A Guide for a Certificate Program in Urban Greenscaping

Click on the photo to read the guide

We Need an Urban Greenscaping Community College Certificate Program

The Rooftop Garden Project in Montreal produced what many believe is the definitive guide to edible rooftop gardens. It is by no means just a rooftop guide. It is applicable for any urban garden whether rooftop or surface level. Scan through it and you will quickly see that it is a professional document.

This dedicated and focused non-profit group has done an amazing job of advancing urban greenscaping through the use of modern sub-irrigation methods. They are continually testing, modifying and improving their methods. My plan is to use their work as the teaching guide for a community college certificate program in urban greenscaping.

An urban greenscaping certificate program would teach all aspects of greenscaping in the city including edible, decorative and flowering plants. It is much more than just plants however. Urban greenscaping also includes subjects such as rainwater harvesting, composting, recycling, reusing, fabricating and solar power. There are many elements of construction work involved with urban greenscaping.

Urban greenscaping offers great potential for new green collar jobs to replace the thousands of jobs lost in manufacturing, the auto industry in particular. It will also be a field attractive to those who might otherwise enter the construction trades. A master greenscaper should rank with a master trades person in any field such as carpentry, plumbing and electrical work.  

Only time will tell what the income levels will be for urban greenscaping, but there is no question that these will not be the typically low paying jobs associated with horticulture as now practiced. Urban greenscaping jobs will require technology training rather than strong backs. It is a new field with a much broader range than growing plants in the ground or pots. These are not simply gardening jobs under a new name.   

You may have read that the Obama administration has launched a community college education initiative with funding of $12 billion dollars. The money is available for new urban greenscaping education programs. The need is there. All that is required is the political will to do it.

Obama announced a $12 billion community-college initiative designed to boost graduation rates, improve facilities and develop new technology. Read more...

Comments

[Ben Czajkowski]

So, why is the girl on the cover sporting a "Rudolph the red nosed reindeer" piece? :-D

Thanks for the book link. Gives me something to do this weekend since it's supposed to be really hot...