“Food not lawns” has become a rallying cry for suburban changemakers around the world. Neighbor2Neighbor is a new environmental education and civic engagement project that builds a scaffold from the lawns of individual residents to the surrounding social structures of community. This civic changemaking through dialogic learning and hands-on practice surfaces tacit funds of knowledge that neighbors can bring to each other to build “permaculture precincts” able to name and overcome institutional barriers to sustainability transitions.  

N2N begins with residents, meeting and collaborating on simple projects to green their public facing lawns and common spaces. Necessarily, neighbors learn about each other, solve problems of lawn and land use on individual properties and across the boundaries of lots and blocks towards a long-term goal of effecting cultural, societal, and environmental change.  

Using participatory action research as a framework and methodology, we will convene and engage people, especially those who have been historically marginalized or disenfranchised. Both David and Melanie have a long history of convening and facilitating workshops, dialogue, and educational experiences in community.

All project activities will be recorded and documented so that they become artifacts in the knowledge base, extending reach beyond the particular event. As the community is engaged, we expect many of the activities to emerge from participants.