Common Ground: Gardens for a Greener Tomorrow

The American Horticultural Society’s 17th annual National Children & Youth Garden Symposium comes to the Garden this summer.  Leading national children’s and youth gardening experts, teachers, parents, volunteers and teens will convene at the Garden Thursday, July 23 through Saturday, July 25.

Whether we garden in a rural or urban setting, in a vacant lot or on a verdant plot, we all work with plants. Our diversity in age, gender, ethnicity, religious affiliation, and education only make the experience richer. The simple truth is that gardens offer a level playing field, a safe haven, a place for sharing seeds, traditions, and ideas, a common ground for human kind.

Join leading national children’s and youth gardening experts, teachers, parents, volunteers, and youth to explore how gardens bring together diverse communities and foster curiosity, wonder, beauty, understanding, and acceptance. Let’s gather on this common ground, sharing our creativity and life experiences to forge a greener tomorrow for all to enjoy.

• Will Allen , an urban farmer, a 2008 MacArthur Fellow and the founder of Growing Power, Inc. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, will give a keynote presentation about his work empowering urban youth and producing healthy food on Thursday, July 23.
  
• More than 30 educational sessions will address topics ranging from strategies for reaching diverse audiences through meaningful plant-based learning opportunities to designing and funding children’s gardens.
  
• As a grand finale to the Symposium, Cleveland area youth will present a theatrical production of Seedfolks by Newbery Medal-winning author Paul Fleischman. The play chronicles how an impromptu community garden brings the residents of a diverse Cleveland neighborhood together on common ground.
  
  

As a Symposium attendee, you will also have the opportunity to:

• Explore the gardens and programs of Cleveland Botanical Garden.

• Celebrate the 10th anniversary of Cleveland Botanical Garden’s Hershey Children’s Garden.

• Gain valuable resources and insights from lectures by nationally recognized keynote speakers, field trips to gardens, hands-on workshops, and a poster session.

• Participate in the only national symposium that explores how to use the power of plants and gardens to create inspirational educational programs for young people.

• Share your own ideas, success stories, and dreams with teachers, public garden administrators, garden designers, youth program leaders, and children’s gardening advocates from across the nation.

Register at the American Horticultural Society's website, or call 703-768-5700 ext 121.