Rooftop gardens project - Special Projects

The garden on the UQAM Design building is set up!

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 12:15:09 -0400

Our most recent baby, the rooftop garden at the UQAM design building, has arrived! Named after the militant environmentalist Claire Morissette and installed and planted at the end of June, this latecomer on the 6th floor, is a true urban garden with an amazing view of downtown and Mount Royal.

100 mile meal!

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 11:03:46 -0500

On October 20, 2006, Santropol Roulant and the Rooftop Garden Project team met another challenge by participating in a 100 mile meal. We prepared and animated a large buffet created entirely by organic and locally grown food for the Canadian Environmental Network's annual conference in Montreal.

Entre-Maman Garden

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 16:53:55 -0400

Entre Maman, a community center located in Mercier-Hochelaga Maisonneuve focused on developing positive and stimulating projects for new and expecting parents, a space where they can create relationships with other parents and enrich their relationship with their own children.

Start-up Kit Pilot Project

Tue, 23 May 2006 16:15:18 -0400

This spring The Rooftop Garden Project team held a series of workshops where over fifty people learned how to make their own soil-less growers.

During the workshops, we explained the principles behind our growing techniques and helped the participants construct their own kit. They are now growing at home in their soil-less growers and giving us feedback, updates and suggestions to help improve our designs!

Click here for pictures of the beautiful start-up kit gardens.

Over the summer we are following up with the participants, and their feedback will help us refine our techniques. We hope to distribute over 500 more kits next year!

Please contact us if you are interested in having your own kit, or hosting a workshop in the spring of 2006.

Follow this link for recent updates and follow up information about the Start-Up Kit Pilot Project.

International Rooftop Garden Projects

Thu, 14 Jul 2005 10:55:45 -0400

Alternatives and Santropol Roulant are working closely with partners in Cuba, Senegal, Mexico and Morocco, exchanging ideas and sharing experiences. Many of the designs used in Montreal have been adapted and innovated through these exchanges, and we are cooperating to establish new research and demonstration centres where we can continue to develop and share our soil-less gardening methods.

The Rooftop Garden Project is helping to strengthen food security, mitigate climate change and green our inner-cities, addressing many challenges shared by people in Northern and Southern countries.

Our soil-less gardening methods hold great potential around the world. In places where water, land or resources are limited, they can be adapted to offer a new source of income for the urban poor.

International Projects

Haïti, Port-au-Prince - Alternative’s is working in partnership with APROSIFA, the Association for the Promotion of Integrated Family Health, to install an urban agriculture initiative in Port-aux-Prince. Six hundred participants will be engaged in food producing projects centered on their residences as to address both their short and long term food security needs. for more information

Mali, Bamako

Dakar, Senegal: In Autumn 2004 Sara Finley, an Alternatives intern and Rooftop Garden Project team member, began a five month cooperation with ANAFA (an adult literacy group and long time partner of Alternatives) to build a demonstration garden on their office rooftop.

Jardin Prévost

Mon, 04 Jul 2005 15:14:27 -0400

The Jardin Prévost is located on the rooftop of the Patro de Prévost building in Montreal’s Villeray neighbourhood, at 7355 rue Christophe-Colombe.

Demonstration Balcony Gardens

Thu, 19 May 2005 09:31:19 -0400

Our soil-less gardens are ideal for use on balconies as well as on rooftops. They can produce more vegetables in a small space than regular balcony growers, and need watering only every 2-3 weeks, even in the dog days of summer. This unique initiative aims to show how people can adapt gardening methods to suit their own lives - enabling them to grow their own food and green their neighbourhoods, starting with a balcony garden at home!

Click here for pictures of the demonstration balcony gardens. Take a look at our many novel designs that take advantage of balconies, spiral staircases and window sills.