Artscape Wychwood Barns
601 Christie Street Suite 253
Toronto ,
Ontario
M6G 4C7
Canada
The LEAF Learning Garden is a unique, hands-on outdoor learning environment that focuses on bringing out Toronto’s “best nature”. It does this by spotlighting the urgent need to create natural habitats in downtown Toronto.
The Full Story
The LEAF Learning Garden (LLG) is a shared community resource where youth and local community members can come together to learn from one another, help the environment, improve their community and gain a better understanding of the urban forest. They are mentored by urban forestry and gardening professionals in creating and maintaining a shared garden that demonstrates the beauty, importance and simplicity in creating natural habitats and re-introducing native species to urban settings. This 125 ft x 12 ft (38m x 3.7m) outdoor space is located at Toronto’s Artscape Wychwood Barns, a multi-use public facility and home to LEAF’s office. Public workshops are offered by LEAF staff and guest speakers. Once complete, the garden will feature between 100-200 native plant species and will display information about their growing preferences and characteristics.
Marketing and Media
Because our garden is still in its beginning stages, marketing has not yet been made a main focus. However, attracting local participation up to this point has not been difficult. Our teams of volunteers are always willing to come out and help and our location at the Artscape Barns is a hub of local activity. A simple sign hung at garden’s entrance gives interested individuals our contact if they’d like to get involved. A few articles and promotion through our social media channels have also helped spread the word of this unique urban space.
Funding and Partnerships
Our Volunteer Program is supported by a grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation. Some resources for plants and staff time have been secured from other partners such as Evergreen-Home Depot and Sobeys-Earth Day Canada. We also plan to approach local establishments and native plant nurseries for in-kind donations of equipment and plants. Other partners in this garden currently include the Artscape Wychwood Barns, City of Toronto and The Stop.
Key Learnings
Volunteer run, Volunteer managed
In January 2009 LEAF initiated a Learning Garden Committee of volunteers and local community members. These individuals take a leadership role in plannning and implementation. They work with LEAF and other volunteers to design and plan the space, research the plants, plant the garden, spread mulch and act as stewards. The five committee members come from a range of backgrounds including professionals and garden enthusiasts, urban planning/infrastructure, as well as education.
This committee created a Mandate and Terms of Reference to guide their process and ensure a certain level of dedication from each committee member. They decided on serving a one-year minimum term and meet as often as once per month. This decision ensured long term commitment and helped create a sense of ownership for the space. This committee works directly with a LEAF’s Volunteer Coordinator who acts as chair of the committee.
VOLUNTEER RUN, VOLUNTEER MANAGED
On January 21, 2009 LEAF initiated a Learning Garden Committee of volunteers and local community members. These individuals take the leadership role in each level of this garden’s installation and subsequent programming. They work with LEAF and other volunteers to design and plan the space, research the plants, plant the garden, spread mulch and act as local stewards over this public space. Each of the 5 committee members come from a range of backgrounds including professionals and garden enthusiasts, urban planning/infrastructure, as well as education.
This committee created a Mandate and Terms of Reference to guide their process and ensure a certain level of dedication from each committee member. They decided on serving a one-year minimum term and to meet as often as once per month. This decision ensured long term commitment and helped create a sense of ownership for the space, two ingredients necessary when inspiring and creating devoted volunteers. This committee works directly with LEAF’s Manager of Volunteers and Community Engagement.
KEEPING YEAR ROUND INTEREST:
Although this is a garden space we realized we had the difficulty of maintaining community interest during all four seasons. We also saw this as an opportunity to have community members fall in love with gardens even in our cold seasons. An interactive online component would help keep all eyes on the garden with updates on year round occurrences including new growth and dieback.
We hope to feature:
Community forums Educational pieces illustrating the importance of planting and caring for native species. 360 degree photographic tours
Comments
This is a great project. I love the use of volunteers and the idea of engaging a community.
09:20 am, Oct 13, 2010