Horticultural education starts at Dartington with a clear focus on the future

The Dartington Hall Trust and Duchy College are teaming up to bring a new course onto the Dartington estate, aimed at training a new wave of students with the skills necessary for 21st century food production and gardening.

The course is the Dartington Certificate in Sustainable Horticulture, which will add a fresh influx of students to the Dartington estate and launch a new and exciting partnership between Dartington and Duchy College, ‘Cornwall’s College of the Countryside’ – through a shared desire to meet the pressing need to train the sustainable farmers of tomorrow.

Bill Herring Curriculum Manager for Horticulture at Duchy said, ‘This new certificate marks the beginning of what we hope will be a series of educational collaborations between The Dartington Hall Trust and Duchy College. The strength of this partnership lies is combining Duchy’s range of further education courses in practical rural skills fit for employment with Dartington’s pioneering approach to sustainability and innovation.”

The Certificate is a one year course (with the intention of extending to a Level 3 (A-Level equivalent) in a second year). It has been designed by Dartington and Duchy for those wishing to gain essential skills and knowledge in horticulture, linking into a future when cheap fossil fuel products and energy will be scarce. It will involve a mixture of theory sessions with ‘hands on’ practical application, as students gain real-life experience working alongside three pioneering horticultural projects on the Dartington estate.

These projects include the nationally renowned Grade 2 listed Dartington Gardens, School Farm (Landscope Project), a community-focussed market garden working to organic standards and the internationally acclaimed Schumacher College, which is successfully demonstrating the potential for ecological land management practices including forest gardening techniques.

The course will be delivered over three days (Wed-Fri) so it is expected to attract interest from both school leavers and mature students, particularly those local to Totnes and Dartington.

Charlie Mc Connell Director of Sustainability at Dartington said, “Learning to grow food in an oil-scarce world is possibly one of the most useful skills any young person could be learning. Similarly, there is an increasing demand for ways to manage heritage gardens that are less dependent on fossil fuels and promote biodiversity. Dartington is proud to be pioneering this new programme, equipping young people with skills and recognised qualifications for employment in the future job market”

Everyone interested in applying for the course or finding out more, is invited to an ‘information morning at Dartington on 20 July, where they can visit and experience the various gardening projects and meet some of the course staff.