Bergische Umweltakademie

Bergische Umweltakademie offers a portfolio of continuing education distance learning programs focused on nature, ecology, environmental education, and sustainability. All distance learning courses are approved by the Staatliche Zentralstelle für Fernunterricht (ZFU). The academic portfolio is organized into four main departments: Obstgehölzpflege, Pomologie; Nachhaltige Ernährung; Umweltpädagogik; and Oekologischer Gartenbau. Instruction is conducted primarily through distance learning using digital study guides (Studienbriefe) accessible via the academy online learning platform, with printed study letters available upon request. Depending on the specific program, theoretical distance learning is supplemented either by online live seminars or on-site practical weekend seminars. In the department of Obstgehölzpflege, Pomologie, the academy offers the course Zertifizierte/r Obstgehölzpfleger/in, which prepares students to plan, plant, and maintain orchards and fruit trees. This course includes three mandatory two-day on-site practical seminars held at the Streuobst-Sortengarten in Remscheid-Reinshagen, covering young tree pruning, summer maintenance pruning, and old tree conservation pruning, followed by an on-site practical exam. This program can also be taken as a combined specialization, Zertifizierte/r Obstgehölzpfleger/in Fachrichtungskombination mit Permakultur-Beratung, integrating permaculture design principles into orchard management. The department of Nachhaltige Ernährung focuses on holistic and ecologically responsible nutrition. Its core offering is the course Zertifizierte/r Ernährungsberater/in, which includes distance learning modules and an accompanying two-day online weekend seminar focusing on client consultation, follow-up advising, and practical case studies. Students can also enroll in the specialized course Pflanzenkunde in der Ernährung, which covers the dietary, culinary, and medicinal uses of cultivated plants, wild herbs, and mushrooms. In addition, students can complete the combined curriculum Zertifizierte/r Ernährungsberater/in Fachrichtungskombination mit Pflanzenkunde in der Ernährung. The department of Umweltpädagogik provides practical pedagogical education for environmental communication and education in nature. The foundational training is Zertifizierte/r Natur- und Umweltpädagoge/in, which teaches educators how to design and run nature-based educational programs. This program is also available in a dual track as Zertifizierte/r Natur- und Umweltpädagoge/in Fachrichtungskombination mit Pflanzenkunde in der Ernährung, allowing educators to expand their didactic scope to include the nutritional and health properties of wild herbs, crops, and fungi. The department of Oekologischer Gartenbau focuses on near-natural landscape and garden design. It offers the certificate course Zertifizierte/r Permakulturberater/in, teaching the creation of self-regulating, resource-conserving ecosystems. Students can expand this credential through the track Zertifizierte/r Permakulturberater/in Fachrichtungskombination mit Pflanzenkunde in der Ernährung. The department also provides the program Naturgartenbau - Naturnahe Garten- und Grünflächengestaltung, which focuses on planning and establishing gardens with native plants, and its combined version, Naturgartenbau - Naturnahe Garten- und Grünflächengestaltung Fachrichtungskombination mit Permakultur-Beratung. Graduates who successfully complete all written coursework, intermediate tests, final examinations, and any required seminar components receive a certificate issued by Bergische Umweltakademie (BUA-Abschluss-Zertifikat), such as Zertifizierte/r Ernährungsberater/in or Zertifizierte/r Obstgehölzpfleger/in, along with a study confirmation certificate (Studienbescheinigung) detailing the curriculum. Participants who choose not to attend the practical or online seminars receive a certificate of completion (Abschlusszeugnis), such as Grundlagen der Obstgehölzpflege or Ernährungsberatung.