With few wild plants surviving the UK’s recent dry weather, we’ve been forced to cancel our latest foraging class - it’s a worrying sign for all of us Today this South Downs meadow is full of dry grasses (pic 2018) Last summer the same meadow was full of wild herbal plants like Yarrow, Wild Carrot, Knapweed, Agrimony, Eyebright, and much more (pic 2017) We’ve just cancelled a Foraging and Health class.
Six weeks of no rain have left the South Downs parched, with very few wild herbal plants to be found on the chalk grasslands where we planned to be walking. I’ve spent the day on the phone to herbalist Lucinda Warner trying to decide what to do. We talk about options but the land is just too dry to forage. “There’s a few small examples of Plantain and Yarrow up there,” she tells me, but, “no St John’s Wort, no Agrimony, no Mugwort, no Eyebright…” Nothing like the abundance of wild flowers we’ve found over the past few summers. Staff from Matchbox Mobile show how it's done, aceing the team fire lighting challenge, one task at a time.
Great feedback from our foraging and wild food session for Brighton & Hove Chamber of Commerce this eve. Thanks to @forage_brighton for yummy wild canapés.
Take advantage of the warm weather to hold your team away day in the Great Outdoors. Taking your team into nature has lots of benefits. An away day in the wild builds camaraderie and team spirit A few weeks ago we ran an away day for the UK Green Building Council, a passionate and busy organisation who advocate for a better built environment. We got their team of twenty to connect around the fire, take an inspiring tour of the Brighton Earthship, and do some whittling and foraging. Usually based in an office in London, the activities and time together in nature really worked - Julie Hirigoyen their CEO wrote that the day gave them a “palpable sense of calm and togetherness which is still with us a week later.” The Academy of Medical Sciences delve into the future of medical research at an innovation away day workshop around the fire
All pictures: Academy of Medical Sciences
Who are they?
The Academy of Medical Sciences is a fellowship of 1,200 of the UK’s best medical science researchers working at universities and hospitals across the UK, with a mission to improve health through research.
Looking at the future of medicine
It’s March 2018, and the Academy are running a series of Horizon Scanning workshops across the UK to look at the future of medicine over the next 30 years. The workshops are bringing the Academy’s fellows and grant awardees together with curious creatives from various research disciplines, to explore what areas of medical research and innovation will have the greatest impact on society by 2048 (when the Academy turns 50). The Academy have asked School of the Wild to host the Brighton workshop - the idea is to hold it away from the usual world of universities and hospitals, in an environment not normally connected to research, to inspire attendees to think more broadly about the future. Futures consultant Oliver Grant is leading the sessions with support from Academy of Medical Science (AMS) staff, and writers and graphic visualisers who record the conversations. A very enjoyable day, Making Sense of Place with land care specialist Charlie Brennan. Hearing everyone's stories about what place means to them is inspiring, and makes you realise we're all migrants.
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Author & CuratorNigel Berman is the founder of School of the Wild. Archives
March 2024
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