GARDEN STEWARDSHIP INSTITUTE
The Garden Stewardship Institute, (a partnership between NGT and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society) is an 8-week, hybrid program to help strengthen community garden stewardship and leadership. The program aims to equip community garden leaders with the knowledge and skills necessary to grow their gardening community and permanently sustain these shared public spaces. Over the course of 8 sessions, participants will learn how to:
- Engage with fellow garden leaders to address common concerns and celebrate strengths.
- Assess their leadership style and embrace ways to share power that uplift community needs and the garden’s culture.
- Create welcoming and affirming third spaces that support community healing and hope.
- Grow community capacity and protect your garden through effective stewardship and communication of your “why.”
- Learn the basics of trauma-informed community care and how to foster transformation when conflict arises.
- Develop action plans for new initiatives, partnerships, and leadership succession.
We recommend 2-3 people per garden register together.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Who is the Garden Stewardship Institute course for?
The garden stewardship is for experienced garden leaders who are interested in working on governance in their community garden or other community managed green space. Ideally, at least one veteran garden leader and at least one newer garden leader would participate in the institute. If you are interested in starting a new garden group, or your garden is very newly established, we recommend taking PHS’ Garden Tenders Course.
What will I take away from the experience?
Gardeners will identify garden governance goals for their own gardens and work with a cohort of experienced garden leaders to develop an action plan to achieve those goals. We hope that each participant will leave the course feeling better prepared to sustain garden governance over the long term – including working on such issues as planning for governance succession, handling conflict, and making decisions in groups.
When does the course take place?
Annually, from January through March. See the interest form for this year’s dates.
How do I apply?
Click on the interest form and a staff member will reach out to you to discuss your interest in the program.
TESTIMONIALS
“The Garden is very important for my community and especially for the seniors… It is like a home. They grow the foods we eat and they see each other. It lifts their spirits. When the land is protected, we don’t have to worry and we have more space to include more people.”
— Naw Doh, Growing Home Gardens on Mercy Street