Refugees and asylum seekers were recently trained in horticulture at the University section of the Argotti Botanic Gardens.
The training was given as part of the Hortes II project. It endeavoured to teach refugees and asylum seekers the basics of gardening. This project was funded by the European Union through the European Refugee Fund.
The course was spread over three levels, from beginners' to advanced, each taking about 10 weeks to complete. Refugees from all open centres were contacted, with the biggest number of participants coming from one of the open centres in Ħal Far.
The initiative gave the group of refugees and asylum seekers who took part the tools and skills to be more successful in finding a job in the gardening industry.