Why we exist

The Urban Garden Project (The UGP) grew out of Denver Urban Gardens (DUG) — one of the country's oldest and most respected community garden nonprofits, established in 1978. DUG supports 200 community gardens, including 66 school-based community gardens and 24 food forests.

In 2022, we started hosting quarterly forums to connect garden leaders across the country. What we found surprised us: There was a deep, unmet hunger for peer connection, shared learning, and practical support. Garden organizations everywhere were solving the same problems in isolation.

In 2026, The Urban Garden Project became its own independent nonprofit, built to be the global home community garden leaders never had.

Community Gardens Are Already Solving Society's Hardest Problems. 

Quietly and efficiently, community gardens are doing what institutions struggle to do at scale:

• Putting fresh, affordable, culturally relevant food in reach — in the neighborhoods that need it most
• Creating the kind of face-to-face human connection that's disappearing from modern life
• Rebuilding the "third places" — not home, not work — where community actually forms
• Restoring urban ecosystems, plot by plot

Millions of community gardeners and garden leaders are doing this work every day. But garden organizations — like any civic institution — need secure space, reliable funding, governance structures, and support to survive and grow. That's exactly what The Urban Garden Project is here for.

You belong here if you...🌿 Lead or work within a community garden organization — and want peers who get it 🌿 Want to support, fund, or partner with the community garden movement 🌿 Believe in building something that lasts — and want to help at a global scale