Neighborhood Open Spaces Training

Neighborhood Open Spaces Training

Summary

The Neighborhood Open Spaces Training Institute, a joint venture of multiple public and private agencies, aims to ensure coordinated training of staff and volunteers for proper maintenance and management of Boston’s neighborhood parks, schoolyards and community gardens. Through classes, workshops, mentoring opportunities and other programs in urban horticulture, working with and managing volunteers; and community organizing; it enables the Partners to continue key educational and training, realize synergies among programs, and expand overall offerings and outreach. The programs impart the skills and strategies necessary to enhance employment opportunities and to inculcate a high level of community involvement.

Objectives/Performance Targets

Establish the Neighborhood Open Spaces Training Institute (NOSTI), a public/private initiative to:

(1) improve neighborhood open space management through increased horticulture and leadership knowledge and skills;

(2) enhance employment opportunities;

(3) expand a continuum of learning opportunities, synergies among programs, and greater public knowledge of training opportunities.

Accomplishments/Milestones

(1) Expanded communication among 16 non-profit organizations and public agencies, including interactive email lists and a new schoolyard environmental education task group;
(2) Initiated targeted education program for community greenhouses, including a workshop at the Hassan Housing Development, May 1, 2002, led by Michael Connor, former Boston Parks Department chief horticulturist.
(3) Introduced a national participatory science education program, Garden Mosaics in July-August 2002 with Youth Opportunity Boston team and BNAN East Boston Youth Conservation Corps team.
(4) Near completion of a Career Track Directory of outdoor/environmental summer education/work programs
(5) Further refined the Master Urban Gardener program, an 8-session urban community gardening course (January – March 2002 and scheduled for January 18 – March 15, 2003) 29 participants in 2002.
(6) Attracted 300 volunteers to the Citywide Gardeners Gathering, including 23 totally volunteer coordinated workshops, including a special greenhouse operations track. (March 23, 2002 and scheduled for March 22, 2003.)

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

During 2002, Garden Futures, the sponsor of the Neighborhood Open Spaces Training Institute merged with Boston Natural Areas Network, a 25-year old Boston-based organization that preserves and develops stewardship for special kinds of community open spaces: Community Gardens, Urban Wilds, and Greenways. The Institute capitalized on the well-established summer youth program and horticulture expertise of BNAN.

NOSTI continued to expand inter-organization communication (especially using Internet communication mechanisms) among BNAN, the Extension Service and over a dozen other non-profit and government agencies. We piloted a new national informal participatory youth science education program (Garden Mosaics), nearly completed a teen-written directory of summer youth open space and environment related programs, and initiated new education programs for community and school greenhouses.

Greenhouse Project
Through a series of small and large meetings, we developed a Greenhouse project contacts list and interactive email list. Our database currently includes 57 individuals from non-profit organizations, schools, public housing, government agencies, “green” industry, and hobbyists who are involved with commercial, educational, and informal greenhouses. A series of networking gatherings/educational workshops was developed, with initial sessions at the greenhouse at UMass-Boston and at the Boston Housing Authority Hassan Housing Development in Mattapan. The March 2002 Gardeners Gathering included a “Greenhouse Track” of five workshops related to greenhouse operation issues to greenhouse education. The Project has resulted in BNAN receiving regular inquiries for referrals for information on revitalizing existing greenhouses to specific operation questions. The program is ongoing with additional education/networking sessions currently being organized.

Career Ladder
Due to the merger of Garden Futures with Boston Natural Areas Fund and the opportunity to participate in the national Garden Mosaics program, NOSTI did not sponsor a multi-organization “green team” as had been envisioned. Instead we used BNAN’s involvement as one of 11 pilot sites nationwide in the Garden Mosaics program.

BNAN’s East Boston Youth Conservation Corps members and Youth Opportunities: Boston youth discovered a bit about the “culture” of the Joe Ciampa Community Garden and the Clark Cooper Community Garden, respectively, by talking to gardeners about their gardening practices and what they grow. As part of the program, the teens learned and developed science concepts (garden’s physical environment, garden’s ecological community, garden’s ecosystem, etc.), inquiry methods (interviews, soil tests, mapping activities, etc.) and partnerships with elders (learn gardeners culture, perspectives, etc.). What they learned becomes part of a larger national project documenting food-growing practices of immigrant, minority and traditional gardeners. BNAN is currently arranging with other Boston youth programs the use of Garden Mosaics in 2003 –Garden Mosaics to be a tool that connects the programs with each other.

The other primary work of the Career Ladder project was the development of a Directory of all current (and some previous, but currently suspended) summer and year-round youth (age 14-18) programs that involve open space management or environmental education. A questionnaire was developed by a City School program teen intern. Over 40 organizations have been contacted. BNAN staff and volunteers are currently completing additional interviews and compiling the Directory. The goal of the Directory is to help guide teens to various programs and to identify training and education gaps related to various careers among the programs.

Collaborators: