Successful programs of crop wild relative (CWR) exploration, conservation, and utilization are ultimately dependent on sustained public prioritization and support, which in turn requires public awareness and engagement. Here we discuss the importance...

This paper examines Urban Advantage, a thirteen-year partnership in New York City, between eight cultural institutions (botanical gardens among them) and the Department of Education, as a ‘case’ of a long-lasting research practice partnership that has...

The North Carolina Botanical Gardens’ Wonder Connection outreach program serves patients at North Carolina Children’s Hospital. We intuitively know how healing nature can be, and yet most children’s hospitals don’t include nature programming. This...

This Field Guide to Conservation in Cities captures the collective experience of The Nature Conservancy and Center for Whole Communities (CWC) from 2014 to 2016, as they initiated a network of urban conservation programs in 12 cities across the United...

The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) has community engagement at its core. With health and environmental challenges facing society, its mission “to explore, conserve and explain the world of plants for a better future” is more important and...

Nearly 40 years of scientific research demonstrates that the experience of nature in cities contributes to our health and wellness. Having nearby nature in the vicinity of one’s everyday life – whether during your...

This EPA toolkit uses examples from outreach efforts in the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin to provide a helpful framework for state and local agencies, watershed groups, nongovernmental organizations and others in developing effective...

The Social and Emotiona Learning (SEL) Challenge was designed to identify promising practices for empathy, teamwork, initiative, responsibility, and problem solving. The Challenge was a partnership in eight...

This presentation details how Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden colloborated with community members through a variety of educational programs throughout Richmond, VA. 

How to scale (“pathways”), whom to involve (“partnerships”), and retention of program quality (“fidelity”) are three strategic decisions that can be critical to the scale up of beneficial social programs in societies. This report examines various ways...

Climate change is not a new issue for Latinos living in the United States. Many Latino leaders have provided leadership on climate, and organizations are working to engage Latinos in solutions. Latino climate leadership is accelerating, but further ...

This guide features stories from organizations and communities across America that have successfully engaged their constituents in programs and initiatives to elevate climate leadership, action, and solutions. From nurses to pastors to local leaders,...

Across scientific fields, there have been calls to improve the integration of scientific knowledge in policy making. Particularly since the publication of the Millennium Ecosystem...

The global environmental conservation community recognizes that the participation of local communities is essential for the success of conservation initiatives; however, much work remains to be done on how to integrate conservation and human...

Representatives from SDSN’s Sustainable Cities Initiative presented at the annual conference of the American Planning Association in 2017, showcasing efforts to implement and monitor the SDGs in three USA cities:...

We are all connected to plants through the food we eat. A foodbased garden starts conversations and gets people interested while providing an entrée to programs and interpretation in numerous topics including science, history, literature, and even...

This session aims to explore ways that Gardens are harnessing the power of food to connect and convene diverse communities through stories of people, programs, practices, policy, procurement, and fund development. The presenters in this session are...

Artist in Residence programs have been popular in the art world for some time, but few gardens take advantage of this opportunity. Residency programs can provide institutions with new ways of looking at their living and non-living collections, develop...

Public Gardens have a unique opportunity to touch the lives of young people in their communities through paid job training programs. While traditional internships offer training on an individual level, some job readiness programs offer the experience...

While many municipalities have seen a return of commercial and residential investment, too many remain mired in cycles of poverty, community degradation, poor quality education, and unemployment. Public gardens cannot by themselves reverse these long-...