The inclusive approach makes special places.
You can have a powerful positive effect on your project by including the school or community in constructing, installing and personalising outdoor areas. Whether you are digging holes, planting, shovelling, raking, wheelbarrowing, sweeping, or even mixing concrete – participation can be fun! Without a doubt, you can embed meaning, affection and cultural values into any project by including such spirited engagement. Overall, community engagement and participation is an important step to building ownership and establishing belonging.
At Checkendon School, parent volunteers gathered at 9am one Saturday to make a Nature Trail around the school field. Leaves of Green coordinated the project and all the materials were on site and ready. 30 adults and children moved logs, raked foundation stone and finished the paths with a recycled woodchip surfacing. These easily achievable tasks saved the school many hours in contracted labour. New friendships were formed during this memorable escapade.
For the students at Griffin School (below), their inclusion in aspects of the project gave connections to the land, offered skill in action, and resulted in a strong bond of affection to the place they had helped shape. See the Griffin project here.
Get involved!
By including your children, young people and members of the local community in elements of design and installation. Read more about the powers of inclusion in The Hidden Curriculum.