Evaluating an Initiative to Increase Youth Participation in School and Community Gardening Activities

• Main Authors: Kristi S. Lekies, Marcia Eames-Sheavly
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University Library System, University of Pittsburgh 2008-09-01
• Series: Journal of Youth Development
• Online Access: http://jyd.pitt.edu/ojs/jyd/article/view/313

Across the country, youth gardening opportunities are rapidly increasing, as is the need for documentation on successful strategies for working with young people. This paper describes the evaluation of the Greener Voices project, a three-year initiative created to increase youth participation in gardening activities through consultation, resources, and information provided to adult leaders at six sites across New York and Pennsylvania. The evaluation is highlighted to encourage others to think about ways to incorporate evaluation into gardening programs. Useful strategies include starting early with evaluation planning, using an underlying program theory or logic model, collecting data through multiple methods, coordinating evaluation and program planning, building theory into evaluation, and publicizing findings. Documenting lessons learned can contribute to the knowledge base in the youth gardening field.