I am a community builder and thank you for this post. I have been watching the first, one and only, tomato growing in my city garden and experiencing such joy as I check on it every few days and notice how it slowly grows in size and begins to ripen. And I had been thinking about how gardening (and community building) invite you to pay attention to and celebrate small incremental changes. Over time these small changes add up to the whole complex and fascinating environment of a garden or community.
I am smiling, Amy - As a gardener and a community builder, I have seen the analogy with gardening myself over the years. I think you will enjoy this: “Community Engagement as Gardening in the Front Yard.” http://is.gd/26vJW
Thanks for a perfect gift this morning. I think I’ll get out in the garden and see my neighbors before heading into the office!
Hildy
What an interesting comparison. I am thinking about ways I can use my skills to build community and create change and I go back and forth between the gardener and the landscaper ideas. You can read some of my thoughts at http://www.designmessage.wordpress.com. Thank you for spelling it out so clearly.
Nancy - Thanks so much! I love your image that gardening leaves the environment open to the wisdom of the crowds, or maybe seeds? 😊
Naava - What a terrific example! Gave me goosebumps of excitement, to be honest. You are exactly right, too! A community builder has the opportunity to know the community as a whole network, but also as a group of individual members and individual contributions. And to celebrate all of the growth, small or large!
Hildy - Thank you so much; I’m in tears. It gives me such pride and pleasure to serve so many communities as a supporter and builder. Your post hit such a chord with me! It really is about helping communities, or gardens, grow to their fullest: both as plants themselves as healthy as possible but in size and reach and spirit. The goal I always encourage other Community Builders to focus on is to support a community in a way that it grows to sustain itself without you. A wonderful natural garden 😊
Rebecca - I think all of us flip flop between the two, feeling our way through the process of building community. Thanks for sharing the link as well!
Nice point you have there. I also found your final comment “You may be surprised, but your Community often has even better ideas than you!” most interesting. It is ever so true and once again leads my thoughts to the importance and learning potential of user driven innovation.
Hi Amy,
Love your imagery and point of view. A friend of mind, a local community builder, just sent me the link to the SSIR’s favorite blogs.
Your metaphor for gardening as community building is one that everyone involved in a community can readily identify with. Your point about asking the community what it wants is much like checking the soil for signs of what nutrients it needs, essential to building a healthy, thriving community or garden. One step further, however, would be to not only ask the community what it wants but to involve the community in building and maintaining of the garden. How is this done? By bringing in all stakeholders to a table to share in the visioning and planning of the “garden”. A great example of this was a summit last summer in Cleveland, Sustainable Cleveland 2019, where 700 people, members of every sector of the city met for three days to create a new future for the city. I was privileged to attend a presentation about this event and it was very moving.
Hopefully more people like yourself can bring across these kinds of concepts to communities everywhere.
COMMENTS
BY Nancy Iannone
ON August 6, 2009 07:54 AM
Amy -
I love your examples of gardening vs. landscaping. Gardening really does leave a community open to possibility and the wisdom of shared ideas.
Thank you for a great start to the day.
Nancy
BY Naava Frank
ON August 7, 2009 01:13 AM
Amy,
I am a community builder and thank you for this post. I have been watching the first, one and only, tomato growing in my city garden and experiencing such joy as I check on it every few days and notice how it slowly grows in size and begins to ripen. And I had been thinking about how gardening (and community building) invite you to pay attention to and celebrate small incremental changes. Over time these small changes add up to the whole complex and fascinating environment of a garden or community.
Naava
BY Hildy Gottlieb
ON August 7, 2009 07:41 AM
I am smiling, Amy - As a gardener and a community builder, I have seen the analogy with gardening myself over the years. I think you will enjoy this: “Community Engagement as Gardening in the Front Yard.”
http://is.gd/26vJW
Thanks for a perfect gift this morning. I think I’ll get out in the garden and see my neighbors before heading into the office!
Hildy
BY Rebecca
ON August 7, 2009 08:50 AM
What an interesting comparison. I am thinking about ways I can use my skills to build community and create change and I go back and forth between the gardener and the landscaper ideas. You can read some of my thoughts at http://www.designmessage.wordpress.com. Thank you for spelling it out so clearly.
BY Amy Sample Ward
ON August 7, 2009 10:09 AM
Nancy - Thanks so much! I love your image that gardening leaves the environment open to the wisdom of the crowds, or maybe seeds? 😊
Naava - What a terrific example! Gave me goosebumps of excitement, to be honest. You are exactly right, too! A community builder has the opportunity to know the community as a whole network, but also as a group of individual members and individual contributions. And to celebrate all of the growth, small or large!
Hildy - Thank you so much; I’m in tears. It gives me such pride and pleasure to serve so many communities as a supporter and builder. Your post hit such a chord with me! It really is about helping communities, or gardens, grow to their fullest: both as plants themselves as healthy as possible but in size and reach and spirit. The goal I always encourage other Community Builders to focus on is to support a community in a way that it grows to sustain itself without you. A wonderful natural garden 😊
Rebecca - I think all of us flip flop between the two, feeling our way through the process of building community. Thanks for sharing the link as well!
BY Rikke Glahn
ON August 7, 2009 02:54 PM
Hi Amy
Nice point you have there. I also found your final comment “You may be surprised, but your Community often has even better ideas than you!” most interesting. It is ever so true and once again leads my thoughts to the importance and learning potential of user driven innovation.
Best,
Rikke
BY Lalia Helmer
ON February 19, 2010 05:39 PM
Hi Amy,
Love your imagery and point of view. A friend of mind, a local community builder, just sent me the link to the SSIR’s favorite blogs.
Your metaphor for gardening as community building is one that everyone involved in a community can readily identify with. Your point about asking the community what it wants is much like checking the soil for signs of what nutrients it needs, essential to building a healthy, thriving community or garden. One step further, however, would be to not only ask the community what it wants but to involve the community in building and maintaining of the garden. How is this done? By bringing in all stakeholders to a table to share in the visioning and planning of the “garden”. A great example of this was a summit last summer in Cleveland, Sustainable Cleveland 2019, where 700 people, members of every sector of the city met for three days to create a new future for the city. I was privileged to attend a presentation about this event and it was very moving.
Hopefully more people like yourself can bring across these kinds of concepts to communities everywhere.