Workforce Development
The Civic Garden Center’s workforce development program engages high school juniors and seniors in hands-on urban agriculture, conservation and environmental education tasks that are essential to ecological sustainability in the Cincinnati region. Students:
Spend time working in gardens, maintaining green infrastructure and teaching basic gardening skills to community members who are eager to strengthen their local food system
Have opportunities to grow their knowledge of botany, horticulture, educational pedagogy and methods for building and maintaining meaningful partnerships
Receive targeted lessons that focus on the Ohio Means Jobs skills, which include essential work functions such as reliability, punctuality, discipline and collaboration
The goal of our workforce development program is to build the next generation of environmental advocates and green industry leaders who will tackle the challenges of today’s climate crisis using their infinite creativity and unique intelligence.
Sample Schedule
Internships run for five hours a day, two days per week for ten weeks. Students follow a schedule similar to the following:
Week 1: Orientation with site tours and staff introductions
Week 2: Horticulture at the Civic Garden Center
Week 3: Urban agriculture in local neighborhoods
Week 4: Habitat restoration/conservation
Week 5: Green infrastructure & design
Week 6: Marketing & development for environmental organizations
Week 7: Plant identification techniques
Week 8: Plant propagation techniques
Week 9: Sustainability and future initiatives
Week 10: Reflection & presentation of personal growth over duration of program
Questions? Want to participate?
Please contact the program coordinator, CGC Ecology Education Manager Mary Dudley, at mdudley@civicgardencenter.org or 513-221-0981.