The Vanier Collective Gardens were started informally in 2008 by Evelynne Barten, a technician in Environmental Wildlife Management, and were officially inaugurated in May 2014. The main garden was located in front of the A Building from 2014 to 2016. In 2017, the main garden area has moved to the back of the college, between the N and the Old building.
Vanier College is located on the unceded lands of the Kanien’keha:ka (Mohawk) nation, part of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. There is a strong historic presence of Anishinaabe peoples in what has become the Greater Montreal area. Tio’tia:ke (Moonlyang), or Montreal, has traditionally been and continues to be, a gathering place for many First Nation Peoples. The present day administration, faculty, staff and student population of the college both honour and thank the long standing custodians of this land as we work toward the success of future generations of all peoples and promote the ongoing process of reconciliation.
In Spring 2016, Myriam Mansour, a Geography teacher, received the College’s support for the garden project entitled: Vanier Collective Gardens as a Pedagogical Avenue.
Thanks to a grant from Canada Summer Jobs 2016, Janella Snagg-Romeo, a Health Science student, was hired as the Garden Coordinator for the summer. She was in charge of maintaining the Gardens and helping them grow as well as managing volunteers for two consecutive summers.
In spring 2017, the financial support from the College was renewed and allowed for the further development of the gardens. The major change was the relocation of the shed garden to a new location along the path between the N Building and the Old Building.
Additionally, Shazia Ramnal, a Social Science student, was hired as a part-time Garden Intern to assist the Coordinator Janella. Throughout the spring and summer, many students, staff and teachers partook in the maintenance of the garden.
For the third year in a row, Myriam Mansour, Geography teacher, received official support from the college for the garden project “Vanier Collective Gardens as a Pedagogical Avenue”. For the third year as well, a grant from Summer Job Canada has allowed hiring Bruce Wong, a former Vanier student, as the Garden Coordinator, and Nikolas Dafniotis, a Commerce student, as the Garden Intern.
Thanks to a grant from Entente Canada-Quebec with the aim to develop the social, inclusion and diversity component based around the gardens, two Vanier students were hired for the summer to work in close collaboration with the gardeners. Myriam Lizotte, a Science student, was hired as the Garden Community Animator and Alexandra Stoica, a Psychology major student, as the Intern. Myriam and Alexandra continued to work with the garden team throughout the fall semester. Together, all four students organized workshops, gardening sessions, community salad session and numerous outings to other urban gardens around Montreal, including Concordia City Farm, Dawson gardens, the Montreal Botanical gardens.
The “Adopt a Garden Box” project launched in the spring allowed members of the Vanier community to decide what would be planted in the Open Garden plant boxes. A total of 32 people (students, staff and teachers) signed up and on May 30th a major planting session took place with over 20 participants (watch the video of this event).
TBC