Program Menu

Urban Parks and Green Spaces

• As the primary organization dedicated to enhancing the look of our city, we created and provide ongoing care for over 30 City Side Gardens and downtown parks (including Public Square), maintain 1,500 vacant lots and continue to lead additional downtown green efforts.
  
• Through our School Grounds as Community Parks program, we build playgrounds and learning gardens at urban elementary schools that provide much needed neighborhood park sites.
  
• Our reforestation efforts include the planting of more than 50,000 trees throughout the city since 1994.

Education and Training
We host the annual Cleveland Parks Institute to bring together park advocates and employees for a day of learning and inspiration.

• Our Green Schools program provides the curriculum tools and related teacher training to bring creative outdoor learning to schools in the Cleveland Municipal School District.
  
• Our Landscape Training Program provides individuals with the necessary skills to obtain employment within the local Green Industry.
  
• Student Foresters and Recycling and Waste Reduction programs motivate thousands of school children and adults to become environmentally responsible.
• Efforts to educate the community on current environmental issues include outreach efforts on the subjects of illegal dumping, land use issues and outmigration.

• The Small Grants Program directly funds neighborhood community development corporations and groups for park programming and development.
  
• We join forces with numerous companies and groups to coordinate volunteer events that allow individuals to participate in beautifying our city through the installation of learning gardens at schools, planting flowers and mulching trees.