CPL Holds Inaugural Sustainable Urban Farming Micro-credential

Tags: Vol. 4, June 2024, Issue 2

As a member of Canadian Colleges for a Resilient Recovery (C2R2), Humber College received funding from the Government of Canada to offer micro-credentials that upgrade skills and increase citizen participation in the country’s transition to more sustainable, low-carbon practices.

Thanks to this funding, Continuous Professional Learning in FSCS recently offered a fully subsidized micro-credential in Sustainable Urban Farming. In this micro-credential, 33 learners gained foundational knowledge related to sustainable urban farming practices, including both a theoretical understanding of the socio-economic elements related to food sovereignty and the hands-on experience of building and maintaining a small-scale sustainable urban farm (i.e., an indoor vertical garden).

On March 2nd, 2024, the cohort gathered at the Lakeshore Campus for a fun day of applied learning in which they planned, built, and planted their indoor vertical gardens. Throughout the month, learners reported on the progress of their gardens, with many wonderful success stories showcased.

Motivations for taking this micro-credential ranged. Some learners had personal motivations for learning how to grow their own sustainable food sources at home and were pleased to post photos of self-grown micro-greens on sandwiches and salads.

Others had professional reasons for enrolling. One woman was interested in creating a self-sustaining food supply system for the restaurant she co-owns with her husband. In her words, “For this project I chose herbs that we could use in the restaurant – dill, basil, and the salad greens. We are hoping to leverage this initial trial project into a series of hydroponic towers to grow produce.”

Another learner is a department head in a local school. He chose to set up his vertical garden in his classroom and the students loved it! In his words, “All of the food that will be grown will be going to the hospitality and culinary arts classes at the school. They are thrilled to get the basil, cilantro, lettuce and microgreens we are growing!”