Urban youth do not always understand how food is made, what the value of having sustainable food systems is, or how environmental issues can impact local gardening.  Community gardens can be used as a living laboratory where these ideas can be effectively taught.  These Garden Mosaics workshops provide educators with training and resources to teach youth about science, urban agriculture and the environment.     

CUCE-NYC, Cornell University, and a national team of colleagues developed a science-based “Garden Mosaics” program that targets educators and youth. 

The “Garden Mosaics” curriculum covers topics ranging from soils and ethnic vegetables to social explorations of neighborhood green spaces and gardener interviews.  National and global participants are connected to each other through the Garden Mosaics website, where groups post their findings and projects in the website’s searchable database.

Accomplishments

§  CUCE-NYC has provided trainings to:

Local New York City educators learn about soil properties at a Garden Mosaics workshop.

-   AmeriCorps members in East Harlem

-   Central Park Conservancy volunteers

-   Educators and urban gardeners in Brooklyn and the Lower East Side of Manhattan

-   Participants at the 2009 GrowTogether Conference in the Bronx.

§  Outside of New York City, CUCE-NYC has presented a workshop to educators at the 2008 North American Association of Environmental Education Conference in Wichita, Kansas.

Resources

Curriculum, activities, and other educational materials are available at the Garden Mosaics website.