Landscape design and value inheritance analysis of agricultural culture in wetland of university campuses

Wetlands are important resources for the construction of ecological regions in China and an important material basis for communities living around and near mountains, rivers, forests, fields, and lakes. In recent years, research on the landscape of wetlands has developed rapidly in universities, becoming the main impetus of agricultural culture and an indispensable means of cultural construction and ideological and political education in colleges and universities. This study focuses on the agricultural culture park in the wetland of Zhejiang A&F University and discusses how to integrate the theme of agricultural culture into the wetland park to inherit the value of agricultural culture. The “Agricultural Culture Garden” is a wetland campus that integrates practical teaching, cultural inheritance, and science with farming, comprised of a “melon and fruit corridor” as the main axis and an “agriculture and culture experience area”, an “agriculture and genetic breeding area”, and an “agriculture and cultivation plant protection area” as the sections. A survey of the courses offered and students enrolled at this center showed that the number of courses increased by 36 (e.g. smart horticulture, facility horticulture and protected crops cultivation), the number of majors increased by 2 (i.e., smart agriculture, and facility agriculture science and engineering), undergraduate students increased by 110%, undergraduate papers increased by 350%, national awards in first-class competitions achieved a significant breakthrough from 0 to 12, and the pass rate of the postgraduate entrance examination is two times higher than before. Research semesters and visits of primary and secondary school students have increased by more than two times now compared to before the completion of the park, with the number of large-scale events hosted on the campus also increasing by two times (e.g. harvest festival, potato science and technology culture festival, and grafting technology competition). These activities effectively promote the integration of academic proficiency, scientific research, social services, and cultural inheritance. Based on the survey results, this study proposes a practical path for the construction of further wetland parks, that takes into account the protection of cultural resources, the use of natural features, the design of cultural exhibitions, the creation of cultural experiences, the restoration of traditional festivals, and the construction of professional teams, all of which have important practical implications in the inheritance of agricultural culture in wetlands.