Creating a Community Garden App: Gardens on the Go
From dirt to dynamic data collection. Our community gardens need to be able to collect data in a new way from a younger, more technology savvy group. Help us create an app for gardens that is as fun as Pokemon Go but encourages learning and education.
Project description
The BRRAlliance Inc. is a community based not-for-profit located in the northwest corner of the City of Buffalo. We are an economically challenged community within food desert. We are currently operating 4 community gardens, three of them providing food for our neighbors. These gardens also provide passive play spaces given the lack of playgrounds in our area, a safe community space for meetings or activities, and a space for educational opportunities by the BRRAlliance to a community that may not have knowledge about topics like environmental science, horticulture or botany.
We are looking for the development of an app that could be used by our community and volunteers to improve the interaction with our gardens. We are looking at this being a phase 1 version 1 activity with the most basic app to help us learn the capabilities of our garden from both a managerial and visitor perspective.
We would like to start with on the app:
- how and where to access our gardens
- how to travel in between them
- what type of foods are in them
- what is being picked when
- what functions the garden could offer visitors, including educational opportunities for kids
- when our head volunteers will be of service in the gardens
We believe this app will open the gardens to a whole new group of individuals. Our hope is to open communication: visitor to volunteers to organization, in an easier way than we currently have now. We would like to make the app as well as this opportunity as fun as possible!! We care about our community and think this app could improve the connection of the garden with its residents. Come create with us!
Project outcome
A version 1 app that can be tested and will include:
- An app function that can log steps within the garden as well as steps from one site to another
- An app function that can capture visitor check-ins and time spent in the gardens
- An app function that can help log and identify foods in our gardens including ability to take pictures and save on the app in a gallery
- An app function that can log quantities of foods picked that can equate to simple terms like "handful of beans" or "half a basket of cherry tomatoes" and then convert them into established qualitative measurements
- An app that provides fun goals to encourage use (perhaps rewards for different levels of participation in the garden). Must be simple to use for all ages.
- An app that would be able to show the community how much a community garden can bring into their area and to their wellness, whether it be measurements of produce grown for the year to different activities documented. We want the community to have proof in qualitative numbers of what they have accomplished by participating.
Project details
| Length of commitment | Short (less than a semester; 0-2 months) |
| Start time | Winter (December), Spring (January/February) |
| Level of collaboration | Small group project (2-3 students) |
| Benefits | Volunteer |
| Who is eligible | Anyone with app-creation experience |
| Support | Funding is available after the completion of the preparation badge. See below. |
Core partners
- Mary Ann Kedron, President of BRRAlliance Inc.
Project mentor
Christina Heath
Administrative Director
Experiential Learning Network
Preparation
To engage with this project, you will work through a series of Project-Based Collaboration digital badges to guide your experience. These badges will:
- Guide you in setting your goals and intentions as well as gaining additional context,
- Enhance your collaboration with your mentor/partner,
- Support your reflection and help you integrate your learning with your academic and professional goals.
All students who wish to participate in a project on the Project Portal must first complete the Project Preparation Digital Badge. First, contact the project mentor to discuss availability and after you’ve received approval, you can start the Project Preparation Digital Badge.
- Read important tips on how to contact a project mentor.
Preparation guidance
Once you have registered for the Project Preparation Digital Badge, you will receive further instructions related to the activities you will need to complete. In addition, you will also complete the following preparation activities for this particular project:
- Research on age appropriate apps for groups 5-25
- Research on Google Maps of where our gardens are and how they link together
- Research of our BRRAlliance website and Facebook page
- Research on basic food in our gardens and its nutritional value. (We will provide a list of foods in our gardens.)
- At least one meeting with our team at our location to understand our community.