On an unseasonably warm February afternoon – warm enough to sit outside with no coat on and with a chorus of birds overhead – seven university students and ten community gardeners gathered in a tranquil community garden on the outskirts of Cardiff, Wales. They met for the 2nd Tyfu i Ddsygu (or Growing to Learn) workshop, with the aim to collectively developing a series of hands-on learning projects.

After a few iterations, the Tyfu i Ddysgu project, born out of the ‘Connected Learning Spaces’ research agenda, has recruited eleven university students to design and undertake practical projects with five community gardens in Cardiff. The purpose is to explore a participatory approach to Service-Learning in order to engage students around issues of sustainability and build sustainability competencies.