Who is UCGN?

Mission
Our mission is to facilitate exchange of ideas, access to resources and mutual support among people engaged in building up community gardens in the state of Utah.

Whom do we serve?
We aim to support community garden leaders in Utah.  A community garden is defined broadly.  It could be a garden at a school, church, non-profit organization, therapy center, residential center, workplace or neighborhood.  All of these models serve the purposes of community gardening.

What does UCGN do?

-A UCGN mailing list

-Online Directory of Community Gardens in Utah

-Links to resources

-Events and networking opportunities

 

Who is UCGN?
UCGN involves community gardens, garden organizers and other partners who support community gardening in Utah. The network is run by volunteer members who form the Steering Committee.  Here is a list of the organizations who are involved in the Steering Committee:

• Slow Food Utah
• Utah GARDENS
• Wasatch Community Gardens

History
The Utah Community Gardens Network was inspired when Susan Finlayson from Wasatch Community Gardens, attended the 2006 American Community Gardening Association conference in Los Angeles. There she met Jim Flint, who was directing the Vermont Community Gardens Network, and realized that her interest in bringing together community garden leaders in Utah was a real possibility.

Back in Utah, Susan worked to combine Wasatch Community Garden's existing programs of workshops and outreach with the specific goal of bringing community garden leaders together for creative collaboration. January 2007 saw a conference co-sponsored by Wasatch Community Gardens and the American Community Gardening Association that brought together over 40 community leaders from all over the state to learn about "growing communities." It was clear that the time was ripe for building a network among these inspiring and passionate individuals.

Because of the involvement of additional community leaders like Utah GARDENS and Slow Food Utah, the network has continued to expand.

Some of the attendees at ACGA's 2007 Workshop in Salt Lake!

For more information, contact Susan at 359-2658 or email community at wasatchgardens dot org.