LandPaths variety of programs collectively meets all 4 of the Outdoor Equity Educational Goals:

Nature Area Trips/Young Stewards Youth Development: Educational Goals 1, 2 and 4 (photo included, Young Stewards) How these goals were met: 12 High School youth participated in hands-on, project-based instruction in natural sciences, including plant life cycles, food chains, pesticide impacts, decomposition, and organic gardening principles. Participants engaged in stewardship projects at Bayer Farm and LandPaths’ nature preserves as part of LandPaths-designed leadership development and work experience programming to build their connection to nature and sense of reciprocity with the land. They gained work experience to develop their knowledge, skills, and affinity for conservation field work, and be exposed to the mental, physical, and social/emotional benefits of time spent in nature with positive role models to youth engaged in or at risk of negative behaviors or engaging with community violence. Youth participate in a 15-week session, spending one full day per week in the program. Participating youth learned about healthy lifestyles and nutritional habits while engaging in a community-centered organic garden. Young Stewards gained hands-on work experience in conservation, organic agriculture, wildfire resilience and land stewardship work, while participating in a mentorship and youth development framework led by LandPaths’ bilingual garden and field specialists. Youth were exposed to a variety of nature-based career paths and developed leadership and basic job accountability skills. With many of the youth returning for a second session, they are also building a strong peer network and adult mentors among LandPaths staff. Young Stewards provides participants with a positive, healthy, supportive location and community that builds confidence, self-esteem, and an alternative vision of their path in life to counteract the draw of gang and community violence.

Preparing for Natural Area Trips: Education Goals met 1 & 4 How Goals were met: LandPaths recruited and met with participants registered for the Yosemite National Park, to support residents having positive experiences on their natural area trips—from the stress of driving to the Park, what to expect during our visit to the Park and the return home. The outreach and preparation were successful in that we had a waitlist for the Nature Area trip activity, and all were prepared, the trip went smoothly with hikes, group eating in the outdoors, a stewardship project with Park Rangers, with everyone returning home safely.

Nature Area Trips Education Goal met 1, 2 & 4. (photos included: Boho summer cooling, birding, Vamos Yosemite, 2648 in Yosemite) How goals were met: LandPaths facilitated 28 Nature Area trips during the reporting period. These nature area trips ranged from visiting LandPaths nature preserves to a trip to Yosemite National Park. Nature Area trips to LandPaths Preserves provided controlled access that allows participants of color to feel safe and comfortable, avoiding racially-charged re-traumatizing experiences that people of color often experience in public open spaces (e.g.“birding while black”). Additionally, LandPaths’ Natural Area Trips were led by experienced LandPaths leaders with specific training to: (1) build participant comfort and sense of belonging; (2) facilitate quiet and individual time: sit-spots, solo walks, quiet walks, allow for different paces; (3) model exploration and discovery as opposed to learning from the expert; (4) engage in teachable moments; (5) display confidence in nature being enough; (6) include activities that encourage observation with multiple senses to deepen the experience, including art-based activities often led by partner agencies (water coloring, nature journaling, photography, storytelling, poetry); (7) end Nature Area Trip with personal reflection time. Outreach and activities were all led in Spanish and/or bilingually. Volunteer & Community Engagement: Educational Goals 2 and 4 (photos included; traditional foods, Sutter residence, family in garden) How these goals were met: LandPaths’ staff engaged residents as community gardeners and volunteers, tending their family, educational, and community garden plots using organic and generationally passed-down methods that they share with one another. Participant gained access to organic, locally produced, and healthy foods in an area under-resourced with markets supplying such produce. Participants share food during a weekly potluck, sharing “garden to table” recipes and learning about the 14 cultures active in the community. Volunteers coordinated and prepared the garden for the school groups and local community organizations who visited the garden. The Farm hosted Summers at Bayer that engaged a core group of volunteers who, in turn, participate in and promote civic engagement through regular community meetings.

