Community Engagement

A community garden invites participation: Passers-by glance over the fence, pick a ripe raspberry hanging over the sidewalk, observe the buzz of activity, or stop and chat. People who garden at home might come in to ask for advice about certain plants. The garden is a friendly and welcoming centerpiece of the neighbourhood!

At Winchester Public School, the community played an important role in establishing the garden. Portable classrooms on the site had created unsafe spaces at night, and once the portables were removed, community members got together to try and change the site into something more attractive and safer.

Social interaction and cooperation: Despite the high population density of St. James Town, social isolation is a common occurrence. The garden is an excellent venue for community development and for inviting in community members who may be experiencing social isolation. The food plants give people a common element around which to interact. Children’s programs are often beneficial not only to the children but also to the parents who bring their kids and have a chance to meet each other and make new friends. Kids and adults alike need the kind of open-ended social relationships that are fostered outdoors in the garden. Places where a wide range of ages can interact with a common purpose, and where the wisdom of the elders can be transmitted to the young.

Community gardens provide both children, families and community members with an opportunity to work together. The chance to help improve a part of the local surroundings, and witness the immediate results, is often not so present in mainstream life. This is especially valuable in the inner-city where many families are too concerned with meeting their basic needs to be able to search out healthy and engaging activities for their children.

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Content last modified on July 23, 2008, at 03:55 PM EST