Urban Food Forest - Designing with Nature
Transform your urban space into a thriving ecosystem! This immersive one-day workshop with Sylvia & Eva reveals how to create resilient, low-maintenance food forests in city environments. Whether you have a small garden, front yard strip, schoolyard, or a community plot, learn how to maximize your space for abundant food production while contributing to urban biodiversity.
Discover how to work with nature's principles to create a multi-layered, edible landscape that functions like a natural forest - adapted for city living. Our core philosophy combines ecological wisdom with urban practicality: create resilient ecosystems that require less maintenance while yielding increasing harvests over time.
Learning Goals - by the end of this workshop you will:
Master Urban Forest Design
Understand how to adapt forest garden principles to city spaces
Discover techniques for building healthy soil
Learn strategic plant selection for limited spaces
Discover vertical growing techniques for walls and balconies
Enhance Ecological Awareness
Understand how natural landscapes evolve
Learn to create biodiversity hotspots in the city
Explore the role of food forests in urban climate resilience
Observe how plant communities support each other
Master Food Forest Layering for Urban Spaces
Work with compact varieties for the canopy layer
Utilize vertical spaces with climbing plants and espaliers
Design productive understory and ground cover layers
Create urban tree guilds that thrive in limited space
Gain Practical Urban Experience
Practice observation techniques
Explore the interplay of the elements: earth, sun, water, and wind
Learn to work with urban microclimates
Participate in hands-on planting sessions
No Prior Experience Necessary
This workshop welcomes city gardeners and urban permaculture enthusiasts of all experience levels. We encourage learning by doing, understanding that experimentation is key to developing an intuitive understanding of urban ecosystems. All participants receive comprehensive resources for continuing their food forest journey.
Transform your urban space into a productive ecosystem that not only provides food but also helps cool our cities, supports biodiversity, and creates resilient urban environments for the future.
Practical Details
Date: Sunday 23 February 2025
Time: 10:00h - 16:00h
Location: Stadsboerderij Osdorp, Botteskerksingel 30b, Amsterdam (near tram 17)
Language: English with Dutch support
Investment: €75 (lunch BYO)
More info and registration: sylvia@cityplot.org
Private workshop available on request
Cityplot cancellation policy
Your teachers
SYLIVA AVONTUUR
Five years ago, Sylvia made a transformative life change, leaving her marketing communications agency in Amsterdam to reconnect with nature. After completing a Permaculture Design Course in Portugal, she continued her studies at the UK Permaculture Association to obtain a degree in Applied Permaculture. Her journey includes working on regenerative projects in Portugal, after which she returned to Amsterdam, seeing great opportunities for food forests in urban settings. She has specialist training in food forest design and Syntropic agroforestry with Ernst Götsch. Sylvia also completed a Permaculture Teacher Training and is passionate about helping others discover the incredible diversity of food forests while reconnecting with nature's wisdom.
EVA THOMASSEN
Eva brings the perfect blend of city wisdom and growing expertise to urban food forests. An Amsterdam native with 12 years of international experience, she returned to her roots to study art and transform city spaces into edible landscapes. Member of Cityplot since 2019, a certified Permaculture designer, artist and herb garden specialist, Eva coordinates the herb garden at Stadsboerderij Osdorp, teaches various adult workshops and also children about edible gardening through Cityplot Kids. Her 25 years experience as a yoga practitioner and 6 years of teaching, as well as a deep interest in spiritual ecology add a holistic dimension to her approach to urban growing.
CityPlot cancellation policy