Let’s Read Outside: Educational Goals 1 & 4. (photo included; Let’s Read and Story Walk) How Goals Were Met: LandPaths hosted 16 Let’s Outside activities, increasing the number of family members reading to children each day and creating positive bonding among family members and nature. Let’s Read Outside are bilingual nature-based book reading events that model reading with your children, specifically focused on early learners. This program complements our partnership with the library, with a book mobile and Story Walks at Bayer Farm. Reading outdoors promotes families bonding through healthy, low to no cost, nature-based activities.

Youth Education/ Nature and Science: Education Goad 1, 3 & 4 (photo included carrots nutrition, learning nutrition) How Goals Were Met: LandPaths’ Youth Programs Manager collaborated with participating classroom teachers to closely align the outdoor science curriculum with their grade-specific classroom learning and the academic and social/emotional needs of each group of students. Students learned about and experienced first-hand the importance of organic gardening, food chains and food cycles, healthy foods, and healthy outdoor physical activity from field trips to Bayer Farm. Education programming also incorporated lessons in climate change and environmental stewardship, for example The “garbology” lesson on waste and reduce/reuse/recycle/refuse principles, and hands-on stewardship projects such as composting, building garden beds, and organic gardening.

Healing in the Garden: Nature & Community as Mental Health Goals met: 1 and 4: Instruction in arts and science that connects nature experience; and healthy lifestyles and sound nutritional habits. (photo included, harvest festival) How Goals were met: Bayer Farm serves as a nature-based community hub, attracting residents to a known and trusted place that meets community needs. LandPaths engaged partner organizations (Master Gardeners, Raizes Collective) that facilitated workshops such as canning to build community skills in eating from the garden (or other fresh produce) to art workshops. LandPaths also hosted a Harvest Festival attended by approximately 100 people and featured resources on health, nature, financial planning, civic engagement, as well as celebrated the neighborhood’s culture with indigenous dancing and other music performances.

LandPaths outdoor programs meet educational goals 1, 2, 3 and 4. During the 42 Natura Area Trips accomplished, LandPaths activities focused on: (1) participant comfort and sense of belonging, (2) quiet and individual time: sit-spots, solo walks, quiet walks; (3) exploration and discovery as opposed to learning from the expert; (6) observation with multiple senses, and; (7) personal reflection. In the 146 activities hosted in the community (at Bayer Farm) we also achieved goals 1, 2,3, and 4 through direct and partner programming. We had significant community engagement, broadening the understanding and impact of Bayer Farm, organic gardening, healthy eating and building agency within the community. Using Bayer Farm as a safe space and platform for integrating arts, science, health, and stewardship, LandPaths engaged partner organizations to foster experiences that demonstrate how time in nature supports mental health. Youth programming focused on STEM and NGSS science standards.

Community Partners offering on-site programming

Redwood Empire Food Bank: Summer Free Lunch and Family Food distribution; brings hundreds of people to Bayer Farm throughout the year, especially during the Summer, it is a significant outreach opportunity for LandPaths.

North Bay Organizing Project: Support community members with information on services and community initiatives that are relevant to this community.

Raizes Collective: Partnered with LandPaths to provide weekly after-school art lessons for high school students.

Becoming Independent: Partnered with LandPaths to provide their clients, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, garden-based programming. They tend a raised bed, as well as support additional garden projects.

Sutter Family Medicine Residency Program: Residents provide programming on health, wellness, focusing on health conditions affecting the Southwest community specifically: COVID, diabetes and cancer. Their kids activities inspire youth to become Physicians.

Roseland Regional Library: Foundational partner in our Let's Read sessions, offering additional books and resources for whole families. Installed a Story Walk for the community and elementary school groups that visit the garden. They have co-hosted key speakers and artists to come to Bayer Farm and bring the Bibliobus to Bayer Farm during the summer months. All these activities support early childhood literacy.

UC Master Gardeners (Sonoma Co.): A trained group of gardeners offer special workshops to increase the skills of the community gardeners and the community, such as composting and canning. These workshops encourage and support everyone to grow organic healthy produce in the garden or in apartments through container gardening.

