The goal of this workshop is to bring together consumer horticulture stakeholders working to create sustainable, enjoyable, healthy communities and to identify methods for achieving greater impact through effective process of program identification, development, and measurement. Those active in any role of developing and delivering consumer horticulture programs, including Master Gardener activities, are encouraged to attend. Creating impactful programming in this field is influenced by stakeholders with varied goals and resources, content specificity due to planting zones and habitat, and the audience’s diverse economic and social demographics. To achieve greater success, more effort must be invested in the process of goal setting, stakeholder participation, resource allocation, collaborative implementation, and measurement. However, drilling down from a state-wide vision through regional, county-based resources and content to be delivered to locally diverse residents requires effective processes and creative thinking. Through discussion, we will identify internal roadblocks to success and learn the creative ways our peers may have overcome similar situations.
Workshop attendees are assigned a number 1, 2 or 3 upon entry. For the first 5 minutes, the participants of the workshop complete one of three pre-workshop surveys
1 - Your Role in the Field of Consumer Horticulture
2 – Success Indicators of Impactful Consumer Horticulture Programs
3 – Identifying Appropriate Consumer Horticulture Programs). For the next 10 minutes, the participants will discuss the definition of the term ‘consumer horticulture’ to ensure clarity of purpose.
This will include an activity generating a list of potential stakeholders and types of programs to illustrate the complexity of the field and to further clarify national, state and local needs. The presenters will then spend 40 minutes sharing a specific example of a layered, complex program development system including their success indicators and impediments. The moderator will represent the flow of information through the system, illustrating the places, sometimes obvious and others unexpected, where the process stops or gains momentum. Presenters represent state, regional and local roles. Workshop participants spend the next 40 minutes in round-robin breakout groups, rotating through 4 topics. The topics are in the form of questions regarding different aspects of goal setting, stakeholder development, program identification and success measurement. Each break out group will be moderated by one of the presenters. The group will reassemble for 20 minutes to discuss the outcome of their work. Notes will be taken for distribution to the group. For the last 5 minutes the group will take different versions of the pre-workshop test as a post-workshop assessment.
Consumer horticulture is a critical topic for national to local level stakeholders invested in developing healthy, sustainable communities. There are few focus areas that affect the quality of life of communities to the degree that this field can. Successful consumer horticulture efforts result in economic development opportunities, increased food access, strengthened social structures, mental health support and more. Yet, while the importance of integrating gardening on individual and community levels is widely recognized, efforts to develop and conduct programs to achieve consumer horticulture goals are difficult to establish and have little data supporting impact. To achieve greater success, more effort must be invested in the process of goal setting, stakeholder participation, resource allocation, collaborative implementation, and measurement. There is a plethora of information available about specific consumer horticulture activities such as community gardens, schoolyard habitats and classes for homeowners. However, before beginning activity development, the field would be strengthened by discussion of the purpose of these programs and the process of delivering information effectively to the intended audience.
The goal of this workshop is to bring together professionals in the field of consumer horticulture from different geographic and organizational systems and, through guided discussion, identify methods for achieving greater impact through effective program identification, development, and measurement.
Coordinator(s)- Ruth Carll, Rutgers, Agriculture and Natural Resources, New Brunswick, NEW JERSEY, United States
Speaker/Participant(s)- Peter Nitzsche, Rutgers NJAES Cooperative Extension, United States
Member of Panel (10 mins)
Summary: Peter Nitzche, Director of the Clifford E. & Melda C. Snyder Research and Extension Farm at Rutgers Center for Sustainable Agriculture, and the Department Head for the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Morris County represents the perspective of county-level program leadership. He leads events, programming and task force teams while overseeing extension staff that implement programs. He also actively conducts research and contributes to departmental goals. - Belinda Chester, Rutgers, Rutgers Cooperative Extension, New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States
Panel Member (10 mins)
Summary: Belinda Chester is a Horticulture Program Associate II and Master Gardener Coordinator with the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Atlantic County. On this panel, she represents the challenges of creating and managing programs with regional and local specificity. She must meet goals of both Rutgers and her county. Her constituents are urban, suburban and rural, including a large farming demographic. This large county also presents a geographic challenge. - Ruth Carll, Rutgers, Agriculture and Natural Resources, New Brunswick, NEW JERSEY, United States
Panel Member (10 mins)
Summary: Ruth Carll, State Coordinator of Consumer Horticulture and Master Gardener Program, leads Rutgers statewide consumer horticulture activities, ensuring that the University’s goals are achieved. Her research involves impact studies designed to guide program development and determine success. Ruth will represent state-level goal setting and program oversight. - Lisa Chiariello, Rutgers, Rutgers Cooperative Extension, New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States
Panel Member (10 mins)
Summary: Lisa Chiariello is an Agriculture and Natural Resources Program Associate II with the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Sussex County. On this panel, she represents the work of developing training for volunteers who deliver programs that meet statewide goals with specific local content and activities.
