Goal 3: Leadership and Resilience


Lead the promotion of public gardens as cornerstones for resilient, healthy communities. Build capacity and enhance the ability to extol how their work provides solutions to local and global challenges. 

Objective 3A

Build Resilience: Galvanize gardens to proactively build and sustain resilience while navigating change
•    Provide disaster preparedness and response resources, connecting gardens to a peer support network
•    Deliver resources that help member gardens grow as leaders in operational sustainability
•    Provide tools that help gardens use mission-balanced, sustainable approaches to achieve financial stability and maintain community relevancy against inevitable demographic, and/or market-driven changes
•    Facilitate methods for gardens to safeguard and proactively plan for the long-term health of their plant collections

Objective 3B

Foster the Value of Public Gardens: Benchmark, articulate, and advocate the value of public gardens as an influential voice for the industry. Continue to enhance the Association’s outward communications to fulfill its mission and vision
•    Leverage Board leaders to serve as key ambassadors
•    Leverage the potential of the Association's annual celebration of public gardens to amplify the Association's external voice to new audiences and potential stakeholders
•    Articulate and position the external voice of the Association and public gardens by developing and implementing annual communication and leadership plans
•    Boost earned and owned media hits that favorably position the Association and its members as leaders  
•    Continue to benchmark the value of public gardens as tools for members to track and advocate for their progress 
•    Use independently measurable criteria (e.g. by Small, Medium, and Large gardens) to evaluate growth and change 
•    Develop communication reference tools which give Association members specific talking points about the role and value of public gardens and customizable messages for their individual needs
•    Evolve website to promote value of Association and public gardens externally to both existing and potential stakeholders
•    Evaluate capacity to develop summary reports and white papers available to public to position the Association as an authority and voice for public gardens
•    Explore options to offer certification and other avenues to recognize garden achievements