Green Futures Horticultural and Life Skills College

Grootbos Nature Reserve has always shown a very serious commitment to conservation. With the realization that the conservation of Grootbos in isolation from surrounding areas would be futile, Grootbos, together with its main stakeholders, began influencing surrounding properties in an effort to introduce an all-round conservation ethic to the local area.

A major threat to conservation in the region is high unemployment and lack of access for local communities to natural resources. Locally unemployment exceeds 50% of the working population and skills levels are low. As a result, Grootbos initiated the Green Futures Horticulture and Life Skills College (www.greenfutures.co.za), a unique project which provides annual, practical-based training programs for unemployed people in the fields of fynbos landscaping, horticulture and ecotourism. The project is designed to develop nature-based sustainable livelihoods for people from the local community, and so engender a conservation ethic in surrounding areas. The purpose of the college is to create a source of qualified, previously disadvantaged gardeners – not individuals who simply tidy gardens, but highly trained individuals who can go on to create businesses of their own in this field in the future.

The Green Futures College was officially opened by the South African Minister of Education, Prof. Kader Asmal, on the 09th August 2003. Since then, twelve, carefully selected students have completed the horticulture and life skills course each year. Entry requirements are very strict – applicants have to reside in the local township of Masakhane, have a minimum of grade 9 schooling, have a sound knowledge of English, and they must be unemployed. The horticultural component of the course includes plant identification, an appreciation of the natural fynbos vegetation, how and why it should be preserved, propagation skills in their own nursery, garden design, as well as garden establishment and maintenance using waterwise techniques. All theory is backed up by a vast range of practical work in gardens in Gansbaai, Hermanus and Cape Town. Furthermore, every year three of the best students are given the opportunity to visit and work at the Eden Project in Cornwall, U.K., where they are excellent ambassadors for Grootbos and South Africa. The life skills component of the course includes a first aid course, numeracy skills, literacy skills, health issues, an AIDS awareness programme, interpersonal skills, money management, basic computer skills, basic business skills as well as completing a drivers licence. In addition to the education curriculum the College provides transport, breakfast and lunch, uniform, equipment and a basic wage for all students. Once the course is completed, each student is given an accredited certificate, allowing them to continue their studies and assisting them in job application and placement.

Linked to the college is an indigenous plant nursery and fynbos landscaping business that generates income for the Grootbos Foundation. In this way, the students of a given year provide the funds for the students of the following year, encouraging team building, a sense of responsibility and business understanding. Now that the school is growing, both in availability and popularity, the demand for landscaping projects is increasing, providing great practical experience for the students, as well as securing a good funding basis for the following year. Any profit that is made by the school is managed by our non-profit organization, the Grootbos Foundation, and is reinvested directly into the Green Futures project. In this way we hope to develop a business model that will become self-sustainable in the near future. The Green Futures College has also been supported in part by the DEG (German development bank), the Eden project in Cornwall (with whom we have developed a strong partnership) as well as through donations from corporations and individuals visiting Grootbos.

The success of the Green Futures College has been incredible. There have been no drop-outs since the inception of the school and 90% of past students have gained work in horticultural, conservation or eco-tourism businesses. For many students the course provided a once-in-a lifetime opportunity to develop a career and positive outlook on their future.

Green Futures has grown from a modest beginning into one of the most successful and significant social upliftment programs of its kind. It is an inspiration for all local businesses and serves now serves as a model for other similar social projects.

• Home
• About Uthando
  • The Inspiration
  • Board of Directors
  • Financial Information
  • Legal Counsel
• Projects
• Project References
• Funding
• Benefactors
• DONATE
• Philanthropic Cultural Tours
• Guestbook
• "PACK FOR A CAUSE"
• Library
  • Pictures
  • Newsletters
• Contact Us
• Media / News Articles
• Videos
• Volunteering
• Blog

Watch our Video on YouTube!

Newsletter

Subscribe Now

Whatever affect one directly, affects all indirectly, I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.
Martin Luther King, Jr.