2025 Regional Garden-based Learning Summit
Join us October 22-23 in Baltimore for the Regional Garden-based Learning Summit!
Ready to build community with colleagues from across the Mid-Atlantic garden-based education field? Eager to share challenges and best practices to learn with one another? Looking to be inspired by the incredible work happening in our region? Then join us at the 2025 Regional Garden-based Learning Summit and help us spread the word!
The application is now LIVE, for folks supporting garden-based learning for kids and youth in DC, DE, MD, PA, VA, and WV!
This is a free, participant-centric event with travel and lodging stipends available; please submit an application to be considered. Participants are encouraged to attend in teams of two, with a counterpart from their own or another collaborating organization. Each individual should submit their own application :
Interested in facilitating a Lightning Talk, Solution Seeker, or Skill Share session? (More info here)
Facilitator Deadline, to apply to lead an activity, is May 20th.
General Deadline, to apply as a non-facilitator attendee, is June 24th.
Who: Community-based organizations, school entities, and individuals supporting garden-based learning for kids and youth in DC, DE, MD, PA, VA, and WV.
What: A FREE, participant-led gathering to deepen community and connections, find inspiration, share resources and best practices, and enhance garden-based learning opportunities for children and youth in the Mid-Atlantic region!
Where: Great Kids Farm, Baltimore, MD, in-person only (travel/lodging stipends available)
When: Wednesday-Thursday, October 22-23, 2025
Why: The goal of the Summit is to gather community-based organizations supporting garden-based learning in DC, DE, MD, PA, VA, and WV. The Summit is a chance for organizations to deepen community and connections, share resources and best practices, enhance garden-based learning opportunities for children and youth in the region, be inspired by all of the incredible work happening in our region, and ultimately to carry this all back to their communities.
Participants are encouraged to attend in teams of two, with a counterpart from their own or another collaborating organization. Each individual should submit their own application.
Apply today! Also, help us spread the word! Who in your network should be at this summit?
Gratitude: The summit is being planned with the input of an advisory committee composed of the following individuals and organizations: Ashley Rattanawan (Friends of the National Arboretum, DC), Ronnie Webb (The Green Scheme, DC), Carlos Duque (Amazing Life Games Preschool, DC), Jennifer Cipolla (Healthy Foods for Healthy Kids, DE), Shandra Furtado (The SNAC Garden Foundation, DE), and Juan Pablo Echeverria (Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture, VA). Additional support which makes the summit possible is provided by The Bainum Family Foundation.
Want to create a summit of your own? Click here to find out how to do it!
City Blossoms, in partnership with the Office of the State Superintendent of Education, and the United States Botanic Garden created a toolkit that captures the planning, reflection, and learning that led to a pilot Regional Garden-based Learning Summit for the Mid-Atlantic region. It provides a collection of resources created at various stages throughout the project, including:
Getting Started: Offers guidance on determining your Summit’s purpose, goals, and audience; creating an evaluation plan; building a planning team; conducting a needs assessment; and considering funding sources and a timeline.
Shaping the Summit: Discusses creating and reviewing attendee applications; communicating with registrants and assessing their needs and interests; creating a Summit agenda; and managing event logistics.
Implementation: Provides an overview of activity ideas to engage Summit participants and discusses run-of-show best practices.
Follow-up: Suggests ways to follow up with participants after your Summit and communicate publicly about your Summit’s success.
We hope that this toolkit serves as a useful guide to others who are interested in similar efforts.
2023 Regional Garden-based Learning Summit Recap:
City Blossoms, the United States Botanic Garden, and the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (Washington, DC) collaborated to develop and host the 2023 Regional Garden-based Learning Summit on July 27-28, 2023 in Washington, D.C.
The Summit gathered 54 garden-based learning professionals representing 34 community-based organizations in DC, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. It provided an opportunity for organizations to deepen community and connections, share resources and best practices, and be inspired by all of the incredible work happening in our region, with the ultimate goal of carrying this all back to their communities to enhance garden-based learning opportunities for children and youth.
Day 1 of the Summit was hosted at the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE). Activities included attendee-led lightning talk sessions, a self-guided small group networking activity, and a “solution seekers” workshop, which engaged attendees in group-supported troubleshooting sessions focused on common challenges experienced within garden-based programming.
Day 2 of the Summit was hosted at The Farm at Kelly Miller behind Kelly Miller Middle School, a collaborative production farm and garden-education space, co-run by City Blossoms and Dreaming Out Loud. Activities included attendee-led garden lesson demonstrations and a reflection exercise.
Key outcomes of the Summit included:
Increased connection among garden-based learning professionals in the Mid-Atlantic. Following the Summit, all (100%) of survey respondents felt more connected with their colleagues (93%) or sustained a strong existing sense of connection (7%). All (100%) survey respondents expressed that they planned to keep in touch with one or more colleagues they met at the Summit.
Increased awareness of garden-based learning programs in the Mid-Atlantic. Following the Summit, all (100%) of survey respondents felt more aware of the work of other garden-based learning programs in the Mid-Atlantic.
Increased awareness of resources to support garden-based learning in the Mid-Atlantic. Following the Summit, nearly all (97%) of survey respondents felt more aware of resources to support garden-based learning in the Mid-Atlantic (86%) or sustained a high level of awareness (11%).
Increased inspiration among garden-based learning professionals in the Mid-Atlantic. Following the Summit, 100% of survey respondents agreed that they felt inspired by the work happening in the Mid-Atlantic garden-based learning community, and 86% increased their sense of inspiration from pre- to post-Summit.
High satisfaction among Summit attendees. Following the Summit, 100% of survey respondents stated that they would recommend the Regional Garden-based Learning Summit to a colleague.
Gratitude!
The 2023 summit was planned with the input of an advisory committee composed of the following individuals and organizations: Jennifer Cipolla (Healthy Foods for Healthy Kids, DE), Laura Genello (Baltimore City Public Schools, MD), Juan Pablo Echeverria (Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture, VA), and Ashley Rattanawan (Friends of the National Arboretum, DC).
A huge THANK YOU to all attendees for contributing time and energy to the 2023 Regional Garden-based Learning Summit. Also, a special shout out to our passionate core planning group members, Emily Hestness (U.S. Botanic Garden), Ray Mims (U.S. Botanic Garden), Sam Ullery (Office of the State Superintendent of Education DC), Darian Artis (City Blossoms), Willa Pohlman (City Blossoms), and Rafael Woldeab (City Blossoms). Additional support which made the 2023 summit possible was provided by The Bainum Family Foundation.
We are inspired to continue this work in community with you and look forward to connecting in the coming weeks and months.
With gratitude,
Rafael Woldeab, Willa Pohlman, Emily Hestness, Ray Mims, and Sam Ullery
City Blossoms, United States Botanic Garden, and Office of the State Superintendent of Education (Washington, DC)
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Questions about the Summit can be directed to Willa Pohlman, Deputy Director at City Blossoms: willa@cityblossoms.org
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