RE: Organizing leadership

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Boy, you know how to ask the hard questions.

Your  question leads to several interpretations that would generate very different approaches.  In particular, it could be

-                      You want to have a garden that lots of people would use but that would operate at the whim of your organization

-                      You would like to develop a garden that others would see as belonging to them but that you might assist from time to time.

-                      Somewhere inbetween

 

In the first case, you want to recruit a lot of people and provide a good experience for them (I call that the “public utility” model).

In the second case, you want to find people who will engage in the development and the management of the garden right from the start.  Your organization would end up with minimal control.  You will have to decide where you want to end up.

 

To get the whole lowdown on this thinking, get ACGA’s publications, Growing Communities and Cultivating Communities.  You can order them throught the ACGA website – go to Publications. (www.communitygarden.org)

 

Good luck.

 

Jack Hale

 

-----Original Message-----
From: community_garden-admin@mallorn.com [mailto:community_garden-admin@mallorn.com]On Behalf Of Samuel Feinson
Sent: Wednesday, November 06, 2002 2:34 PM
To: 'community_garden@mallorn.com'
Subject: [cg] Organizing leadership

 

I have written once before about the community garden project that City Year Columbia is organizing in Columbia, SC.  While the information a few people have sent me has been wonderful, one question in particular stands out at the moment.  Most available publications lend advice to a community member interested in starting a garden.  Our situation, however, is different.  As an organization that would like to establish a garden for the communities and continually assist in its upkeep, what would the best way to engage already-existing community leadership?  We already have longstanding contacts in the two neighborhoods considered for the garden.  Does anyone have experience in this regard?

Thanks,
Sam