Everyone Everywhere Everyday ? – the power of nature and what does this mean for Cities - the element missing.

Recently I have spent a wet weekend on a friends farm, planting trees in what is already an iconic landscape with sweeping views of the Grampians (Australia – not Scotland).? This broader landscape back in the 1970’s had notable tree cover decline and loss of farm productivity mainly due to salinity (and soil loss and drought) and through this period into the 1980’s we saw the emergence of a community response thru the (Victorian) Garden State Committee and the Potter Farms project which eventually became an international movement called Landcare.

This movement called Landcare has underpinned the environmental response throughout Australia strongly supported by all governments and communities and has been grounded in this concept of “Everyone Everywhere Everyday”.

The farm I was (supervising) planting trees on recently was one of the farms at the epicentre of this movement, a farm that we planted trees on as part of the response during the 1980’s, a farm where there has been many successes and also failures – a reflection of working with a dynamic climate and environment.? In fact (sadly) we were infilling the planting we did two years previously. However, it has made me reflect on this concept of “Everyone Everywhere Everyday” which is very true for a farmer or a Landcare group – restoring their farmland, their landscape, their community – it has always been about everyone (in that community), everywhere (in that communities landscape) and of course everyday (especially for farms).

This farm is in the Western District near a small town of Cavendish – a town that probably would have died decades ago except for this community spirit of ?“Everyone Everywhere Everyday”, a spirit that may have always existed but as communities over decades worked collaborative thru community groups like Landcare, have kept the community alive – in fact to the point that the community owns the only Pub (the Hotel) – an exceptional venue.

I make this point about an environmental action by communities and how it may shape a community, as I have seen this endless across Australia from bushfire recovery like BlazeAid through to the role Landcare has played in so many rural communities.

This concept of “Everyone Everywhere Everyday” wasn’t developed by this LandCare movement but a reflection of it.? This concept of “Everyone Everywhere Everyday” has probably always existed and has become a central (powerful) value of the National Park City movement.? A concept that the National Park City ?movement is exploring and defining.? It is worth examining how this foundational concept is evolving in different cities such as London, Adelaide and Breda.

However, following this recent weekend of tree planting in a dynamic environment, I have realised that we are missing a crucial element in this “Everyone Everywhere Everyday” concept.? Apart from explaining and exploring what each of these elements mean in a city and nature context, what is missing is that it is a journey, a journey that is full of trials and tribulations – of occasionally replanting where planting have failed, re-restoring the environment following a devastating flood, cyclone or fire? - it isn’t just “Everyone Everywhere Everyday” but “Everytime”.

This concept of “Everytime” isn’t just important due to failures and also successes but the fact that coming together for a community creates connections and reconnections, provides a touch stone and develops resilience.

This concept of “Everyone Everywhere Everyday Everytime” in National Park Cities is about:

• EveryOne – all elements of society, of what defines a community irrespective of race, colour, impairment, culture and socio-economic status
• EveryWhere - the spatial element not limited to the public domain but all domains – everywhere that we live, work and thrive
• EveryDay - the temporal nature – it is 24/7 – 365 days a year – it isn’t just Arbor Day or an Earth Day – it needs to be everyday when we get the benefit of a wilder greener, cooler city..
• EveryTime – committed to the journey and always taking action working with a dynamic and some time unforgiving environment with motivated and positive individuals and communities.

Many thanks to Andrew Campbell National Park City Daniel Raven-Ellison Alison Barnes FRSA FLI Jennifer Dunn Dominic Regester