The Center for Sustainability Garden Programs aim to build a just and sustainable food system through education, collaboration and connection to our community. Our four gardens are used as living labs for placed-based interdisciplinary learning for students of all ages and backgrounds, including SCU students. Our programs work in solidarity with marginalized neighborhoods, supporting their urban garden projects and spaces. We work in collaboration to address food justice issues both at SCU and within the neighborhoods where our gardens are located.
Program Goals
- Educating SCU and surrounding communities by using our gardens as living labs for place-based, interdisciplinary learning.
- Building community resilience by produce donation, food education and neighborhood collaboration
- Helping to build a just and sustainable food system by utilizing ancestral and innovative, small scale sustainable agriculture practices
Santa Clara University’s ½-acre edible, organic garden is a hub for sustainable food system education. Established in 2008, the Forge Garden has committed to serve the campus as a space for course research, service learning, and demonstration of sustainable food production. The Forge Garden currently has six chickens, four beehives, a 400-square foot greenhouse, a compost center, over 20 fruit trees, over 15,000-square feet of garden beds, a public commons, an aquaponic system, an outdoor kitchen, and the 2007 Solar Decathlon House used as an office.
We partner with Gardner Elementary to coordinate technical, educational and volunteer support for their school garden. Our partnership includes coordinating with teachers and administration, parent leadership as well as the extended care organization on campus.
We partner with Washington Elementary to coordinate technical, educational and volunteer support for their school garden. Our partnership includes coordinating with teachers and administration, parent leadership as well as CORAL, the extended care organization on campus.
We deliver a portion of our weekly harvest and provide garden-based programming for the women and youth living at HomeSafe, a transitional housing facility for survivors of domestic violence.