Gyeonggi Province to Recruit Cultivators for Community Gardens in Dongtan, Heungdeok

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hoon] Gyeonggi Province will recruit cultivators for community gardens from February 22 to March 5.

In line with residents' growing interest in and demand for urban agriculture such as weekend farms, Gyeonggi Province is implementing projects to develop unused public land and other sites into 'community gardens.'

The 'community gardens' provide residents whose outdoor activities have been limited due to COVID-19 with leisure opportunities and serve as spaces for cultivating urban residents' emotional well-being and local community communication.

This year, the province plans to develop and sell agricultural-use sites at four locations—Dongtan in Hwaseong, Heungdeok in Yongin, Hangang District in Gimpo, and Wondang Agricultural Cooperative land in Goyang—through collaboration with Gyeonggi Urban Development Corporation, Korea Land and Housing Organization (LH), and National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service. The sites will be converted into community gardens.

The recruitment scale includes 955 individual households and 58 groups, totaling approximately 1,013 plots.

Applicants for community garden cultivation must be individuals or organizations with registered residential addresses in Gyeonggi Province. Applications can be submitted through the Gyeonggi Province Sharing Service (https://share.gg.go.kr) or by mail to the Gyeonggi Provincial Agriculture and Fisheries Promotion Agency (6F, 46-16 Homaesilro, Gwonseon-gu, Suwon).

The province plans to give priority selection to applicants aged 65 and older, vulnerable groups (elderly living alone, grandparent-grandchild families, single-parent families), multicultural families, large families (three or more minor children), families with disabled members, and residents in areas adjacent to garden sites.

Final results for selected cultivators will be announced on March 12.

Kim Young-ho, director of the Agricultural Policy Division at Gyeonggi Province, said, "This year we plan to establish Dream Gardens as community cultivation gardens within community gardens, and will strengthen social contribution activities such as providing surplus agricultural products from participating cultivators as free donations to food-insecure groups."