Area: Nolfolk Island South Pacific

Volunteering with our Foundation is a unique opportunity to be a part of an exciting new eco village, the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow showcase project based right here on Norfolk Island. The project is in its initial stages, and we are offering a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be involved in this pivotal project. The EPCOT showcase is one of the most exciting projects in the South Pacific and is also becoming known as of one of the most important research centres in the region, and we want you to be involved! Our volunteers will be based usually at this project, but soon will have the opportunity to be based elsewhere on the Island as well.

Area: Scottish Highlands

We live together with our 6 year old cocker spaniel Kim in a beautiful wooded glen valley near a village called Spinningdale about 50 miles North of Inverness in the Northern Scottish highlands. We have a 6 acre former croft, (a traditional small highland farmstead), which we are gradually developing as a permaculture site. We are surrounded by 1700 acres of stunning natural woodland belonging to a conservation body called The Woodland Trust. We are currently building an eco-house as our new family home.

Area: Ribatejo

We run a historic estate in a beautiful setting that hosts weddings, summer camps, hunting groups, and seminars, as well as runs as bed and breakfast. In the past, Previously it was used as agricultural and hunting land for the nobility of Portugal. There is a main house, a lodge, dormitories, and small houses, as well as a pool, pond, and large wooded area to explore. Offering a glimpse at historic and contemporary Portuguese culture and living, from the agricultural antiques you may be cleaning and organizing to a glimpse of hunting and wedding culture in this country. In addition, the spring through winter of 2010, there will be a Portuguese soap-opera filmed here twice a week. While the cast and crew are separate from us, it is quite fun to witness this! We need assistance with grounds maintenance and development. Grounds keeping often includes tasks such as raking, weeding, decorating and painting, recovering antiques, trail building, cleaning and organizing objects, and planting, as well as helping with events (i.e. catering or dish washing). We appreciate especially if people share with us their interests and skills, as we have projects that need doing for just about everything! We intend to plant a garden as demonstration for guests who will come here for seminars on cooking and gardening. We need volunteers to plant the garden (we provide the plans and general instruction), as well as to do weeding, mulching, and other tending that it will need. Thus there is both room and need for those who are creative and self-motivated. With the multitude of projects, there is something available for a variety of interests. We hope to have several volunteers (maximum 8) here at a time, however, this is also often a quiet, rural place. Volunteers live together dormitory style, with mostly single, bunk beds but also a few private rooms. The beds can be pushed together to make a larger bed for couples, however, if you anticipate this to be an issue, please speak to us about this in advance so we can try to see about a double bed. In the summer, we have many large summer camps and will need kitchen help. We are experiencing a revival of sorts, as we develop new aspects – trails, a bed and breakfast, a shop that holds antiques and sells local goods. We are excited about the variety of projects at here, and are developing new ideas for ways that we can use the land and space. Because we live part of our time in Lisboa, we tend to give a list of tasks and you organize yourself, or we call with instruction. Volunteers who are self-motivated, creative, and flexible do well in this setting. There are a few employees who work the grounds, and the kitchen is shared between volunteers and employees. We provide you with groceries to cook for yourself, and often there is catered food left from hunting groups and weddings available, providing you with a taste of authentic Portuguese cuisine! We have a great bread oven that volunteers are welcome to use, and of course there is the pool. We expect 5 hours a day, 6 days a week, and you are independent to arrange your time according to your interests. Because Lisboa and towns in the Ribantejo (Tomar and Santarem, for example) are easily accessible from here, this is a great place to work and go explore from, or to work and have a quiet, relaxing time in a beautiful area. Coruche is 6 km away, easily accessible by bus. The bus to Santarem goes by at the end of the street as well. Because we are often in Lisboa, it is good to make sure to establish in advance the time you intend to arrive so we can make sure you get a ride!

Area: Cote D'Azur

We are a British couple ( three grown up chidlren) who live 6 months in France and 6 months in California. Our place in France is in the heart of an absolutely beautiful medieval village approx 4 kms from the Medierranean. We bought the house 3 years ago and we have been renovating the grounds which contain a large old established garden which was very neglected when we bought it. There is always a lot of work to do in the garden and we need help from volunteers with some experience of gardening. There are many lovely beaches within a few kms for swimming and sunbathing.