studies on horticultural projects (Peru, Myanmar and
Kosovo) and re-afforestation in the Caspian seaside (Kazakhstan).
Lecturer Profiles – South Africa
Prof Michael Rudolph, D.D.S., MPH
Professor Michael Rudolph was appointed on the staff at Wits in 1978 and as
Professor and Head of the Division of Public Oral Health in 1991. Qualifications:BDS
(Wits) 1970, MPH (Harvard) 1977, Msc (Wits) 1981 and Specialist in Community
Dentistry (Wits) 1984. Prof Rudolph initiated and established the division of Public
Oral Health which is considered one of the leading departments of its kind in Africa
And globally. He conceived and developed the Mobile Dental System, which has
demonstrated its viability in providing primary oral health care to tens of thousands
of children and adults in indigent areas in SA for more than 25 years. To address the
poor health conditions he observed through the Mobile Dental System, Prof
Rudolph started the Health Promotion Unit at Wits for teaching, training, and
research. In 2005 Prof Rudolph started the Siyakhana Permaculture Food Garden
and serves as the Director of the Siyakhana Initiative for Ecological Health and Food
Security. In 2008 he was the primary investigator for the Johannesburg food
insecurity research conducted as part of the African Food Security Urban Network.

7. Florian Kroll, M.A. (Anthropology); PDC
Florian Kroll is Programme Head at the Siyakhana Initiative for Ecological Health and
Food Security. He holds expertise in the areas of food security, ecological design,
permaculture, nutrition, ethnobotany, and ecological health promotion. His work
includes research regarding the Africa, and networking and advocacy with NGOs
and representatives of local and regional government. He has collaborated on
productive urban landscape design and implementation in several social housing
and urban design projects.
Moira Beery, M.A. (Urban and Regional Planning)
Moira Beery is Programme Manager at the Siyakhana Initiative for Ecological Health
and Food Security. Her areas of focus are providing evidence of food and nutrition
security related issues, exploring the linkages between food systems and the built
environment, and undertaking cross sectoral interventions to address food
insecurity. Prior to joining the Siyakhana Initiative she worked in Los Angeles,
California on programmes to increase food security by addressing barriers to
accessing healthy food in urban and peri-urban areas, and designing and
implementing logistical, programmatic, and policy strategies for universal access to
healthy foods.
Anri Landman, Mphil (Sustainable Development Management & Planning)
Anri Landman is a consultant and researcher at the Siyakhana Initiative for
Ecological Health and Food Security, currently conducting a food security study in
Wits and supporting a review of food security policies in Gauteng. He completed
her studies at the Sustainability Institute of Stellenbosch University. Her fields of
knowledge and experience include food security, food markets and undertaking
sustainable community development around resilient food systems. Prior to joining
the Siyakhana Initiative, she worked as a researcher investigating food systems in
various countries in Southern Africa and India, and facilitated corporate
responsibility investments to support food system development in Mozambique.

8. Community Fieldwork Host Organizations
Ekukhanyeni Relief Organisation http://www.ekukhanyeni.org/
Ekukhanyeni- Home of Light and Hope-is a non-governmental, not‐fo‐profit
organization that focuses on community upliftment in two poverty stricken
informal settlements close to Johannesburg. In partnership with the local
communities, this project supports some 600 vulnerable children by creating self-
‐sustaining communities through its green and holistic design approach to
community development. Through its numerous sustainable technologies and
lifestyles education, Ekukhanyeni is helping the adults in these impoverished zones
to achieve (and sustain) food and nutrition security alongside providing effective
early childhood care in ways which do not negatively affect natural resources and
benefits human attitudinal and cultural systems in a positive manner.
Siyakhana Permaculture Food Garden http://www.siyakhana.org/
The 2-hectare Siyakhan Permaculture Food Garden has been operational since
2005, making it one of Johannesburg's best and longest running food garden
examples. Siyakhana is considered a hall mark of agro-ecology in the wider
Johannesburg area and is one of the most prominent sites for an integrated
approach for urban food production. The food garden uses the principles of
permaculture gardening and produces food and herbs to address the needs of
hundreds of disadvantage dinner-city beneficiaries. What was once a patch of ugly
inner city ground has been vividly transformed with permaculture gardening
techniques and a great deal of effort. Siyakhana showcases ecological gardening
practices using the Permaculture model and offers courses to the public in urban
permaculture food gardening. Siyakhana aims to develop a sustainable and
productive environment for the improvement of the health, social and economic
status of South African vulnerable communities. Ultimately, we intend to establish
a healthy inner city environmental and recreational site based on designs and
methods that may be replicated in other inner city communities.
Ekurhuleni Co-operative Farmers Programme
The Ekurhuleni local government has developed a food security programme
supporting the development of farmer co-operatives focusing on piggery, poultry
and vegetable cultivation. The programme will include comprehensive training on
enterprise management as well as farm management over a period of 3--‐5 years.
The ultimate goal of these programmes will be to establish viable urban agriculture
initiatives that can supply the Springs fresh produce market and generate a
sustainable income for its beneficiaries.