American Horticultural Society

Symposium Theme: The Future of Youth Gardening

The landscape of youth gardening has shifted significantly since NCYGS began in 1993. What impactful changes have garden educators observed over time, and what trends do they notice gaining momentum today? How have the transformations evolved best practices and approaches? And how can garden educators best support youth in the future? Hundreds of educators from across the country will unite to discuss the new frontiers of youth gardening in North America.

CALL FOR SESSIONS

The American Horticultural Society is now accepting session proposals for the 34^th Annual National Children & Youth Garden Symposium, to be held in Pasadena, CA from Monday, July 13 to Thursday, July 16, 2026. We encourage garden educators of youth from across the fields to apply! Please review the proposal guidance below before submitting your proposal. Deadline for session proposals is January 4, 2026.

Submit your proposal here

Session Formats

There are two options for session formats:

• Talks: 60 minutes, discussing a specific idea, model, or project
• Workshops: 90 minutes, providing participants with a framework and actively engaging them with hands-on activities

Session Tracks

Sessions may be submitted in the following subject areas and may address more than one subject area:

• In the Classroom: sessions focus on design and implementation of garden-related curriculum and learning standards for K-12 students
• In the School Garden: sessions focus on how to build and maintain a school garden, including plant selection, landscape design and care, and financial support
• In the Public Garden: sessions focus on children’s spaces and programming at botanic gardens, nature centers, and similar environments
• In the Community Garden: sessions focus on how to support youth gardening in broader social and geographic contexts, addressing access and inclusion for physical community gardens or engagement in digital gardening communities
• Youth Gardening in Research: sessions focus on scholarly research on child development and the outdoors or on educator best practices
• Youth Gardening for the Future: sessions focus on pathways for youth to careers in horticulture

Selection Criteria

Each proposal will be considered according to the following criteria:

• Practical value to practitioners
• Originality
• Quality
• Significance to youth gardening

Sessions will be selected to create a balanced set of offerings for symposium participants. This includes a range of topics, ages of youth discussed, and speaker representation (such as geographic and organizational representation).

Recommendations for Writing Proposals

• Make session titles descriptive and specific.
• Articulate the learning objectives of your session, how they will be achieved, and their relevance and import to your intended audience.
• The proposal should describe not only your topic. It should also describe the ways you will address your materials and how attendees will participate in the session.

Additional Tips

• This symposium draws hundreds of youth garden educators from around the United States, from all kinds of workplaces and youth audiences. Please keep this diversity in mind when creating your proposal.
• Sessions need not be limited to sharing about projects. They can explore models, frameworks, sample activities, and other structures and items that would be of use to youth garden educators.
• Session proposals should reflect your own experience and/or research in the youth gardening field.

Email programs@ahsgardening.org with any questions.

SUPPORT YOUTH GARDENING

Help make an impact on hundreds of teachers and hundreds of thousands of students every year. Become a 2026 NCYGS sponsor by contacting programs@ahsgardening.org. You can also join our email list to receive periodic updates about NCYGS.