Seoul Botanic Park Announces Recruitment for 'Green Arboretum Caretakers - Pruneo 1st Generation'

Training Gardeners for Citizens

Seoul Botanic Park announced on the 27th that it will operate a gardener training program called ‘Pureun-er’ to cultivate gardeners who will help maintain the Green Arboretum located in Hang-dong, Guro-gu, and is recruiting citizens to participate. Those selected as Pureun-ers will receive participatory arboretum management training for 11 weeks starting from March 15.

The first training program for ‘Green Arboretum Caretakers? Pureun-er’ is a participatory education program combining specialized training and practical experience in garden creation and management within the arboretum, plant conservation and exhibition, and horticultural activities, targeting general citizens who love plants and gardens.

This initiative is promoted to enhance public interest in the Green Arboretum, the first public arboretum registered in Seoul, and to strengthen the professionalism of volunteer activities. It aims to create a garden culture in harmony with nature by learning and cultivating together with citizens who love the arboretum.

The education is conducted once a week for a total of 11 weeks, lasting about 3 hours including theory and practice. After completion, participants become ‘Pureun-er’ caretakers of the Green Arboretum and regularly engage in volunteer activities for arboretum management.

After completion, participants will join existing volunteers every Tuesday to manage the arboretum’s greenery and form a sustainable local community centered around the Green Arboretum. In this process, existing volunteers will serve as mentors, and participants will have opportunities to join advanced training and experiential activities for volunteers.

To complete the ‘Pureun-er’ program, participants must attend at least 80% of the education sessions and be able to participate as regular volunteers after completion. Upon meeting these qualifications, a certificate of completion will be issued.

Applications can be submitted through the Seoul Public Reservation Service website until the 10th of next month. A total of 25 participants will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis, and the participation fee is 50,000 KRW. For more details, please refer to the Seoul Botanic Park website or contact the Green Arboretum Operations Department at Seoul Botanic Park.

Kim Dae-sung, director of Seoul Botanic Park, stated, “The activation of a continuous local community is meaningful for enhancing the value of the urban-type Green Arboretum,” and added, “We hope that the participatory garden culture created and nurtured with citizens through the ‘Pureun-er’ caretaker training program will spread widely.”