Public gardens increasingly recognize the importance of diversity and inclusion in their work. This toolkit provides concrete ways to address LGBTQ inclusion in gardens. It explains the importance of LGBTQ inclusion, including the challenges LGBTQ...

The staff and Board of Trustees declare Mount Auburn’s commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by FY2050 in this document, Mount Auburn’s first Climate Action Plan. This document reports scope 1 and scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions for fiscal years...

Environmental educators everywhere work in a constantly shifting landscape, from changing demographics that offer new opportunities and challenges, to an increase in the scale and scope of environmental and social issues facing every community on the...

The term “urban forest” is often used to refer to all the trees within a city or town. But the urban forest is part of a much larger social-ecological landscape that supports a complex web of biodiversity, ecosystem services, values, and cultures.  The...

Diversification of urban forests is essential to enhance their resilience to future biotic
threats as well as those posed by a changing climate. Arboreta and botanic gardens
host a wide range of plant material that can be evaluated to...

Positive interactions between people and nature inspire behaviours that are in harmony
with biodiversity conservation and also afford physical and mental health benefits.
Since most people live in towns and cities, urban greenspaces are...

“Plant blindness” is the cause of several problems that have plagued botany outreach
and education for over a hundred years. The general public largely does not notice
plants in their environment and therefore do not appreciate how...

As land-use patterns change over time, some pollinating insects continue to decline both in abundance and diversity. This is due, in part, to reductions in floral resources that provide sufficient nectar and pollen. Our overall goal is to help increase...

Academic campuses across the Great Plains can serve as landscapes for teaching and learning about native flora of cultural importance with regard to food, medicine, and lifeways. Campus visitors (tourists) and local community members could benefit from...

The following is a collection of tools from ABCD faculty members as well as individuals and organizations that embody the principles of ABCD in their work. The addition of the toolkit was made possible by a generous grant from the Alumnae of...

Urbanization, lack of contact with the natural world, and growing up removed from agriculture has contributed to a void of knowledge relating to food and food production, along with a phenomenon known as plant blindness. We sought to change this lack...

Hear from three experts exploring research, strategies, and benefits of connecting people to nature: Louise Chawla, University of Colorado; Lauren Watkins, Impact by Design; and Sheila Williams-Ridge, University of Minnesota. 

NAAEE featured...

In this article, we examine how the general public in the United States has viewed global warming over the past decade, identifying important trends in public understanding of global warming,
their perceptions of the risks, varying degrees of...

Attached are a series of documents from various institutions and states that desribe their Adopt-A-Pond, Field, or Park Programs. These documents can serve as templates for those interested in adopting their own specific guidelines, applications, and...

With this guide, cities can take advantage of the SDG framework and other cities’ experiences, saving valuable time and resources in setting goals and strategies while not reinventing the wheel. This guide also provides case studies and examples from U...

Community gardening is one of myriad ways in which humans and nature interact. A primary
objective of the study was to ascertain the impact of the Community Greening program on new participants.

Of specific interest was the inherent need...

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...

The impacts of climate change are already being felt in communities across the country.
More frequent and intense extreme weather and climate-related events, as well as changes
in average climate conditions, are expected to continue to...

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...

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...