Last month two of Vertical Future’s Senior Plant Scientists, Dr James Stevens and Katia Zacharaki, had an excellent day at the ‘Aligning higher education with horticulture industry needs’ event at the Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) HQ at Belgrave Square, London.

The SCI’s Horticulture Group has conducted an extensive study about Horticultural teaching and training in the UK’s higher education, with a view to understanding where gaps might be in the training of future horticulturists. Jim and Katia presented their key findings to the SCI that day and we are proud to be a part of such vital initiatives.

The importance of this work is significant because, due to it being a fairly new industry, it can be challenging to recruit candidates with the appropriate skills in the vertical farming sector. Companies often have to use their own resources to train new entries, but not all companies have the capacity to do so. While vertical farming is only a niche (though growing) section of the horticultural industry, the skills that are needed for vertical farming growers are in fact very similar to those of glasshouse growers.

To find out more about the SCI’s Horticulture Group, visit their website here.

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