Gangjin-gun, a Strong First Step to Bloom the Second Act of Life

Held Entrance Ceremony for Residential Returning Farmer Academy

On the 12th, Gangjin-gun, Jeollanam-do, officially began education with an entrance welcome ceremony and orientation held at the Daegang Auditorium of the Residential Return-to-Farming Academy.

According to the county on the 15th, about 40 people including Gangjin-gun council members, local community organization executives, the Return-to-Farming Association, and village chiefs attended the event and congratulated the new students by presenting vegetable bundles made from Gangjin-gun agricultural products.

Residential Return-to-Farming Academy Entrance Ceremony
Photo by Gangjin County

The school was opened in 2019 by remodeling a closed elementary school to provide residential space and support stable rural settlement for urban residents wishing to return to farming and rural life.

This year’s 6th class consists of 15 people from 9 households who will reside until November and participate in various educational programs including basic farming education, integration education to assist regional settlement, and fostering community spirit.

Previously, among the 12 households of the 5th class, 8 households settled in Gangjin-gun, showing that the school’s systematic and diverse educational programs greatly help return-to-farming efforts and are gaining popularity.

In particular, each household is assigned an 80㎡ vegetable garden where they can directly practice what they have learned and gain farming experience. From entrance to completion, they receive customized education by desired field and form human networks, acquiring various know-how necessary for farming settlement.

Choi Young-ah, director of the Gangjin-gun Agricultural Technology Center, said, “We support new challenges and will continue to assist so that students can smoothly adapt to rural society and settle stably during the education period.”

Meanwhile, Gangjin-gun is promoting programs such as the main crop learning class, a crop exploration selection process, and return-to-farming mentor-mentee practical training analyzing leading farmers’ business models to provide systematic farming technology education and agricultural information to returnees. After education, various supports are provided to help them adapt more quickly and easily to agricultural sites.