Educational Programs

Gatherings: Dialogues on the Link between Design and Social Vitality

We have hosted three one-day events that have brought together designers, community builders, local leaders, government officials, artists, architects, developers, educators, and visionary leaders to focus together on the link between design and social vitality. These gatherings generate conversation among colleagues around guiding principles for efficient land-use, more humane environments, revitalized affordable housing, sustainable development, green building techniques, architectural beauty and identity, and Pomegranate Center’s model for community-built gathering places. Read about previous gatherings.

Workshops and Presentations

Each year, Pomegranate Center provides numerous workshops and lectures on our philosophy and methods for community, business, government, and environmental leaders. Most recently, these have included presentations at:

• the University of Washington School of Architecture
• the Washington State Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development
• the City of Bremerton
• the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Selected Curricula and Projects

Community Treasures; A civic exercise to identify irreplaceable community assets and help communities protect and utilize their natural, cultural, and historical treasures. Read about the community treasures process.

Hands-On Civics Leadership Program; a course for youth and adults designed to explain the systems that make a community function, develop leadership skills, explore trends for the future, and design innovative projects that address current community needs. The program introduces participants to leadership styles, theory and practice of leadership, and to leaders in various sectors of their community.

Project Trash Hold; a fun and participatory project promoted as an “acerbic exercise to trim our waste” and designed to change our habits of consumption, while raising personal awareness of wastefulness in our society. From caps and bottles to newspapers and fast-food containers, students haul their trash around wherever they go for an entire week.

Family Stories Quilt; a curriculum designed to help students explore, communicate and celebrate personal experiences of growth that can serve as models for positive community skills. Family Stories Quilt is designed to help students remember, write and tell real stories of bravery, honesty, preservation, trust, creativity, loyalty, and kindness. The program culminates in a presentation of the stories by the students.