Common Unity Project Aotearoa

Kia ora and welcome to the Common Unity Project Aotearoa.

We’re a community-based, urban village project that grows food, skills, leadership and enterprise with local families in Lower Hutt. We invite you to collaborate with us to co-create a more resilient, inclusive Aotearoa. Our vision is to To grow vibrant and resilient local communities together and our mission to to provide a model of community sharing and resilience which can be emulated around New Zealand.

Our Project started as a pilot in 2012 to teach Epuni Primary School’s 110 pupils and their families how to grow and cook their own food, by using an acre of land at the school and created a strong local food network.

What has grown from this is mighty - it has the village at its heart.

Our Koha Kitchen feeds the school community three times per week with organic local food with a cost of 10 cents per meal for ingredients.

In 2017 we moved into an old plaster factory, across the road from Epuni School, called The ReMakery - given over to the community to create more enterprise and employment - please read more on our website; www.commonunityproject.org.nz

We have created an award winning sewing cooperative, a honey enterprise that educates, employs and returns honey to communities around the region, a business hub to assist community in creating their own enterprises and small businesses. We now offer a membership run food co-op for wholesale priced dry goods, a network of 11 urban farms providing local, organic produce, Koha Coffee and Unity Exchange (our timebank). We also provide a playgroup space, knitting and sewing lessons and a bicycle library. We are beginning to create real change in a community where change is a challenge.

Our biggest project has just been launched, Unity Kitchen - Powered by the sun and local people, our off-grid, purpose-built community kitchen provides beautiful, globally inspired food made from locally grown produce, dedicated to ensuring our community is fed through the restoration of our local food system. It celebrates the talents of our cooks and chefs, our ethnic diversity, and our locally grown produce.

All funds donated will go to paying our staff and gifting The ReMakery to the community as a place of learning, workshops, education and togetherness. A place where dreams can come true.

Please help us model a new way to grow and change our communities of NZ - from the inside out.