Pathways to Wellbeing, Social Cohesion, Skill Development, and Participation in Disadvantaged Communities: Royal Botanic Garden Sydney's Master Gardener Volunteer Program

The Master Gardener Volunteer Program led by Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust. The catalyst for the inception of the Master Gardener Volunteer Program (MGVP) in Sydney arose when Philip Pettitt (the then Community Greening Coordinator) travelled to the United States to attend the Botanic Gardens Conservation International Conference in 2015 and was inspired by the Brooklyn Urban Gardener Course operating in New York and Brooklyn. Upon his return, the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust (RBGDT) piloted three short courses in 2016 funded by the Office of Environment and Heritage. Further funding was received from the Department of Social Services Resilient Communities Fund in 2018 to expand the MGVP for a period of three years. This study focuses on the delivery of the MGVP at 17 sites in New South Wales, Australia. These include: Liverpool, Curran, Central Coast, Wollongong, Riverwood, Mt Annan, Auburn, Sydney, Eden, Newcastle, Miller, Telopea, Willmott, Bega, Warrigal, Yallah, and Nowra. The overarching objectives of this research were to investigate the Master Gardener Volunteers’ self-reported changes to wellbeing, social cohesion, skill development, and participation as they engage over time in the MGVP; and identify the reported strengths of the program delivery and areas for improvement.