Make your dream come true
This all-digital food forest planning module is very specifically about your dream and how you can develop it into a solid plan. Marieke Karssen will guide you during all nine afternoons and together with her you will first meet a different expert each afternoon. Then each afternoon we continue working on your plan.
Digital Module: Food Forest Plan in November–December 2027
8 online class days and 1 online final presentation: on November 5, 12, 16, 19, 23, 26, 30, and December 3 and 17, 2027.
Maximum number of participants: 20
Instructors: Marieke Karssen, Jan Huijgen, Liesbeth van Bemmel, Marly Bonten, Arne Driessen, Linda Buijsman, Frank de Gram, and Joke Feenstra
Location: online
You've gotten all excited about food forests. You want to know all about it. Indeed, you want to make it your life. How do you do that? What are you running into? Or rather: what exactly do you dream? Do you have that sharp enough? And then, how do you work out such a plan? And also, if necessary, how do you get funding?
In this module, you will learn from 8 top experts on multiple revenue models, network marketing, harvesting and processing, financing, regulation and business organization how to combine biodiversity, food supply and multiple -also social- values into a really serious way to make a living.
Instructor Marieke Karssen will guide you throughout the module toward that ninth (full) presentation day in front of a panel of judges who can really help advance your plan.
Class afternoons take place on Fridays and Tuesdays. If you miss an afternoon, it is very easy to watch that afternoon back in your own time.
It is possible to do the course almost entirely during class time. Because you get 2 hours of class each afternoon and then we work together for 2 hours on your plan. You can do that offline, but also by staying in the ZOOM session together. In any case, Marieke Karssen will be present for the full four hours each time to answer your questions directly if you're stuck on something.
Because this module is taught online, you can also take it easily from abroad.
Friday, November 5, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Marieke Karssen takes you through the entire course structure, we introduce ourselves to each other and work on the big picture outline of your dream or plan.
Friday, November 12, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Jan Huijgen of farm Eemlandhoeve takes you for two hours through his idea of a polyculture farm, both in terms of earning models and how to organize it together and how to communicate with the municipality and other authorities. He also talks about his latest big plan: the Mansholt Campus and the Eem Valley.
In the second part of the afternoon, we will work together on an initial delineation and definition of your project.
Tuesday, November 16, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Liesbeth van Bemmel of Food Forest Benthuizen is not only the living example of someone who has managed to build a life from and with a relatively small food forest, but she is also incredibly good at thinking like a grant writer/policy official and provides valuable tips for any type of food forest in terms of regulations and grants.
In the second part we finalize the content of your plan. You now know in outline what you want to set up and can start working on financing and budgeting.
Friday, November 19, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Marly Bonten knows all about cooking with food forest products and their processing. She can help you think about how to optimize your food forest plan for what type of marketing you actually want and to what extent you want to work with it yourself in terms of processing.
In the second part of the afternoon, we work together to delineate your project plan more and more.
Tuesday, November 23, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Arne Driessen is impact investor. And he has also put on the mud boots himself and is now a grower. He can talk about both and answer your questions about the most appropriate legal form and possible financing.
In the second part, we will work on developing your plan in terms of financing and legal form.
Friday, November 26, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Linda Buijsman retrained from architect to food forest designer and has developed an amazing budget model for us that you can work with for your food forest. In the first two hours Linda will introduce the model, and then we'll spend the rest of the afternoon really working with it so that you can really master your budget.
Tuesday, November 30, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Frank de Gram of cooperative Arbres talks about his path from trainee to increasingly upscale food forest enterprise, the land cooperative model and the revenue model for getting through the early years of a food forest with people distant from employment and a horticultural business.
In the second part of the afternoon, we will work further on your plan and budget.
Friday, December 3, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Marieke Karssen and Joke Feenstra take you through thinking in networks. How do you build a community? How do you build your newsletter? How to read and grow networks?
In the second part, we will work on the communication part of your plans.
Friday, December 17, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
On this day, the trainees present their plans to an expert jury composed in such a way that they can each judge the plans fresh from their own perspective.
Please note that this is a full day. Because otherwise we won't get all the plans presented.
Teachers
What are the differences between this online module and the September and October (live) module?
| Normal food forest planning module | Digital food forest planning module |
| You will learn about revenue models, budgeting, regulations and forms of financing | You will learn about revenue models, budgeting and forms of financing |
| You will work on your own plan and present it to a panel of experts and potential investors | You will work on your own plan and present it to a panel of experts and potential investors |
| Marieke Karssen is facilitator throughout the module | Marieke Karssen is facilitator throughout the module |
| You will have one digital classroom day and visit four inspiring locations on the remaining days | You can take the entire module from home, wherever you are in the world and not miss anything |
| You will have four teaching days and a final presentation day. All days can be seen back at any time, but in this module you will mainly get live lessons and also visit 4 inspiring earning and food forest sites. If you want to take the live module, there are a few spots left in September. | You get eight digital classroom afternoons and 1 digital final presentation day. In those afternoons, you will get presentations from more experts than is possible in the live module. Also, more than is possible in the live module, we work on your plan live throughout the module. And, you can follow this module anytime, no matter where you live. |
| €850.00 excluding VAT for non-members €25.00 discount for members Maximum of 15 participants | €600.00 excluding VAT for non-members €25.00 discount for members Maximum of 20 participants |
Practical information about the digital module food forest plan
All class days are recorded. So if you can't be there one time, you can always watch everything back.
From the start, we offer you a digital course environment where you can find the course materials, the homework including all recordings, where you can easily ask questions among yourselves and where you can also store all your files.
The cost is €600, excluding VAT. There is a maximum of 20 participants for this module, so don’t wait too long to register. Ifyou are a member of the Food from the Forest Association, we offer you a €35 discount.
If you are a member and don’t see the discount applied to the course fee, please log in first!
We deliver this module of annual training according to our terms of delivery. These are simple and clear, so please feel free to read them.
If you are unable to pay the training fee at once, or if you work for an organisation that uses invoicing, please contact us.
