The Urban Garden Project is holding a free webinar on Zoom on September 10 at 11 Eastern with Omar Brownson of the Los Angeles Community Garden Council.

How do community gardens remain self-governing while still receiving meaningful support? The Los Angeles Community Garden Council operates with one full-time staff member supporting nearly 2,000 gardeners across 40 volunteer-led gardens. This constraint has forced a design question that many garden networks now face: what systems are necessary—and which ones to let go of to support better local autonomy?

This workshop shares how LACGC experiments with lightweight systems of support—including peer learning, a self-guided Community Garden Manager Certificate (hosted on Mighty Networks) and a separate Garden AI prototype— to strengthen leadership, continuity, and shared standards without centralizing control. Participants will explore how different governance contexts (all-volunteer gardens vs. gardens supported by nonprofits or government agencies) call for different system designs—and how right-sized tools can support self-governance rather than replace it.

To register visit https://theurbangardenproject.world/connect-%26-learn-1