Community Partners support garden stewardship Coalition Resilience Center: Dedicated to rebuilding the community after the 2017 fires from the ground up, lowering environmental impacts, creating regional economic benefit and helping protect residents from the impacts of future disasters. Community Building Initiative/Community Action Partnership: Leaders and CBI members, some of which are community gardeners hosted workdays named "Beautification of Roseland" that consisted of picking trash and sweeping the streets. They participated in our Dia del Nino to give away presents and backpacks for the back to the school. Many other community and corporate groups contribute to maintaining the garden through workdays: Natzirim Group, Food to Pantry, Wineries, local businesses. Education Partners La Academia del Pueblo: A Young People’s Academy focusing on student movements addressing social and community needs including climate change, sustainability and environmental justice. They use Bayer Farm as an outdoor classroom and help with seasonal projects.

Roseland University Prep: Both science class learning and referrals for completing community service hours.

Sheppard Elementary School, Migrant Education, Roseland Elementary School: Frequent visits to Bayer Farm as the school is across the street. Teachers use the garden to explore as part of their Science Classes, help with specific garden projects and learn about healthy eating as they enjoy quesadillas prepared with garden veggies and prepared by themselves, volunteers, and teachers.

Kids Street Learning Center, Meadow View, Luther Burbank Lincoln and Albert Biela Elementary schools: participate in LandPaths staff and volunteer led programming where students explore the garden, eat from the garden and participate in curriculum aligned with NGSS. (Education Goal 1, 3 & 4) Pasitos/Community Action Partnership: A play group for parents and their children ages 18 months to 4 years. Young families visit the garden for fun activities focusing on school readiness. They too learn about healthy eating with our garden-fresh vegetable quesadillas.

Continuing partnerships : Redwood Empire Food Bank, for Family Food distribution; Becoming Independent, supporting garden projects; Sutter Family Medicine Residency Program providing programs on health conditions affecting the Southwest community and activities inspiring youth to become Physicians. (Ed. Goal 184); Roseland Regional Library offering books, Story Walks, speakers and artists, and the Biblio bus supporting childhood literacy. (Ed. Goal 1); and Pasitos/Community Action Partnership, a play group for young families. New partnerships include: La Plaza's Farming for Health workshops at Bayer Farm bringing together wellness and cultural celebration fostering a sense of belonging, self-esteem and well-being and holistic wellness; Infinite Learning Center: Ciensa y Cena Program invites families to participate in STEM programming, followed with a potlucks; and the Bike Mobile, with youth and families bring their broken bikes and ride home on a well repaired bicycle.

Tips: Creating culturally relevant programing helps create environmental stewards and build community

Lessons learned: Catering to family programing is difficult as you need to cater to all age groups. separating the day by age rage works well based on energy levels and ability/knowledge.

Successful methods: Overnights work best as they help build community and help participants feel like they belong in the outdoors Providing youth programing works well with parents acting as chaperones.

Challenges: Tying programing to specific locations limits programing opportunities, wishing for more flexibility to be more response in programming As we cater to families, we do get high numbers during registration (families of 3-5 people). However, if one person from the family cant make it/doesn't want to the whole family doesn't show up. Proposed solution: at the time of registration ask for donation/refundable deposit(per party) to help minimize lack of attendance.

Tips: (1) culturally relevant programing creates environmental stewards and builds community; (2) consistency keeps participants engaged and attending; (3) leading with curiosity critical. All along with food and transportation. Lessons: (1) family programing challenging; separate by age range works for energy levels and ability/knowledge; (2) Spanish speaking community can be intimidated by being outdoors or to new areas. More encouragement to step out of comfort zones is required, and; (3) families need more support to feel comfortable signing up for events and outings online. Staff need to be present with them when registering for events or register participants themselves. Successful methods: (1) maintaining contact through phone calls increased the number of participants; presenting at different organizations and collaborating allowed for more and new participants to engage. Cancellations due to weather (heat, smoke, atmospheric river) was an issue.