“The tree is perfect for that,” said Lloyd Blake, the urban gardens and forestry program manager with VCU Sustainability.
The tree is also a symbol – a living, breathing embodiment of how Virginia Commonwealth University is embracing environmental stewardship and community engagement with intention. Adopted in 2024, the One VCU Sustainability Plan, a first-of-its-kind plan for VCU, is designed to embed sustainability into the One VCU culture at both the university and health system
And from small plots of land on or near campus to large tracts with resonant ties to America’s history – and VCU’s – the efforts are taking root.
Big lessons in small spaces
Adjacent to the Monroe Park Campus, the Randolph neighborhood of Richmond – much like the Carver and Oregon Hill areas nearby – reflects how the VCU community doesn’t just live within campus borders.
“VCU has a unique opportunity to make our impact as positive as we can,” Blake said. “Some of these communities immediately adjacent to VCU have suffered from a lack of investment in green infrastructure space.”
In 2021, VCU began the Amelia Street Urban Forest project as a partnership with the Amelia Street School in Randolph. The visible goal: Replace a large lawn, which needed to be mowed frequently, with trees, native wildflowers and grasses. A larger goal: Share meaningful lessons with residents, schoolchildren and VCU students.
Blake noted that native gardens are crucial in urban landscapes. Among their benefits, they capture rainwater that can cause flooding and become runoff into streets and drains, where it might flow untreated into Richmond’s most prominent natural gem: the James River.
“The river is a huge point of interest for students and the Richmond community,” Blake said, and numerous VCU academic and environmental programs are centered on the James. “I think it’s important that we make an effort to do our part to keep it as clean as we can.”
In 2021, VCU began the Amelia Street Urban Forest project as a partnership with the Amelia Street School in Randolph. (Thomas Kojcsich, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)
There are now more than 100 maturing trees in the Amelia Street Urban Forest, which covers nearly 10,000 square feet about a mile from the James. The shade they cast helps reduce the heat island effect that elevates temperatures in highly developed areas. The native plants provide habitat to insects that have a hard time finding hospitable spaces in urban environments. These insects, in turn, feed local birds, creating a “trickle-up” ecological impact.
The Virginia office of the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay is working on a nature trail to more directly connect the garden to the school. An additional 50 trees will be planted, and Neal Friedman, green infrastructure projects coordinator with the alliance office, said VCU’s ongoing care for the garden’s plants is a key element of the project.
Similar efforts are underway elsewhere. Blake is now developing a spot – fondly referred to as the Cumberland Wedge – between Cumberland Street and Parkwood Avenue. VCU Sustainability is a unit of Facilities Management, and Blake worked with colleagues to identify an area that was difficult for them to maintain.
The 4,000-square-foot space will be populated with native grasses and flowers in the next several years. Blake also hopes the Cumberland Wedge can be an asset for VCU biology and life science classes, with lessons about pollinators, flower and plant biology, avian ecology and urban habitat restoration.
Sara Q. Barton, interim director of VCU Sustainability, said such initiatives reflect a commitment to both campus and community.
“Working in collaboration with partners such as Richmond Public Schools, the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay and the Richmond Master Gardeners further underscores the importance of these objectives, not only for the university but for the city of Richmond and the wider region,” she said.
Blake said his student interns enjoy working at the Amelia Street Urban Forest, which offers an oasis from the hustle of the city.
“At times in the late summer, when the plants are taller than you are, you can kind of disappear,” he said.
Learning in the garden
One way the university allows students to get their hands in the soil is through the Learning Gardens program, which is part of the landscape on the Monroe Park and MCV campuses. The spaces produce food, usually 300 to 500 pounds of fresh produce annually, that supports Ram Pantry, which addresses food insecurity at VCU.
The learning garden is operated by student volunteers through VCU Sustainability and produces about 300 to 500 pounds of fresh produce annually. (Photo by Amelia Heymann, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)
“So many of us grow up without access to garden space, without knowing where our food comes or how it gets to the grocery store and then to our plate,” Blake said. “The Learning Gardens program helps fill that void for a lot of people.”
On the MCV Campus, there are nearly two dozen garden beds where rentable space allows “farmers” to grow their food.
Barton said opportunities to connect with nature are not always plentiful on a dense, urban campus.
“Our campus gardens provide students, faculty, staff and community members with space to relax outdoors, appreciate native plants as well as food-producing plants, and learn about these unique green spaces through educational signage,” she said. “Those who are interested in a hands-on approach to learning can sign up to participate in one of the many engaging volunteer activities hosted in the gardens.”
Andrew Vo, a nursing student who is slated to graduate in 2027, first connected with the program by volunteering with the Medical Innovation and Sustainability Society at VCU. At the time, he lived near one of the Learning Gardens and got to know Blake. Vo also had personal ties in mind: His family, originally from Vietnam, has a tropical garden at their home in Florida. Last year, when the garden was growing sweet potatoes, Vo spoke on the phone to his mother about it. She told Vo about the dishes he could make with them.
“What really interests me is seeing what is native to here, what can be grown,” said Vo, who noted other benefits of the program as well. “I think trying to keep in touch with nature in college is especially hard, and the gardens are a good way to spend time – to decompress, be out there, do things other than school and just focus on what’s happening there.”
VCU also has a Native Cultural Garden, which is maintained by United Native Voices, a student group for Native American students and allies. The garden helps preserve some traditional planting techniques, such as the “Three Sisters” method of planting corn, beans and squash together. Students have even received seeds from the Cherokee Nation Seed Bank.
VCU volunteers also have worked with the Upper Mattaponi Tribe on its grounds in King William County, helping with projects such as refertilizing soil and planting berry bushes.
“All the extra hands are so welcome, and they just take direction so well,” said Katelynn Tupponce, program and volunteer coordinator with the tribe’s agricultural department. “It’s great to have people come out to see what we’re doing and spread the word.”
Eoghan Handford, who is entering his sophomore year, worked regularly with the Native Cultural Garden. He is one-quarter Haudenosaunee, and when his grandmother died, he felt like he lost an important link to the community. He found it again through United Native Voices and the garden.
“It’s rewarding getting to make these connections through these gardens,” Hanford said, reflecting a key theme of VCU’s sustainability mindset. “It’s exciting to grow these things together and have it be a community project.”
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