IMLS Grant Gives APGA and VCU Opportunity to Document Why Public Gardens Are Important in Creating Sustainable Communities

Public gardens have always enjoyed the respect of the communities in which they are located. They are resources for recreation as well as education and research opportunities.

In a project funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), APGA partnered with Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) to document and analyze the programs and contributions of eight APGA member gardens to their communities.

With the goal of helping all public gardens dramatically expand their contributions to society, VCU has recorded the successful ways these public gardens have partnered with community organizations, including collaborations between municipal officials and not-for-profit organizations. The barriers and pitfalls arising from such partnerships have also been detailed. The completed study provides evidence of how many of these programs are sustainable and enduring.

APGA’s vision is “A World Where Public Gardens Are Indispensable.”

The research presented here addresses a gap in literature that exists between a public garden’s desire to collaborate more meaningfully in the community and the knowledge of how to embed its unique expertise into the broader agenda of sustainable community development.

The result is a Process Model for public gardens that illustrates the components of successful sustainable community programming. Download a PDF version of this resource.