Horticultural Innovations Micro-Credential
Contact us about professional development for yourself or your employees.
Why Horticultural Innovations?
This Micro-Credential develops learners’ capability to research, design and justify product innovations that deliver sustainable growth for horticultural enterprises in Aotearoa New Zealand. Graduates explore market led and supply driven innovation frameworks, examine successful and failed case studies, and gain hands on experience planning and costing an innovation project that meets environmental stewardship and mātauranga Māori principles.
- No tuition fees for employees of Fruition scholarship partner organisations.
- Face-to-face or join online
- Under 3 months to receive your micro credential
- Tailored to your work
- 20 credits on the NZ Qualifications Framework at Level 6
Why This Course Could Change Your Career
- This course will develop your ability to critically analyse products or technologies and successfully introduce them into a horticultural workplace.
Meet Your
Course Tutors
Sandy Scarrow
Post Graduate Diploma in Horticulture, Business and Administration
Sandy was born into a horticultural family and made production horticulture her career when, after graduating with a Bachelor of Horticultural Science from Massey, she began working as a Horticultural Advisor with MAF 36 years ago. Over that time, Sandy has worked with growers and the wider industry to implement technological changes that have lifted production and improved other outputs.
Jordan Urwin
Bachelor of Science (Plant Biotechnology)
Jordan is still relatively new to the horticultural industry but brings a background in plant biotechnology, with experience in genetics, biochemistry, and plant-focused technology. He has been with Fruition for two years, contributing to a range of projects, including the adoption of new technology to improve the delivery of the technical services programme.
About the micro-credential
Horticultural Innovations
LO 1: Critique and identify innovative horticultural products that will contribute to sustainable growth in a horticultural business.
LO 2: Examine processes involved in new product development within a horticultural business.
LO 3: Design and implement research to investigate product innovations within a horticultural business.
LO 4: Evaluate a potential product innovation for introduction into a horticultural workplace.
The course consists of 12 weekly sessions, every Wednesday from 4pm-9pm, as well as a field trip in Week 4. Further information will be given to all learners before commencement and in the first weeks of the course.
Week 0: Orientation
Week 1: Horticultual innovations
Week 2: Market‑led innovation
Week 3: Supply-driven innovation
Week 4: 1‑day field‑trip & workshop – new development
Week 5: Research‐design
Week 6: Data analysis for Horticultural trial
Week 7: Horticultural innovation in focus
Week 8: Horticultural innovation in practice
Week 9: Horticultural innovation in practice 2
Week 10: Future trends in Horticultural innovation
Week 11: Study Week / Checkpoints
Week 12: Presentations & Final Assessment
Watch this space. Key dates will be added about six months before the course starts.
There are no prerequisites. Entry to the programme of study will be in order of receipt of applications and enrolments by applicants who meet the entry criteria required under the programme regulations and have appropriate capabilities to complete the programme of study successfully.
Successful completion of a Level 4 Certificate or above (or equivalent), preferably in the Primary Industries subject area, OR
For applicants 20 years or older without the above academic criteria, evidence of relevant knowledge, experience, and the ability to undertake tertiary study at the diploma level is required. In this case, the applicant must participate in an enrolment interview to verify the evidence.
In exceptional circumstances, an applicant who does not meet the academic entry requirements may be granted entry to the Fruition Diploma in Horticulture Production, where they supply evidence to satisfy the Academic Committee of their ability to succeed in the programme.
Students must demonstrate significant workplace experience (e.g. a supervisory and/or management role OR equivalent) within the horticulture industry.
Students will be required to provide evidence that they can progress through the programme of study. This may require any or more of the following:
- Pre-Enrolment Interview
- Challenge assessments
- Submission of a portfolio of work
Further details about entry criteria are contained in the supporting documentation.
Applications will open about six months before the course. Watch this space.
Get ahead of
the competition
Are these skills applicable to your management position and moving up the career ladder?
Check out some of the career-specific learning you will receive by taking the “Horticultural Innovation” course.
Market led and supply driven innovations
Case studies of successful innovations
Development and funding product innovations
Innovation in Focus – Enterprise Strategic Response
Investigation into where innovation goes wrong
Research design to support product innovation
Industry-leading case studies, understanding the WHY of how New Zealand's leading businesses are so good at what they do.
About The Fruition
Level 6 Diploma
This micro-credential course is equivalent to one of six papers that make up the full Fruition Level 6 Diploma, our Horticulture Production course that is completed over two years.
Fruition is offering this single “Horticultural Innovation” paper as a micro credential, meaning you can gain knowledge from this amazing course without having to commit to the full diploma.
We offer our credentials with the intention to seek approval for these to be stacked towards the Fruition Diploma of Horticulture.
