Your Community’s Garden

A garden is always far more than the vegetables and flowers growing in it. The most important ingredients in any garden are the people that care for and love the plants; and the community that views and uses it as a place of gathering, meeting, sharing, learning, and connection.

Many community gardens in Vancouver emphasise that community support was essential to their creation. Community support and involvement also fuel the continuing success of these gardens. Encouraging your community to adopt your garden into their minds and hearts as a positive and integral part of the neighbourhood will help you to:

  • foster commitment to your garden
  • cultivate stewardship of your garden
  • ensure that your garden becomes a perennial place in your neighbourhood


    • Garnering Community Support

    What is the Community Supporting?

    The first step to building community support for your garden is to have a clear picture of the idea and project that you want supported. The following are some questions to help you and your group to brainstorm and to sketch the broad outline of what your project and garden will look like:

  • What is the purpose of the garden?
  • What goals do you want to achieve by establishing a garden?
  • How will the garden be used?
  • Who is welcome to use the garden?
  • Who will be using the garden?
  • What features and programs will be included in the garden?

    • Assessing Community Support

    Finding out the degree to which your community favours urban agriculture in and approves of a garden in the neighbourhood will help you identify potential supporters and partners. Gauging the opinions and attitudes of local residents and different groups will also allow you to get a sense of how well your garden fits the needs of your community. If you find that there are issues that are important to the wider community or to specific groups that are not addressed by your project, you may be able to win the support of these individuals by reworking the concept of your garden to incorporate these issues.

    Useful information to look for when assessing community support include:

    Issues that are important to the community

    You will want to consider how your garden address and support issues concerning your community, such as:

  • improving community participation
  • addressing crime, vandalism, drug use, and prostitution
  • improving the supply of and access to safe and nutritious food for vulnerable groups, such as immigrants and disadvantaged households
  • beautification of public spaces


    • How your garden will impact the community
  • What are positive effects? (e.g. creating social capital and healthy food sources)
  • What are negative effects? (e.g. aesthetic considerations)


    • Cultural perspectives on agriculture
  • Talk to different cultural groups and organizations
  • Address negative attitudes and perspectives
  • Use positive attitudes and perspectives to ‘sell’ your garden


    • Potential user groups
  • Who will want to be a part of your garden?
  • What common objectives do you have and how can you help each other accomplish these objectives?


    • Some methods of assessing community support are:

    Talking to people: the most old-fashioned and effective; get a range of opinions from neighbours, neighbourhood associations, churches, community centers, co-ops, apartments, local social organizations, etc.

    Door knocking: a fantastic way of reaching out but can be time-consuming and intimidating for you and the resident

    Surveys: a comprehensive method but time-consuming and possibly costly and ineffective

    Community Consultation Process

    At some point, you will need to inform the community about your project. This can be done simply by putting up notices in your future garden site location and at popular bulletin boards. However, holding a community consultation meeting to make your project public can be valuable way for you to:

  • gain support and feedback for your garden
  • invite community members to get involved in your project
  • make valuable connections with potential supporters, donors, and volunteers

    • Organising the Meeting

    The best time to organize a community consultation meeting is when you are clear about what you want to tell those attending and what you want to gain from holding the meeting. Depending on the size of your neighbourhood, it may be advantageous to hold several meetings if possible: the more meetings and locations, the more diverse the audience that you may be able to reach.

    When you have set the date, time, and location for your meeting; advertise around the neighbourhood. Postings should include the details of when and where the meeting will be, as well as the purpose or objective of the meeting and discussion topics that will be covered. Also provide contact information, in case individuals want to get in touch to confirm details or ask questions. Try to have advertisements up for at least several days before the meeting, to ensure that they have generated interest. To the right are some ideas on how to spread the word. For more suggestions on where to poster and meet, see APPENDIX C. Missing from the list of venues is the SPEC building (see APPENDIX K).


    Holding the meeting

    The following are some suggestions on how to plan and prepare for holding your meeting:

  • Choose an accessible location
  • If possible, provide food and childcare to motivate and enable people to attend
  • Have a clear, simple, and concise agenda · present your project · outline how it will benefit the community · ask for participants’ reactions, opinions, ideas, and involvement
  • Plan for a short 45min to 1h meeting, so people can fit it into their busy lives
  • Leave time before and after the meeting for informal discussion and networking
  • Obtain contact information from interested individuals and invite them to a follow-up meeting


    Getting People

  • Ask members to invite family, friends, and neighbours
  • Go to where people meet and gather · meetings of other groups · community events
  • Ask for and record names, addresses, and phone numbers of interested individuals · follow through by contacting these people with an e-mail or phone call
  • Reach out to the under-represented · ethnic minorities · low-income residents · the differently-abled · the elderly · youth
  • Door knock
  • Create newsletters and leaflets


    • Keeping People

  • Keep in contact with one another · preferably in person but electronically may be more convenient
  • Welcome potential new members · introduce them to everyone · help them find a place in your project doing what they want to do
  • Pay attention to group process · define clear roles and healthy decision-making methods
  • Discuss expectations · what do members expect of the project and the group?
  • Act more, meet less
  • Keep time demands reasonable
  • Pair up
  • Organise social activities and time · take a break from work to relax and have fun with these people
  • Pre skills training · organise workshops and training to invest value in your members