Three cohorts complete training this year through classroom lessons and fieldwork; graduates manage 13 garden and green spaces across the district
Gwangjin-gu's newly trained community gardeners are cultivating neighborhood green spaces and spreading a culture of everyday gardening across the district.
The Gwangjin Community Gardener program recruits residents with an interest in gardening, provides professional training, and deploys graduates to help create and maintain local gardens. The first and second cohorts, which ran from April, produced a combined 39 certified gardeners. A third cohort of 20 residents is currently midway through an eight-week course running from September through October. Once all participants complete the program, a total of 59 community gardeners will have contributed to nurturing the district's green environment this year.
The curriculum combines classroom instruction — covering garden design, plant biology and seasonal planting management — with hands-on fieldwork. The program places particular emphasis on practical skills, giving trainees direct experience planting, building and maintaining gardens so they are ready to work independently in the community.
The skills gained in training have already taken root across the district. First-cohort graduates created a garden at Hwayangdong Maeulmadang, a neighborhood community yard, while second- and third-cohort graduates have been landscaping Hongnyeonsan Uisogongwon, a small park, adding color and life to spaces residents pass through every day.
The gardeners also showcased their work at the Seoul International Garden Expo, held this month at Maeheon Citizens' Forest on an expanded scale. Gwangjin-gu presented a pop-up garden titled "Between Mountain and River: Gwangjin's Garden," giving the community gardeners a platform to demonstrate the knowledge and experience they have built through the program.
Their commitment extends well beyond the training itself. The gardeners consistently volunteer to tend 13 garden and green spaces around the district, contributing to a cleaner and more attractive neighborhood environment. Volunteer hours are logged through the 1365 Volunteer Portal.
Gwangjin-gu plans to continue working with its community gardeners to broaden a culture in which residents create and sustainably care for gardens close to their daily lives.
"I am grateful to the community gardeners who have brought green vitality to our neighborhood by building and consistently tending these gardens," Gwangjin-gu District Mayor Kim Kyung-ho said. "We will keep supporting residents so they can cultivate and enjoy gardens as part of their everyday lives, and spread a sustainable garden culture throughout the district."
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