Job Creation
C N G FIn partnership with San Jose Evergreen Community College District – Workforce Institute, CNGF is developing seven resilient, ecologically-focused job tracks to equip rising professionals with the tools to solve the climate crisis.
Resilient Job Creation through Training
Each of these hands-on practicums will be taught by mentors who are experts in their fields, at a variety of sites, including the Environmental Lab for Sustainability and Ecological Education (ELSEE) at 76 Race St., Hester Farms at 1460 The Alameda, Freshness Farms at Coyote Creek, an 8-acre agritourism regenerative organic farm featuring restored riparian habitat, food forest and native edible plants, native gardens at selected San Jose underserved school districts.
Freshness Farms @ Coyote Creek: A Build 25 Initiative – Program and Features
Youth Core Members Volunteering at Hester Farm
Seven Job Tracks
1. Ecological Land Management
2. Playing with Intent: Nature Immersion and Food Pre-K Teachers
3. TeachIN Nature: STEAM Education in the Outdoor Classroom Teachers for 6-14 years
4. Regenerative Organic Agriculture (ROA)
5. Culinary Arts for a Plant Based Diet
6. Regional Ecologist
7. Ecological Engineering Technician
Connecting Theory to Practice
CNGF can facilitate the transition to a resilient management and maintenance of land in which ecology and human needs are recognized as central to solving the climate crisis; producing zero carbon emissions, reducing maintenance, and improving user experience.
Ecological Land Management
Who: Contractors, park employees, and landscape professionals
Goal: Maintain native landscapes and protect local ecology
Topics:
- Soil, water, and waste management
- Year round stewardship practices
- Native plant communities
- Regenerative organic agriculture with native hedgerows
Field Study: Convert an existing lawn into an ecological garden, with the option of including a food producing component
Playing with Intent: Nature Immersion + Food in the Certified Outdoor Teaching Garden
Who: Teachers and directors of preschool classes
Goal: Teach nature immersion + food in a certified outdoor teaching garden
Topics:
- ELSEE certified teaching garden creation and maintenance
- Regional plant-based cooking and ecology
- Indigenous storytelling
- Art and movement
- Nature immersion theories and practices
- Regenerative gardening
- 50 lessons that connect native plants and animals
Field Study: Create elements of an ELSEE garden and teach using the Playing with intent model
Read more here.
TeachIN Nature
Who:
K-12th grade teachers
Goal:
Create and teach in outdoor STEAM educational certified gardens
Topics:
- ELSEE teaching garden creation and maintenance
- Regional plant-based cooking and ecology
- Indigenous storytelling
- STEAM education and Earth Heroes Badge Program
- Regenerative agriculture
Field Study:
Create elements of an ELSEE certified garden and update traditional STEAM assignments for an outdoor classroom
Read more here.
Regenerative Organic Agriculture
Who:
Urban farmers, land managers, contractors, teachers
Goal:
Create & manage an ROA training & research farm
- 40 technical components of ROA farms
- Soil, water, and waste management
- Native plant communities
- Client management and community outreach
- Stewardship practices and propagation
Field Study:
Convert existing lawn to an ecological food garden
The Evolution of a Teaching Garden
First Church of Christ, Scientist on the Alameda in San Jose, California
Students Learning Ecological Land Management at the First Church of Christ, Scientist
Meet Dr. Sanhita Dahta
Dr. Datta is a math and science division faculty member at San Jose City College. She has been working for several years with California Native Garden Foundation: The Lab for Nature-Based Urban Living. In the video, she portrays how her Environmental Science curriculum overlaps with CNGF.