Identification and Description
The system I have selected to reflect upon is a locally based community garden in which I have actively participated for the last two years. In this suburban neighborhood, a community garden has been created as an open area for all residents who love sustainable living and organic gardening, encouraging people to develop bonds with one another. The garden was set up for the residents to grow their produce, foster environmental sustainability, and build social ties with people in the community. It includes personal plots for gardening, communal spaces to engage in group activities, and workshops that run regularly on sustainable farming methods. The garden model of the community is based upon a cooperative principle where members work together to maintain and upgrade common space.
Opinions and Reflections
My involvement with the community garden has been a satisfying experience. One of its strengths is its role as a safe and welcoming environment that provides a feeling of belonging to members. The garden has opened up a space for co-learning and cross-collaboration, where experienced and less experiential individuals can learn from each other (Kirst-Ashman, 2008). Secondly, the garden has catered to my personal needs by providing a soothing escape from city life where I can commune with nature and live sustainably. The prospects for involvement, including communal activities and workshops, have contributed to building a sense of community spirit.
One clear area for improvement can be identified within the community garden, which concerns its inconsistent organizational structure, as formal ways to make decisions are incorporated only some of the time. Despite providing a friendly and teamwork environment, this informality needs to be improved in managing activities efficiently or responding to issues immediately. Inside this subject, the lack of a more organized framework causes role and responsibility ambiguity, negatively affecting garden efficiency. To compensate for this weakness, there should be a more efficient organizational structure that establishes channels and responsibilities of decision-making as well as the occurrences of communication. In addition, various proactive measures should be taken to make the garden more inclusive by engaging a wider audience of members (Kirst-Ashman, 2008). This may entail targeted outreach programs, community engagement activities, and the integration of cultural competency training on gardening practices that would make gardens a warm place for people with different backgrounds.
Impact on Macro Social Environment
The garden community has held a critical position in advancing my individual growth and impacting the secondary macro social setting of the residential society. On a personal level, the garden brings more than just stress relief and relaxation; it has embarked on an evolutionary path regarding skill development and experiential learning (Kirst-Ashman, 2008). I have acquired relevant practical knowledge by actively participating in community projects and workshops on sustainable agriculture, composting techniques, and how to conserve water resources. This practical engagement has enhanced my environmental custodianship capabilities and made me more sensitive to the relevance of ecological interdependence in sustainable gardening.
Socially, the community garden is an example of environmental justice in the macro social environment since it champions practices that are sustainable and friendly to nature. Through creating an opportunity for joint responsibility, the garden represents the generalist practice’s philosophy of empowerment (Joseph, 2019). Their cooperative endeavors, such as helping to maintain the garden and organizing workshops where they can collectively discuss environmental issues affecting their community, indicate prioritizing the overall welfare of the whole community. Connecting social justice practices with sustainable living is not only in line with but also constitutes a local solution corresponding to pressing environmental concerns. On the other hand, appreciating cultural competency is essential; there is an avenue for the garden to enhance its effects by actively seeking feedback from a broader range of community members. Introducing culturally sensitive gardening methods could make the garden more inclusive and allow it to have a more significant impact on community members.
Recommendation for Future Clients
The community garden promotes the active involvement of prospective customers because, according to its numerous positive effects on various aspects of personal development and well-being. For those concerned with sustainable lifestyles, gardening is more than simply a recreational hobby. It becomes a transformative event that enables relaxation, relieves stress, and offers the ground for holistic development. Information on the sensible practices of sustainable agriculture is provided to clients, allowing them a deeper understanding of environmental stewardship. Moreover, the sense created in the garden for social well-being as several friends increase standard living and create support networks.
While giving this recommendation, it is significant to highlight potential areas of improvement in the community garden organizational structure. The active involvement of the customers in such goals and guidelines can ensure a customer-friendly community area or garden. So, it becomes an important task to accentuate diversity in order not only to identify possible gaps but also to approach a larger audience. By actively soliciting feedback from a wide array of stakeholders, the community garden can improve its outreach and thereby better reflect local cultural diversity. This recommendation underlines the need for potential consumers to actively participate in developing and incorporating it apart from just using it. This will make the garden a more vibrant and flexible community hub.
Reference
Kirst-Ashman, K. K. (2008). Human behavior, communities, organizations, and groups in the macro social environment.
Joseph, R. (2019). The theory of empowerment: A critical analysis with the theory evaluation scale. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 30(2), 138–157. https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2019.1660294
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