Gwanak-gu, led by District Mayor Park Jun-hee, is taking its resident-led garden management initiative — the Gwanak Healing Gardener project — to the next level this year, building a virtuous cycle of learning, action and community outreach.
The Gwanak Healing Gardener program goes beyond classroom instruction to train residents as hands-on neighborhood gardeners who tend and care for local green spaces. After the first and second cohorts in 2025 drew strong competition and high satisfaction ratings, a third cohort has been actively under way this year.
The district has built a practice framework that pairs education with regular volunteer service. In the first half of the year, graduates of the first and second cohorts carried out gardening volunteer sessions one to two times a week at Nangok Saengsaeng Garden, and once a month they joined a district-wide "Green Day" to jointly maintain parks and street greenery across Gwanak-gu.
In line with that momentum, the district will launch a new advanced course for Healing Gardener graduates this September. The course aims not merely to deepen horticultural skills but to cultivate resident leaders who can independently drive garden volunteer activities in their neighborhoods, spreading a genuine culture of community-led gardening.
While the basic course focused on foundational knowledge — garden concepts, plant understanding and introductory garden design — the advanced course offers a structured progression of specialist lectures, field practice and garden volunteer work.
The advanced curriculum covers six theory sessions — advanced soil science, pruning principles and timing, techniques for shaping growth and form, pest and disease identification and control, and autumn planting and winter care — followed by seven practice-oriented sessions on garden creation, plant management and green-space maintenance.
Classes will be held at Ganggam-chan Urban Agriculture Center, the Baramgil Forest in front of Nakseongdae Park and Nangok Saengsaeng Garden, running 13 sessions in total from Sept. 4 through Nov. 21.
Enrollment is open to graduates of Healing Gardener cohorts 1 through 3, with 30 spots available. Applicants must be able to commit to at least one volunteer or garden-related activity per month, totaling 30 or more hours. Registration opens Wednesday on a first-come, first-served basis; eligible participants will receive an online application link by text message.
Graduates of the advanced course will go on to volunteer regularly at parks and gardens near their homes, growing into community garden leaders who connect people with nature and help shape local green culture.
A graduate of the second Healing Gardener cohort said she was glad to have the chance to take part directly in caring for neighborhood gardens. "I want to keep making Gwanak-gu beautiful so that residents can find healing and joy through gardens," she said, expressing enthusiasm for the advanced program.
District Mayor Park said the Gwanak Healing Gardener program is "a model example of participatory governance, where residents take an active role in shaping the urban environment." He added: "Through this advanced course, we will nurture strong garden leaders for our community and work to make Gwanak a healing, garden city where residents can rest and unwind wherever they go."
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