In Miami, an initiative is underway to repurpose the space beneath the city's Metrorail into a public park and community asset, aiming to cultivate not only plants, but also the next generation of horticulture professionals. The Friends of the Underline apprenticeship program, a collaboration with Miami Dade College, offers an eight-week course where students immerse themselves in botany and learn to maintain the burgeoning gardens below the Metrorail, Asha Bertsch, a horticulturist involved with the program, shared the details about their work with the vegetation, as reported by CBS News Miami.
Recognizing the urgency in addressing environmental issues, one of the participating students, Andrea Beceiro, expressed her determination to "make those little steps that make the difference" to CBS News Miami, emphasizing the need for proactive involvement from younger generations in sustainability efforts. The Underline project is a product of partnerships among Miami-Dade County, donors, and volunteers with the vision to transform the space from the Miami River to Dadeland South Station into a holistic park urban trail and venue for living art by 2026.
Bank of America has stepped up as one of the supporters for the apprenticeship program, with Vania Laguerre from the organization expressing their commitment to fostering community health and offering educational opportunities for youth; Laguerre highlighted the "importance and the criticality of the space" in a statement obtained by CBS News Miami. This venture is part of a broader vision to create vibrant public spaces, designed not just for aesthetic appeal but to act as a conduit for community connection and the enhancement of collective wellbeing.
Additional details about the Friends of the Underline apprenticeship program were provided to ABC 17 News including menthe Gardens below the rail networks are being nurtured, signaling a new chapter in the city's reclamation of unused spaces and showing a tangible commitment to environmental education and urban transformation.
