SAgE Collaborative
A Program of Viva Farms
Partnerships and Programs
Growing a Holistic Approach to Sustainable Agriculture Education
The SAgE Collaborative was a partnership between five community colleges, three universities, and Viva Farms, as well as other education institutions and farm and food system organizations and businesses, that offered aligned, high quality education and training programs at the nexus of the sustainability, agriculture, farming, food, justice, and environmental movements.
SAgE partner programs prepared students for employment in these and associated fields through high school specialized courses, higher education certificates and degrees, and practical field experience. This coordinated education to careers pipeline afforded educators the opportunity to collaborate across institutions and produce curriculum that emphasized whole systems critical thinking in response to real-world conditions and change.
SAgE partner institutions, organizations, and businesses were located throughout western and eastern Washington State. As a result, education and training programs taught sustainable agriculture-related natural and social sciences in the context of discrete biophysical and socioeconomic attributes that typify life to the west and east of the Cascade mountain range.
This bioregional distinction was couched in a place-based pedagogic approach that strove to improve academic outcomes through increased student and educator interaction and local community engagement. Such a framework, coupled with the inter-institutional collaboration across the bioregion, facilitated a rich and dynamic learning environment among all programs.
Education to Career Guided Pathways
SAgE Mission
To offer innovative, interdisciplinary, and cross-cultural education and training to address the coupled environmental and ecological processes and socioeconomic and political complexities related to sustainable urban and small farm agriculture and food systems within and beyond Washington State and the Cascadia bioregion.
