Illène Pevec

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Illène Pevec (born June 6, 1948) is an American author, journalist, children's activist, and educator who works in developing youth gardens at schools and community centers. Based in Carbondale, Colorado, Pevec serves as the program director for Fat City Farmers, a local food education program in Basalt, Colorado.[1] She is a multinational citizen (Brazil, US, and Canada) and has developed youth gardens in all three countries. Pevec authored Growing a Life: Teen Gardeners Harvest Food, Health, and Joy (New Village Press 2016), a book that integrates her work in US community youth gardens with observations from other disciplines to generate a better understanding of the positive effect mentored urban gardening can have on youth development.[2]

Personal life[edit]

Pevec was born in Brazil, but was brought up in Denver, Colorado. Her approach to education and life has roots in her experiences hiking, gardening, skiing and swimming as a child. Pevec is the mother of five children and has lived in Canada, Brazil, Portugal, and the United States.

Education[edit]

Pevec attended Stanford University from 1966-1969 but later graduated from Marylhurst University in 1993 with a bachelor's degree in Interdisciplinary Humanities. Pevec received her master's degree in Curriculum Studies from the University of British Columbia in 2000.[3] In 2011, she received her doctoral degree in Design and Planning from the College of Architecture and Planning at the University of Colorado, Denver.

School garden projects[edit]

Vancouver (1998–2002): Spirit of Nature Gardens[edit]

Spirit of Nature Gardens began as a research project to revitalize urban school grounds through school and community gardening.[4] Pevec partnered with Tracy Penner to design and construct a garden that would serve inner city children as an outdoor learning environment for fine arts, gardening and cooking at the Grandview U'uqinak'uuh Community School in Vancouver. With help from students, parents, teachers, and community members, Pevec and Penner transformed one acre of underused land into a site for learning and community gatherings. The project won the "Creating Healthy Communities for Children and Youth" award from the Canadian Society for Children and Youth. Pevec also developed a curriculum for students to learn about the garden's plants, uses, and folklore.[5]

Brazil (2001–2011): A Child's Garden of Peace[edit]

Pevec founded A Child's Garden of Peace in 2001 to provide organically grown produce, medicinal plants, and education in environmental responsibility to Brazilian communities. She worked with educators to develop community youth gardens in Santo Angelo, São Borja and Rocinha.[6][7]

Pevec produced and co-edited a documentary about her work in Brazil entitled A Child's Garden of Peace (2005). The film toured international festivals from 2005–2006 and ran on PBS's award-winning Natural Heroes series.[8]

Colorado (2005–2013)[edit]

In 2006, Pevec and Ian Bates developed an educational garden for 90 learning disabled students at the Facilitated Flatirons Academy in Lafayette. The Facilitated Flatirons Academy project was funded by the University of Colorado Outreach. She also created school gardens and horticulture education programs at Roaring Fork High School and Yampah Mountain High School.

Fat City Farmers[edit]

Pevec is the program director at Fat City Farmers, a nonprofit organization founded in 2006 to improve personal and community health by supporting gardens and the local food system in Basalt, Colorado. Pevec coordinates garden education with regional schools in four counties and creates gardening curriculums for Colorado teachers in support of active learning.[9] In 2014, she began an immigrant community garden at Roaring Fork High School for Spanish speaking immigrant families in partnership with Valley Settlement Project and Fat City Farmers.

Publications[edit]

Curricula[edit]

  • Ethnobotany: Patterns in Relationships, 2002. Vancouver, Canada: Evergreen.
  • Cries in the Dark: Violence Prevention for Young People, 1995. Vancouver, Canada: Arts Umbrella.
  • Arts and Multiculturalism, 1991. Vancouver, Canada: Arts Umbrella.

Journals/educational magazines[edit]

  • Pevec, I., Barnett, M. Nzira, M., Shava, S. (2016) "Urban Agriculture." Urban Environmental Education Review.[10]
  • Chawla, L, Derr, V., Pevec, I. (2016) "Early Childhood." Urban Environmental Education Review.[11]
  • Chawla, L., Keena, K., Pevec, I., Stanley, E. (2014) "Green schoolyards as havens from stress and resources for resilience in childhood and adolescence." Health and Place, 28, 1-13.[12]
  • Chawla, L., Flanders-Cushing, D., Malinin, L. H., Pevec, I., van Vliet, W., and Zuniga, K. (2012). "Children and the Environment," Childhood Studies: 1–33.[13]
  • Pevec, I., (2009) "The ethical responsibility of schools, health care facilities and youth programs to provide access to healthy environments for young people: What evidence indicates on the role that interaction with gardens plays in children's health and well-being." Environmental Design Research Association Conference Proceedings, Washington DC.
  • Pevec, I. (2009). "Book Review: Building Commons and Community." Children, Youth and Environments 19 (1).[14]
  • Pevec, I. (2007). "Book review: Doing Time in the Garden: Life Lessons Learning from Prison Horticulture." Children, Youth and Environments 17 (4).[15]
  • Pevec, I. (2007). "Film review: Sita, A Girl from Jambu." Children,Youth and Environments 17 (4).[16]
  • Pevec, I. (2007). "Book Review: Teaching Green: The Elementary Years. Teaching Green: The Middle Years." Children, Youth and Environments 17 (2).[17]
  • Pevec, I. (2005). "Book Review: Gaining Ground." Children, Youth and Environments 15 (2).[18]
  • Pevec, I., (2003). "Ethnobotanical gardens: celebrating the link between human culture and the natural world." Green Teacher, 70, 25–28.
  • Pevec, I., (2000). "The Spirit of Nature: The Grandview/U'uqiank'uuh Public Art Project", British Columbia Art Teachers' Association, 40 (2), 19–24.[19]

