Call for Sessions for NCYGS 2024
Call for Sessions for the National Children & Youth Garden Symposium (NCYGS) is Now Open!
The American Horticultural Society, in collaboration with Chicago Botanic Garden, has issued a Call for Sessions for the annual National Children & Youth Garden Symposium (NCYGS) taking place on Chicago’s North Shore, July 8-11, 2024. Started over 30 years ago, NCYGS is an annual professional development conference for garden educators who want to help children develop social skills, enhance school curricula, bring families together, and create an awareness of the link between nature and our food, clothing and shelter.
Interested in leading a session at the conference? Review the session subject areas below, read the proposal guidelines, and submit your session proposals by Sunday, December 31, 2023. All submissions will be notified in January 2024. We encourage youth garden educators from across the fields to apply!
Session Subject Areas:
Sessions may be submitted in the following subject areas and may address more than one subject area:
- Career Development: sessions focus on pathways for youth to careers in horticulture/sustainability
- Curriculum: sessions focus on the design and implementation of curriculum and learning standards in youth gardening
- DEAI: sessions focus on youth gardening through lenses of diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion (such as universal learning, horticultural therapy, and racial and economic equity)
- Funding: sessions focus on building and maintaining financial support for youth gardening and tracking financial metrics
- Horticulture: sessions focus on plant selection, landscape design, and landscape care for children’s gardens
- Programming: sessions focus on engagement models and activities for youth with gardens (including play-based learning and social-emotional learning)
Submit your session proposals by Sunday, December 31, 2023. For more information about the Symposium, contact Director of National Programs Courtney Allen at programs@ahsgardening.org or call (703) 768-5700 ext. 121. You can also join our email list to receive periodic updates about NCYGS.