The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation is currently offering a limited number of grants (vouchers) to environmental volunteers who want to follow workshops/trainings in the area of nature and landscape management. If you want to learn how to participate in the River of Herbs project then this could be you!

River of Herbs is an innovative urban green initiative which aims to:

Increase the amount of edible and medicinal herbs growing in urban spaces.
Fill dull spaces with beautiful flowering herbs
Help urban wildlife
Increase food security
Encourage community participation in the care of urban spaces.

I have put together a River of Herbs training course, which you can sign up for and if you apply quickly the package will be totally covered by the available grants. My training course (worth 125Euro per person) falls way below the 1000 Euro maximum voucher request per applicant. I want this project to make a positive impact on the city so I’d love as many people as possible to get involved.

The deadline for applications to the Ministry is November 9th. But if you are interested in this you should contact me immediately so I can group you with others and make the application.

River of Herbs Training Package:
5 practical meetings (each 2 hours and on Sundays, in Amsterdam) covering the following topics, each time we meet. This training will give you the skills you need to confidently set up Urban Herb Meadows, keep them going, use them safely and involve others in the project too.

1. Ethical Urban Seed Collection and Storage
2. Identifying Spaces (tiny and large) for Urban Herb Meadows
3. Preparing, Planting & Caring for Urban Herb Meadows
4. Community Involvement with River of Herbs (sharing, helping, sharing)
5. Harvesting and Safely Using Plant Material from Urban Herb Meadows
6. Internet Mapping of Urban herb Meadow Locations and Blogging
7. Being run by Lynn Shore, each session will also include:
– an Urban Herb Walk
– printed info about the medicinal and edible properties of suitable herbs for the project
– the opportunity to stay in touch via my Urban Herbology Facebook group – a slice of cake now and then!

Please let me know straight away if this is interesting to you. lynn.shore@gmail.com

Dates for the training to be fixed in the next few days but all will be on Sundays, starting in January, to give more people the chance to participate and get this project really flowing through the city!!