Inspiring Agriculture Education in your Community
Gain – Creating awareness and positive change in your community
Real – Addressing real-world challenges in the agri-food system
Opportunities – Finding ways to connect people to agriculture
Wisdom – Sharing knowledge and inspiring action
At every summit, we encourage student teams to take action by creating a project that lets them share their new found knowledge in a fun and impactful way. Your project can be as simple as designing a poster and presentation for the rest of your green club, or as complex as organizing a riparian restoration project. The value of your project isn’t measured by its size or complexity - what matters most is that each team does something meaningful for them. The true power of knowledge comes from sharing it, and in doing so, fostering collaboration, innovation, and collective growth. We hope that Cultivate is just one step in your school’s journey toward growing together, literally and figuratively!
What if we don’t have a project?
You don’t have to have a project in mind to apply or to register! Our 3.5 day program not only features engaging speakers and exciting tours, but it also includes opportunities for teams to meet together, reflect on what they’ve learned, and figure out how to bring it back to their school community. The speakers and tours are designed to inspire you with fresh ideas, but the project component is where you turn that inspiration into real action. We’ll guide teams through a community needs assessment, the project planning process, and help provide tips and tricks for success. Plus, you’ll also have plenty of time to connect and learn from other teams because we know that building community is key for both students and teachers!
Inside Education will support your team after the summit as well - from connecting you to valuable community partners to helping you find and secure grant money, to guiding you through the logistics of planning and implementing your project.
No matter where you live, we’re all connected to the food system, and there are countless ways you can make an impact - even within city limits.
Service Project
Give back to your school, community, or a local organization in a way that connects to the agri-food system. Here are some ideas to get you started (but feel free to get creative!):
- Organize a food drive or volunteer at your local food bank
- Find a creative way to reduce food waste at school event
- Team up with a group working on habitat restoration near agricultural land
Education Project
Spread the word about agriculture and its importance! Your team will design and run a project that helps others learn about agriculture in Alberta, how it connects to climate, policies, public trust, and more. Some fun ways to do this:
- Create a classroom presentation for younger students (Psst… grade 5 & 7 Science have awesome ag connections!)
- Plan a farm tour or invite experts to speak at your school
- Launch a social media campaign or school initiative to share what you’ve learned and why it matters
- Reach outside of your school: connect with local organizations to share learning and educate their audiences
Interested in doing something else?
Maybe your team already has a big agricultural idea in the works! Your school may have different facilities that could allow you to bring these hands-on experiences to daily life at school; think building and using chicken coops or barns, or creating a butchery or food processing section of an established foods/agriculture curriculum, those kinds of big ideas! If your team has an idea for a project outside of the scope of one of the listed projects, we’d love to hear about it and work with you on how best to support the project design and implementation process.
Contact Program Manager Jayme Nelson at jnelson @ insideeducation.ca