A human resources development program that can contribute to the construction of comfortable lives for diverse people through urban horticulture

The Center for Environment, Health and Field Sciences of Chiba University was established in 2003, as an interdisciplinary education and research center related to the environment and health, aiming at creating a sustainable society through the power of plants, by conducting various research projects under the keywords "environment, health, and food". As a way to materialize this concept, the Center has just set up a program to develop human resources who can plan, implement, and manage 'various agriculture-welfare collaboration' projects that solve by the power of plants the high-stress and high-tension problems that have been increasingly prevalent in modern cities. The target human resources are those who can handle various horticultural and gardening projects implemented in a wide range of institutions, such as educational institutions from nursery schools to universities, companies in general, and support facilities for elderly and disabled persons, the projects of which contribute to improving the quality of life for the people concerned. This paper introduces this program, the underlying objective of which is to expand the range of horticultural activities in the city as wide as possible and discusses its prospects.