Synopsis

The benefits of gardening for children are no different than for anyone else, but the ways we facilitate their participation may need to be adapted. Making gardening accessible in the physical sense is important but making knowledge of gardening accessible in a way that is person-centred is just as critical. Taking a person-centred approach this typically includes facilitating active participation within a person’s social environment, through shared and guided experiences and activities.

Children’s cognitive development occurs through their active interaction with their social environments through shared and guided experiences and activities.

Central to this is the dynamic relationship they have with educators and others in their learning environment. Done correctly, feelings of care, respect and esteem provide important foundations from which a positive sense of self and feeling of belonging emerge.

They feel empowered by the choices they make and develop resilience through practising and acknowledging their own problem-solving skills. They see their participation as making a contribution and feel pride when they see growth and change within the garden, attributed to their own actions.

This workshop will provide its participants with a sound understanding of the theory behind therapeutic horticulture, contemporary perspectives of how to meaningfully engage children in learning through gardening activities and a range of activities to implement within their own programs or classes. Its structure aims to make the day as interactive as possible, with dynamic discussion and hands on activities.

The workshop is suited to anyone working with children who would like to know how gardening can better enrich their lives and the relationships we have with them.

Learning objectives & outcomes

On completion of this unit, workshop participants should be able to

• Explain contemporary perspectives of children
• Articulate the ways students meaningfully participate in schools
• Understand the principles behind therapeutic horticulture and how wellbeing is derived
• Conceptualise the link between therapeutic horticulture and children’s wellbeing through active participation
• Apply participatory methods for including children meaningfully in active gardening programs
• Design and assess appropriate therapeutic horticulture activities for children.

Synopsis

Children of all ages can enjoy gardening. We often assume age correlates with experience and therefore under-estimate children’s varied and in-depth understanding of gardening tasks and interests. This workshop encourages educators or those working with child in the garden to take a relaxed and dynamic approach to how children PLAY in the garden as they learn to nurture and care for plants and each other.

The workshop is suited to anyone working in an Early Years’ Education setting who would like to incorporate best-practice and child-centred gardening activities into centre programming, learn how to document children’s participation within the Early Years’ Learning Framework and understand its contribution to reaching or exceeding National Quality Standards.

Learning objectives & outcomes

On completion of this unit, workshop participants should be able to:

• Explain contemporary perspectives of children and childhoods
• Understand the principles behind therapeutic horticulture and how wellbeing is derived
• Examine the synergies between therapeutic horticulture and the Early Years learning Framework
• Explore socio-cultural theory and how kids learn through doing
• Apply participatory methods for including young children safely and meaningfully in active gardening programs
• Design appropriate therapeutic horticulture activities for children.
• Design appropriate ways to document of children’s interest and participation in the garden.
• Evaluate and refine child focused gardening activities in a way that builds upon children’s interest and skill development over time.

Synopsis

The benefits of gardening for children or people with disability are no different than for anyone else, but the ways we facilitate their participation may need to be adapted. Making gardening accessible in the physical sense is important but making knowledge of gardening accessible in a way that is person-centred is just as critical. Taking a person-centred approach this typically includes facilitating active participation within a person’s social environment, through shared and guided experiences and activities. Central to this is the dynamic contribution of the participant as both learner and teacher in developing and adapting through their relationships with others. Done correctly, feelings of care, respect and esteem provide important foundations from which a positive sense of self and feeling of belonging emerge.

This workshop will provide its participants with a sound understanding of the theory behind therapeutic horticulture, contemporary perspectives of how to meaningfully engage children and people with disability in gardening activities and a range of activities for them to implement within their own programs or classes. Its structure aims to make the day as interactive as possible, with dynamic discussion and hands on activities.

The workshop is suited to anyone working with children or people with disability and would like to know how gardening can better enrich their lives and the relationships we have with them.

Learning objectives & outcomes

On completion of this unit, workshop participants should be able to:

• Understand the principles behind therapeutic horticulture and how wellbeing is derived
• Explain contemporary perspectives of children and people with disability
• Apply participatory methods for including children and people with cognitive disability in active gardening programs
• Design and assess appropriate therapeutic horticulture activities for children and people with cognitive disability.

Synopsis

Many working in therapeutic horticulture inherently know the benefits of time spent in greenspaces for the people we work with. They experience it first hand and many successfully document their efforts to share the knowledge with others, including reporting to management and funding bodies. By adopting rigorous research methodology and appropriate methods, data can be collected efficiently, precisely and continuously, ensuring an in-depth understanding of the program’s strengths which can be communicated to stakeholders.

This workshop will provide its participants with the tools to document their work using sound, accessible and ethical methodologies.

The workshop is suited to anyone working in therapeutic horticulture who wishes to rigorously document, evaluate and refine their work against a theoretically and methodologically sound conceptual framework.

Learning objectives & outcomes

On completion of this unit, workshop participants should be able to:

• Develop a sound research framework
• Choose appropriate research tools
• Ensure informed consent and participation of participants
• Confidently assess and minimise the ethical implications of working within sensitive contexts
• Confidently collect and analyse data
• Report findings in clear and accessible ways
• Understand the importance of reporting findings back to participants

Synopsis

Sustainability is an essential and expected consideration of design and typically conceptualised in terms of environmental, economic and social credentials. Although our understanding of economic and environmental sustainability is usually well developed and more often than not easily articulated and readily accounted for in the principles underpinning design, social sustainability is often relegated to a poorly justified line item within the triple bottom line with little thought throughout the life span of the project.

So what is social sustainability, when does it count and how do you implement and measure it?

This workshop pushes participants to critically consider hoe the foundations of social sustainability can be thoughtfully applied to a project design and implementation. It goes beyond consultation and accessibility to push boundaries of co-design, community embeddedness and inclusivity.

The workshop is suited to anyone working in landscape project design and development. Participants are encouraged to bring samples of their own work for critique and refinement throughout the day.

Learning objectives & outcomes

On completion of this unit, workshop participants should have an understanding of;

• The principles of sustainable design
• A detailed understanding of socially sustainable development
• Applications for social sustainability in landscape design and development.
• Develop a socially sustainable landscape evaluation tool to assist in evaluating projects
• How to evaluate a garden to identify socially sustainable principles