The Intergenerational Landed Learning Program began in 2002 with 18 children and 7 retired farmers. In 2004-05 the program expanded to include 100 elementary children from two Vancouver schools, 13 retired farmers and 15 undergraduate and UBC graduate student volunteers.
Summer camp programs were introduced in 2005.
Through 2006 to 2018, PromoScience and other agencies supported continued delivery of the program which included the addition of a food-and nutrition science component, the development of teacher support materials, and the dissemination of resources and our program model through a project website.
In 2010 to 2012, supported by PromoScience and other agencies we added a regional Landed Learning Program at the Okanagan Science Centre in Vernon, BC which included teacher workshops.
In 2011 we published our teacher resource, Get Growing: Activities for Food and Garden Learning, used by science and environmental educators across Canada and abroad. From 2013 to 2018, with PromoScience support we developed a specialized program for high school students (SOYL), immersing them in agricultural science and environmental stewardship activities.
From 2015 to 2018, our Okanagan program became an independent school-based initiative for rural elementary students in Vernon, BC, and our SOYL high school program became fully self-sustaining, operated by a non-profit organization.
The 2019-2020 program focused on STEM in the Garden education for learners in the UBC Transition Program for academically gifted students.
From 2020-2023 we expanded through collaboration with the Classroom Gardener to reach more classrooms (n=84) and schools (n=14), promoted inclusive outdoor education provincewide, built learning gardens on school grounds, incorporated Indigenous knowledges and ways and traditional Indigenous perspectives across our curricula, and expanded professional development activities to help teachers teach community-engaged science in school gardens across British Columbia and Canada.