To the individual, garden areas link to the natural world, offering solace, refuge, inspiration, and purpose. To a low-income neighborhood, where often the only greenery sprouts from between cracks in concrete, their impact can be monumental, signaling sustainability, beautifying, attesting to value and worth--even prompting civic change. A 2000…

An insatiable appetite for energy, a burgeoning world population, and a heightened awareness of climate change are focusing global attention on sustainability, an issue that may very well determine the future course of civilization. The pursuit of a sustainable lifestyle today is of paramount importance for future generations. Achieving…

Few things are more important for school safety and security than controlling access to buildings and grounds. It is relatively easy to incorporate effective access control measures in new school designs but more difficult in existing schools, where most building and site features cannot be readily altered or reconfigured. The National…

This paper is about how rural landscape is experienced according to combinations of practical engagements with land and the ways meaning is made in relation to it. It presents the case of the ambiguous position of the Orkney Islands within categorisations of Highland and Lowland landscapes in Scotland. Through a discussion of the physical and…

Schools and universities throughout the United States now appear to be embracing green roofs as one of many environmentally friendly initiatives. However, once a green roof is in place, school managers soon realize they are not the same as typical landscaping. Although they tend to be relatively low-maintenance, the location and highly specialized…

An Illinois project developed competency-based curriculum guides for Gardening/Groundskeeping and Floriculture using the V-TECS (Vocational Technical Education Consortium of States) catalogues. The programs were designed to provide students at the senior high school and two-year college level with entry-level and higher job skills and to provide…

Landscape changes in Europe's rural areas seem to generate a more visible impact. This trend raises new questions on rural management and brings about a conflict between farmers' land-use patterns and public expectations, which are often exclusively based on esthetics. The aim of the SHRUB BATTLE board game is to help tutors make future rural…

The systematic development of horticulture curriculum for Indiana was the focus of this research project which validated a job task list for use in instructional material development. The job title catalog, A Landscape Gardener, was selected from those currently available through the Vocational-Technical Consortium of States (V-TECS) program. A…

It is very difficult for new Canadians to find work that draws on and recognizes their experience and qualifications. About three years ago the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) established a policy to try to help new Canadians achieve hands-on experience in their field of expertise through a special volunteer program. Since then,…

In this article, the author describes Liguria Study Center for the Arts and Humanities in Bogliasco, Italy, which offers a stately perch from which a few lucky scholars and artists can gaze at the Mediterranean and gather their thoughts making it so conducive to the study of arts and letters. The center provides scholars and artists midcareer and…

In this article, the author compares the functions of a graduate adult education program and a greenhouse. A graduate adult education program is a place where, like in a greenhouse, exciting new hybrids can be developed--working with people outside the school of education, in different disciplines and beyond the university's walls, sharing what…

High school students at the Texas School for the Deaf can participate in a horticulture class featuring both theoretical and practical knowledge of hydroponics. The course allows students to learn life cycle concepts while engaging in a new technology. (CL)

TURF 436 (Case Studies in Turfgrass Management) is the capstone course for turfgrass science majors at the Pennsylvania State University. Students are introduced to problems and complex problematic situations encountered in the management of golf and sports turf and in professional lawn-care operations. Following completion of the orientation case…

A teacher reviews the ways in which a garden project improved cognitive gains, responsibility, and appreciation of beauty in nature for learning disabled students (eight to 12 years old). (CL)

Discusses major leaps in knowledge about the production of flowers that have come from studying genes that regulate the flowers of mouse ear cress (Arabidopsis thaliana). Examines the ABC model of flower morphogenesis, commonality of genes, evolution of angiosperms, and agricultural and horticultural potential. (LZ)