Instead of thinking of nature as being something that’s “out there,” what if we saw our yards as a crucial part of the environment? What if the place where we live, combined with others’ yards, our community boulevards, parks, open spaces, schoolyards, businesses, and places of worship became, collectively, a well-functioning ecosystem? Could thoughtful environmental stewardship of these places have an important impact on the land and wildlife? We think it would.

And that’s why Arden Hills Greening–inspired by Friends of Minnetonka Parks and Neighborhood Greening–was created. As a group of Arden Hills residents, our focus is to harness the spirit of community to make small but impactful efforts that will make a greener neighborhood for both humans and wildlife.

Our mission is to build community & shared stewardship for public & private open spaces, thereby improving the biodiversity and resiliency of our parks and neighborhoods. We will accomplished this by:

• providing education about the importance of environmental stewardship,
• ​transforming degraded landscapes to high-quality, biodiverse ecological plant communities,
• coordinating volunteer restoration activities and celebrating the outcomes,
• conducting nature-based research to inform our positions and recommendations,
• providing education and resources for residents who want to improve habitat in their own yards,
• and facilitating communication between residents and the city.

Meeting Minutes can be found here.