Difference between revisions of "Learning Gardens Laboratory"

What?

The Learning Gardens Laboratory (LGLab) is part community garden and part garden-based education located in SE Portland, Oregon.

It was established in 2005 through a partnership of Portland State University, Portland Public Schools (PPS), and the City of Portland. It is a project of the Portland International Initiative for Leadership in Ecology Culture and Learning (PIIECL) in Portland State University’s Educational Policies, Foundations, and Administration (EPFA) Department in the Graduate School of Education.

The LGLab is primarily geared to serve the students and families of the multicultural and lower income neighborhoods of SE Portland. LGLab's primary Portland Public School partner is Lane Middle School which is just across the street from the learning garden.

Why?

When the Learning Gardens Laboratory project began in the fall of 2005, its goals were defined as follows:

• To create an educational laboratory resource that will give students and youth in Portland hands-on

multicultural, interdisciplinary, intergenerational, and multi-sensory experiences that promote earth-friendly local food production and improve student learning.

• To educate students about permaculture principles and earth-friendly gardening methods, nutrition

and healthy eating habits, and medicinal/healing properties of plants.

• To serve as an educational resource for existing learning gardens in Portland Public schools and local farms.
• To support the regional food economy by raising awareness of the importance of local agriculture and

working with PPS Nutrition Services to bring LGLab harvests into schools.

• To facilitate the creation of an intergenerational learning community where PSU graduate students, PPS

students, and parents from multicultural communities in Southeast Portland can work collaboratively.

• To close the achievement gap and increase academic achievement, develop personal efficacy, stimulate

motivation to learn, and help foster a sense of purpose and sense of place.

• To become a national model that extends beyond food production to teaching children and youth and

increasing their academic achievement.

Where?

6801 SE 60th Ave.

Portland, OR 97206 USA

The LGLab is located in SE Portland (Oregon) on 60th Ave across from Brentwood Park between Duke and Flavel.

Who?

For more information or questions regarding the Learning Gardens Laboratory, please contact Karen at or join the Learning Gardens Listserv.

More?

• Learning Gardens Website
• PIIECL Learning Gardens Brochure
• Portland International Initiative for Ecology, Culture and Learning
• Portland State Partnership with Learning Gardens
• The Learning Gardens Listserv
• 2007 LGLab Reference Guide (PSU WebCT login required)