This project, conducted by a 2025 Graham Sustainability Scholars team in partnership with the Ypsilanti District Library, sought to improve urban gardening knowledge and access through locally tailored resources. Residents faced confusing policies, limited information on native plants, and barriers to creating private or community gardens.

The team produced a policy pamphlet clarifying municipal gardening regulations, a native plant inventory for indoor and outdoor gardens, educational worksheets for youth, and scripts for short-form TikTok videos to engage a younger audience. They also supported an Earth Day event to distribute materials and encourage hands-on learning.

In the short term, the project provides residents with clear, actionable gardening guidance. Long term, it fosters community engagement, environmental literacy, and food security while creating scalable tools for other municipalities and library systems seeking to promote sustainable urban gardening.

This report summarizes the team’s work.