4-H Youth Development
The 4-H Youth Development program in New England is committed to preparing the next generation of leaders to address critical challenges at the intersection of climate, land use, and sustainable agriculture. In collaboration with ADAPT, 4-H is integrating agroforestry education into its core programming to foster climate-smart land management skills among youth.
As New England faces the dual pressures of needing to expand local food production while maintaining essential ecosystem services—amid a largely forested, topographically complex, and agriculturally limited landscape—the 4-H program provides a vital experiential bridge between research, education, and community engagement. Through hands-on learning in silvopasture, multistrata polycultures, and forest farming, 4-H youth will explore agroforestry as a sustainable solution that promotes biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and regional food resilience.
A key future initiative of this partnership is the creation of a 4-H Agroforestry Career Exploration Pathway designed for high school students—an age group at a critical juncture in career and educational decision-making. Starting in Fall 2025, this year-long pathway will include a hybrid series of workshops culminating in a one-week immersive summer program serving 20 students annually from across New England.
Highlights of this pathway include:
- Field visits to ADAPT research and demonstration sites.
- Mentorship from scientists, woodland managers, and farmers involved in ADAPT.
- A capstone design project where student teams, paired with an Agroforestry Champion, create agroforestry plans for real client landowners based on site visits and interviews.
- A culminating regional tour during which students present their projects on-site to stakeholders.
Additionally, a select group of participants will be invited to become Agroforestry Ambassadors, with opportunities to support ADAPT outreach events, mentor younger peers, and contribute to middle school food-forest initiatives. Special efforts will be made to recruit students from underserved communities and schools with strong 4-H partnerships.
Through this initiative, 4-H will play a crucial role in cultivating agroforestry literacy, leadership, and career readiness, advancing both the educational mission of 4-H and the climate-smart goals of the ADAPT project.
