By Zheng Zeng, Class of 2026
On the afternoon of November 29, 2025, the Gardening in Universities workshop was held on the DKU campus. Campus gardening plays a vital role in universities by creating hands-on spaces where sustainability, education, and community building intersect. It fosters environmental awareness, experiential learning, and meaningful connections among students, faculty, staff, and surrounding communities.
To exchange experiences and solutions of campus gardening, the event brought together university garden founders, scholars, and student gardeners from institutions with established campus gardening initiatives, including Peking University, NYU Shanghai, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, the University of Glasgow, and DKU. Participants showcased a wide range of university gardening models, from formal and informal faculty and staff initiatives to student-led clubs, institutionally supported programs, and course-based projects.
Through five presentations and a roundtable discussion, participants exchanged experiences and reflected on the challenges of introducing diverse forms of gardening into university communities, as well as on the evolving roles of campus gardens in community building and education.
Professor Ling Han shared reflections on her course Sustainable Campus Practice at Peking University, highlighting how the course aligns with and advances the university’s broader educational goals.
Professor Anna Greenspan introduced NYU Shanghai’s rooftop gardening initiative, describing how students participate through the university’s fellowship program. The initiative’s impact on sustaining student’s participation was highlighted in her talk.
Dr. Ying Chang from Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) discussed how her course integrates students’ creativity into local community gardening through space planning and design. She also described how a student organization at XJTLU has developed campus gardening as part of its biodiversity actions.
Dr. Hua Wang presented examples from the University of Glasgow, illustrating how gardening projects involving both students and faculty and staff have contributed to community building in the post-COVID era.
Professor Xing Shi Cai reflected on his experience establishing the DKU Community Garden. He outlined the technical and organizational challenges encountered along the way and discussed how the garden has expanded to support broader biodiversity practices on campus.
Following the presentations, students gardeners participated in a roundtable discussion on sustaining student engagement in campus gardening. Discussants included Jing Yuan (Peking University), Keyu Zhang (NYU Shanghai), Xiaoye Pan (XJTLU), and Xinxue Wang (DKU).
Overall, the Gardening in Universities workshop highlighted the diverse ways campus gardening can take root across institutional, cultural, and geographic contexts, while also revealing shared challenges in sustaining engagement, resources, and long-term impact. By bringing together faculty, students, and practitioners to exchange experiences and practical insights, the workshop reinforced the value of campus gardens as living laboratories for education, platforms for community building, and catalysts for broader conversations on sustainability and biodiversity in higher education.
The workshop was part of the 2024 CSCC Community Service Project, Initiator’s Manual for Community Gardening in the Yangtze Delta.
