University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
IN-7: Community Garden

The West Bank Community Garden
The WBCG emerged from the University of Minnesota's Living Lab program to cultivate garden education, cultural exchange, and experimentation.
Located on the University of Minnesota's West Bank Campus between the Carlson School of Management, Wilson Library and Rarig Center.
The garden has both communal and individual vegetable plots and perennial pollinator beds.
The West Bank Community Garden (WBCG) was established in 2014. Project design and implementation were led by a core group of students to create a space where faculty, community members, and students would be able to collectively design, implement and grow gardens for education and experimentation centered on healthy food and the environment. It was made possible by the acceptance of a Living Laboratory proposal through the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Sustainability Committee.
This space can now be molded collectively with counsel from University administration. The IonE Mini Grant supported the start-up costs of this project along with guidance from University faculty, staff, and community members. The garden looks good – at least it is a start – there are many things that can be improved this upcoming year. More perennial seeds can be sewn, bunnies can be warded off, and a variety of foods can be grown.
We are developing a sustainable leadership structure. Most of the core gardeners are upperclassmen and are looking to mentor underclassmen to run the garden next spring, summer, and fall. It is easy to run the garden once introduced to the large gardening/ farming support system set up in the Twin Cities. No gardening experience is need to run it (although it would be beneficial).