2019 Annual Conference

Adult Development

Poster (60-90 minutes)

The purpose of this work is to build a system of interactions among the members of the community garden and surrounding.  The principles of community planning  are used to prepare the setting for several forms of learning to take place. It is an attempt to confirm  the concept "life-long learning".

In this study, the target population was participants who worked and became members of  O Grows community garden. The population was composed of individuals and their families from the three neighbourhood located adjacent to the O Grows community garden, a non-profit organization. The criteria for participation was based on the following:

1. Attendance and purchasing a plot to garden and improve the feel about the neighbourhood and the local culture
2. The willingness to be engaged with the community
3. The willingness to improve income through gardening

Similar approaches of urban farming were used and several participants were recruited based on these criteria.

At the end of this poster session, learners will understand how the community garden becomes a site for skill building opportunities:
1. A site for gardening, a site for workshops, for teaching skills in leadership, curriculum and program planning.
2. A site that facilitates interactive learning opportunities to take place: websites, brochures....
3. How the community garden initiative helps foster civic pride, neighborhood ownership
4. How the community gardens can also promote learning across communities.

This study aims at developing an understanding towards to the use of the community garden to encourage non-traditional learning of plotting, organization and sustainability. The community garden project serves as a classroom situation to teach skills based on Kolb’s experiential learning cycle. This study is important because it allows us to practice the principles of andragogy and self-directed learning. It also enhances teamwork and learning among the community members of the garden. The idea of this study is innovative in many ways. First, the garden was created in the first ring of downtown, a limited income area that needed not only spatial renovation, but also to work at close proximity to the community to revive the historical pride and the identity of the place. Second, the garden helped teach its members to grow food, and eat, to develop business strategies and to sell their produce to local restaurants who relies on fresh veggies in their cooking. Third, the greenhouse was another innovation that changed the lives of the community and boost their willingness to remain engaged with the project. Finally, this work was qualitative in nature and mainly based on observation, planning and implementation for the period of eight months

The poster session will:

• Clearly states the motivation for the study and the background theory
• States the objectives from the study
• Describes the method of research
• Describes and analyzes the design process: spatial design of the setting where learning is taking place
• Provides analysis for the community garden as a site for formal/informal learning
• Discussing results and Issues
• Limitations and conclusion