Books[edit]

  • Pevec, I., (2016). Growing a Life: Teen Gardeners Harvest Food, Health, and Joy. New York: New Village Press. In Growing a Life: Teen Gardeners Harvest Food, Health, and Joy (New Village Press, October 2016), Pevec interviews over 80 youth gardeners from Colorado, New York, New Mexico and California-based school gardening programs to investigate whether gardening affects at-risk teens' affective states and improves their ability to focus, their eating habits, and/or their environmental awareness.[20][21][22][23]

Awards[edit]

  • 2001: Creating Healthy Communities for Children and Youth: Canadian National Award for the Grandview Spirit of Nature Gardens and Programs, Society for Children and Youth[citation needed]
  • 2001: Environmental Stewardship for the Spirit of Nature Garden, British Columbia Landscape and Nursery Association[citation needed]
  • 2006–2006: Doctoral Excellence Fellowship at the University of Colorado at Denver[citation needed]
  • 2006: Lynda Simmons Award for Service to Youth, presented by the Children, Youth and Environment Center for Research, University of Colorado at Denver[citation needed]
  • 2006: Outstanding Student Award: Research and Creative Activities Symposium, University of Colorado at Denver for research project by graduate students (Children's Guide to Active Living: Participatory Action Research)[citation needed]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "About". fat city farmers, inc. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
  2. ^ Pevec, Illène (2016-10-04). Growing a Life: Teen Gardeners Harvest Food, Health, and Joy. New Village Press. ISBN 9781613320174.
  3. ^ Pevec, Ilene Susan (2000). The spirit of nature: transforming an inner city school grounds (Thesis). University of British Columbia.
  4. ^ "University of British Columbia Library".
  5. ^ "Creating a Cultural Connection - Garden.org". garden.org. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
  6. ^ "Susila Dharma Australia".
  7. ^ "A Child's Garden of Peace | Susila Dharma USA". susiladharmausa.org. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
  8. ^ "A Child's Garden of Peace | Natural Heroes TV". naturalheroes.org. Retrieved 2017-07-13.
  9. ^ "Fat City Farmers".
  10. ^ "Urban Environmental Education Review". cornellpress.cornell.edu. Retrieved 2017-07-13.
  11. ^ "Urban Environmental Education Review". cornellpress.cornell.edu. Retrieved 2017-07-13.
  12. ^ Chawla, Louise; Keena, Kelly; Pevec, Illène; Stanley, Emily (July 2014). "Green schoolyards as havens from stress and resources for resilience in childhood and adolescence". Health & Place. 28: 1–13. doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2014.03.001. ISSN 1873-2054. PMID 24691122.
  13. ^ Susan., Pevec, Illene. A Healthy Harvest: Adolescents Grow Food and Well-Being with PolicyImplications for Education, Health and Community Planning. ISBN 9781267108456. OCLC 912262012.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ Pevec, Illène (2009). "Review of Building Commons and Community, Linn, Karl". Children, Youth and Environments. 19 (1): 354–355. JSTOR 10.7721/chilyoutenvi.19.1.0354.
  15. ^ Pevec, Illène (2007). "Review of Doing Time in the Garden: Life Lessons through Prison Horticulture, James, Jiler". Children, Youth and Environments. 17 (4): 408–411. JSTOR 10.7721/chilyoutenvi.17.4.0408.
  16. ^ Pevec, Illène (2007). "Film review: Sita, A Girl from Jambu". Children, Youth and Environments. 17 (4): 442–444. JSTOR 10.7721/chilyoutenvi.17.4.0442.
  17. ^ Pevec, Illène (2007). "Review of Teaching Green, The Elementary Years: Hands-On Learning in Grades K-5, Tim, Grant and Gail, Littlejohn". Children, Youth and Environments. 17 (2): 713–716. JSTOR 10.7721/chilyoutenvi.17.2.0713.
  18. ^ Pevec, Illène (2005). "Review of Gaining Ground, Dyment, Janet". Children, Youth and Environments. 15 (2): 430–434. JSTOR 10.7721/chilyoutenvi.15.2.0430.
  19. ^ "Grandview Elementary School Garden". www.cityfarmer.org. Retrieved 2017-07-11.
  20. ^ "ILLENE PEVEC -- "Growing a Life" | Downtown Boulder | Downtown Boulder, CO". www.boulderdowntown.com. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
  21. ^ "Growing a Life Release: Illène Pevec talks about community gardening, youth voices, and her new book | BLUESTOCKINGS". bluestockings.com. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
  22. ^ "Illène Pevec -- "Growing a Life" | Boulder Book Store". www.boulderbookstore.net. Retrieved 2017-07-12.
  23. ^ Owens, Patsy Eubanks (2017). "Review of Growing a Life: Teen Gardeners Harvest Food, Health, and Joy, Illène Pevec". Children, Youth and Environments. 27 (1): 177–180. doi:10.7721/chilyoutenvi.27.1.0177. JSTOR 10.7721/chilyoutenvi.27.1.0177.