Eden Project Learning – a Centre for Food and Horticulture

Education

Providing real world learning for food, horticulture and visitor management in a unique setting

The world renowned Eden Project wanted to put education and learning at the core of their
business. Inspired by the Edge Hotel School at Wivenhoe House, Eden decided to use their unique
facility to provide an environment where skills and knowledge are both learnt and then applied.

The project was officially launched on 18th September 2014 at an event in the Mediterranean Biome
attended by Sir Tim Smit, Edge representatives and many of Eden’s current and prospective
partners. Starting as they mean to go on – newly recruited apprentices played a key role in
preparing the serving food at the event.

Starting with their own core attributes of agronomy and food production, Eden are developing a
range of education pathways. Working in partnership with The Cornwall College Group, Eden have
introduced three new apprenticeship programmes - the Eden Chef, the Eden Gardner and the Eden
Host. 15 people signed up to the first apprenticeship cohort which started in September – all of
which are employed by the Eden project.

Sam Sumner, Eden Host Apprentice:

"With the Host apprenticeship you get to move around different departments so you feel like you
get to know Eden a lot better than other people. I've worked in the Retail shop, Admissions,
Narrators and Hospitality. The ones I have enjoyed the most have been Narrators and
Hospitality."

Recruitment for the second cohort is well underway with a target of a further 8 Eden employed
apprentices and 23 employed by partner and other organisations. All apprentices benefit from the
Eden Project’s unique offering; Eden Chef apprentices will work alongside professionals in the many
catering outlets in the venue; Eden Host will experience the challenges of event and venue
management; and Eden Horticulturists will be able to work in 3 different climate zones (Rainforest,
Mediterranean and South West UK). There are also a smaller number of other apprentices in areas
such as finance, maintenance, graphics and marketing.

Eden has a commitment to be a learning organisation and with the introduction of apprentices and
higher education, together with a strong internal development programme for employees (including
an ILM endorsed management development programme) , Eden is committed to developing and
nurturing all its employees.
The positioning of Eden in the South West
where there are many small and even micro-
businesses, many of which experience a very
seasonal tourism based demand has proved
challenging in terms of apprentice
recruitment. This has in turn necessitated a
focussed engagement strategy from Eden in
terms of working with local employers
including the renowned River Cottage, Lost
Gardens of Heligan and the Cornwall Food
Foundation.

Eden apprentices will not only benefit from the unique environment but also from learning within a
fully operational and world renowned visitor attraction, interacting with customers and visitors
throughout their apprenticeship. They will also be able to attend a range of master classes across
the whole range of apprenticeship paths, delivered by professional experts. There will also be an
opportunity for apprentices to join professional bodies such as the Chartered Institute of
Horticulture or achieve international standards such as the World Host kitemark.

All Eden apprentices take part in the Plough

to Plate project in their first year, with the
underpinning knowledge delivered through a
sustainable enterprise training programme
that starts in their first week.

The project requires all apprentices to work

together to develop a product that can be
taken literally from plough to plate. Each
apprentice brings their particular expertise to
the project – Gardeners identify what could
be grown at Eden and harvested; Chefs identify recipes, finance apprentices identify costings and
price structures, Hosts organise a final event, media and marketing apprentices support the product
development with branding, messages etc. At the end of the project, all apprentices contribute to a
final presentation to showcase their product to Eden staff. Such a multi-disciplinary project so early
in the process is invaluable in building the communication, problem solving and team working skills
so highly sought after by employers in all sector.

Bryony Simpson, Graphics Apprentice:

"The sustainability days and the plough to plate project give me a chance to work with other
people my age. Before starting the apprenticeship I was a bit concerned that everybody would be
older than me and I wouldn't fit in but that's not the case. Working with all the other apprentices
is great, because you are around other people who are in the same boat. I enjoy coming to work
every day and I know that whatever work I’m set I can get help from the other designers around
me. They all know different things, so it’s nice to be in an environment where I can learn lots of
different things from different people. "
To provide a natural progress route for apprentices as well as attracting new learners, Eden has
developed a range of Higher Education programmes, working in partnership with The Cornwall
College Group and Plymouth University. The impressive range of courses include: HND
Performance, Storytelling & Interpretation; HND Garden & Landscape Design; FdA Event
Management; FdSc Horticulture; BSc Hons Horticulture (plant science or garden & landscape design).

Sir Tim Smit, Co-Founder:

“The future will belong to those who have real dirt-under-the-fingernails skills allied to an
intellect that enjoys problem solving. Our friendship with Cornwall College led us to work
together on shaping some new courses that will create a benchmark higher than any available
elsewhere. Our passion is to offer the sort of courses we would want to go on ourselves. We
want to be judged on the quality of our students, as they will become our ambassadors.”

All HE courses are due to start in September 2015 and are a blend of academic theory and practical
hands on experience provided by the Eden Project or one of its many outstanding employer
partners. Prospective higher education students will benefit from Eden partnerships with a range of
specialist institutions such as the micro-propagation research facility at Duchy College Rosewarne.
Horticulture courses are offered on both a full and part time basis, other courses on a full time basis
and all options have hands-on practical experience gained at Eden and Eden partners at the heart of
the offer.

With over 70 applications received already, the courses are set to exceed their target numbers. An
Open Day held in February to showcase the Eden higher education offer attracted 150 people who
had travelled from all over the country to attend. There is also interest from current students
considering transferring to take advantage of Eden’s unique environment. More Open Days will be
held in the summer and more information can be found on the Eden website
http://www.edenproject.com/learn/further-and-higher-education.

A lot of infrastructure and preparation work has gone on behind the scenes to enable the education
offer to be provided. Existing buildings on the Eden site have been re-purposed to provide student
study areas and plans are in place for further building modifications and also for a new purpose built
laboratory.

Rosie Wade, Horticulture Apprentice:

"What do I like about the apprenticeship? The amount of knowledge the people here have and
how good they are at their jobs. There is so much horticultural knowledge out there and
obviously nobody can have all of it, but here they are pretty close!"

Brandon Netherton, Chef Apprentice:

"At school I didn't feel very independent, then at college you get some independence and now I
have come into the real world it's even better. Once I get a section nailed I can come in, do it and
not ask anyone what to do, it's a really good feeling. I can just come straight in and do it. I like all
the review meetings we have with the other apprentices, they are really good. It's good to get
out of the workplace and talk about stuff, discuss what we've been doing, talk about what's good
or bad and then actually see a change happen. It's good getting to meet up with friends."

Eden is not prepared to stand still. They have plans in development for a formal evaluation of the
new education programmes to aid growing student numbers and also develop the breadth of the
learning offer and are also investigating capital investment in bespoke educational facilities to
develop an Eden Campus.