Ingjerd Solfjeld

Hi, My name is Ingjerd and I am employed as an associate professor at the School of Landscape Architecture. My area of profession is urban horticulture which includes plant selection, establishment and management urban green spaces with both edible plants and ornamental plants. My special expertise is the establishment of trees in the city and I also have arborist expertise. The formal education in horticulture I have from Holt Agricultural School in 1998 (agronomist), NMBU cand. agric. in horticulture in 1995 and Dr. scient in plant science in 2004. My PhD research focused on root growth, temperature and planting of trees at different times of the year. I have previously worked with guidance in nursery and flower production and joined NMBU in 2015 from a position as chief engineer at the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, section for urban and street planning. Now I am responsible for the course PHG 316 Urban Greening and Landscape Management and  PHG 215 Landscape Plants- Establishment and Maintenance. I am part of the research group FUGE (management of outdoor spaces and green aesthetics).

 Research shows that nature experiences in everyday life are positive for us humans. My vision is that every child should hear birdsong on the way to school. All children should experience the year's passage in their daily world, wade in leaves in autumn and feel the smell of soil in the spring. Parents' interest in outdoor activities should not be essential for the daily nature experience. To achieve that, the urban landscape must have trees and shrubs. Room for vegetation must be anchored in the zoning plan. Trees can be integrated as part of the everyday landscape and form a natural part of the transport route for school children. The community benefits from facilitating daily nature experiences in the increasingly dense city.