Exciting Updates: 2023 F2SBC Conference & School Garden Mentorship Program

[roannewhitticase]

Hello, 

I hope everyone has enjoyed their first week back from the winter break. 

I am excited to share two updates for Farm to School BC 2023. 

We are launching our 2023 School Garden Mentorship program this month & have officially announced our upcoming F2SBC conference happening this May at UBC!

Our 2023 conference 

Planting the Seed: Harvesting connections, ideas, and community

"Farm to School BC is excited to announce the launch of our 2023 conference website and call for proposals!

Our 2023 conference, Planting the Seed: Harvesting connections, ideas, and community, will be happening May 17th-19th at the UBC Nest in Vancouver. Our conference aims to celebrate the impact of both budding and established school food initiatives and programs, welcome diverse perspectives to share their experiences and knowledge, and leave our community with a revitalized sense of connectedness and empowerment.

 We anticipate up to 300 attendees from backgrounds spanning education, health, agriculture, culinary arts, policy, research, Indigenous affairs, and youth sectors. Conference themes include school farms, meal programs, Indigenous food ways, capacity building, celebrating culture with food, community connections, youth leadership and training, and more!

 Our call for proposals is open now until February 15th, 2023. Proposals may focus on any promising practice, innovative initiative, experience-based observation, policy, and/or research effort to advance the movement toward healthy, local, and sustainable foods for students. We are accepting proposals in the formats of workshops, teacher & student-led posters, short talks or stories, and original research papers. Successful applicants will have access to our reduced presenter registration rate for the conference. Please see the attached Call for Proposals guideline to help you prepare your submission.

 Stay tuned as we will be announcing registration launch later this month. More information can be found by visiting our conference website." / Call for Proposals 

Our 2023 School Garden Mentorship Program

From January to October 2023, Farm to School BC is offering a free mentorship program for K-12 educators in BC who are in the initial stages of creating a school garden or are revitalizing an existing school garden. This mentorship program will provide valuable skills for school-based coordination that supports both the development of a robust school garden community and tips for garden maintenance. This program includes a series of monthly after-school online workshops, facilitated discussion groups and the opportunity to join a supportive cohort of school garden educators from across the province. Find out more here!

 

The first workshop will be on Tuesday, January 24th from 3:30-4:30. You can sign up here for the workshops. In the week following the webinar, we will host a facilitated discussion group offering the opportunity to dive deeper into topics that emerged during the webinar. The discussion groups are open to new and seasoned school gardeners, and attendance at the webinar is not a prerequisite for joining the discussion groups. You can sign up for the discussion groups here. 

In gratitude,

Roanne