The first "Neighbor Organic Festival" commemorating Sahmyook University's 120th anniversary is held at the campus green education field on July 16. [Sahmyook University]
The first "Neighbor Organic Festival" commemorating Sahmyook University's 120th anniversary is held at the campus green education field on July 16. [Sahmyook University]

Sahmyook University announced Thursday that it held an event to share eco-friendly produce — grown by students through "Nojak Education (Green Education)," a required liberal arts course — with local residents.

The university invited more than 50 local residents to its on-campus green education field on July 16 for the "First Neighbor Organic Festival Commemorating the 120th Anniversary of Its Founding."

Participants received an introduction to the philosophy behind the green education program and the crop-growing process before heading to the field to harvest eco-friendly vegetables — including peppers and eggplants — themselves.

The produce harvested that day was grown by Sahmyook students over a semester through the green education course. The university requires all incoming students to complete the course as a mandatory liberal arts requirement, with students spending two hours per week practicing the full cycle of eco-friendly farming, from sowing to harvest.

The green education program has been part of Sahmyook's liberal arts curriculum since the university's founding. In recent years, the university restructured the program to incorporate carbon neutrality and ecological-cycle education, deepening students' understanding of the environment and sustainability.

The university has also been sharing student-grown produce with the wider community. In April, it signed MOUs with three welfare facilities under the Sahmyook Foundation — including the Guri Community Welfare Center — and has since been delivering eco-friendly produce to vulnerable residents and senior citizens in the area.

Kim Myung-hee, dean of Sahmyook University's liberal arts education institute, said students are learning "the value of life and social responsibility through the process of growing and sharing crops themselves," adding that the university plans to expand the event so more local residents can take part.


jookapooka@heraldcorp.com