Garden of Knowledge project unites generations
Fri Nov 27 2015 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
Garden of Knowledge project unites generations
27 November 2015
Volunteers and residents gather after building the first raised gardens for Garden of Knowledge in Epsom.
An award-winning Garden of Knowledge pilot project established in Epsom and designed to unite elderly and young generations and get them growing together, may be replicated throughout New Zealand.
The project was the idea of University of Auckland Development Manager Emma Dent, who recently graduated from the two-year Future Auckland Leaders Programme run by the Committee for Auckland.
Emma’s idea for the legacy project, ‘Garden of Knowledge’, was selected as one of five concepts to be developed by participants on the leaders programme.
The team established the Garden of Knowledge pilot project at Elizabeth Knox Home and Hospital in Epsom with the help of volunteers from St Cuthbert’s College and St George’s Scouts.
They helped the elderly residents to build raised beds, fill and plant them, and continue to maintain the gardens with more than 40 people involved with the ‘Build Day’ in July.
In August, the Garden of Knowledge project won the Aged Care Association’s ‘Built and Grown Environment’ award. (See this link to the video).
“Everyone involved was able to share knowledge and learn from each other,” says Emma. “It also helped to restore a feeling of being useful and involved in society for the older people involved and helps to bridge the generation gap.”
Emma says the idea for Garden of Knowledge came from both her personal experience and the need to improve the quality of life for older people in Auckland that she learned about in her work.
The pilot project is continuing (as intended for a legacy project) with help from Newmarket Rotary, and the group have created an online guide for others wanting to establish Garden of Knowledge in communities around New Zealand.
For media enquiries email Suzi Phillips at this link.