Join a family project for self-sufficiency, creativity and sustainable living in Valchiusella, Western Italy

Informationen

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  Beschreibung

  This began as a community project about 30 years ago in Valchiusella, a beautiful valley in north-western Italy, nestled in the Alps between the Gran Paradiso National Park and the Aosta Valley. Surrounded by mountains reaching up to 2,800 metres, it is a truly special place immersed in nature.
  
  The project is made up of several buildings that have been gradually restored over the years, including through natural and ecological building techniques. The restoration and expansion of the spaces is still ongoing, with a strong focus on sustainable and environmentally respectful construction.
  
  The community is surrounded by long-established vegetable gardens, greenhouses and fruit trees. A local, largely self-sufficient economy based on growing, sharing, exchange and mutual support is still very much alive, strengthened by connections with the surrounding area and with a network of friends and collaborators who regularly visit, share their skills and talents, and bring an international dimension to the project.
  
  One of the special treasures of the valley is the Chiusella River and its many tributaries. Along the river there are beautiful natural pools with crystal-clear water, where it is possible to swim and cool off during the warmer months, as well as waterfalls that create a powerful and energising atmosphere. The river is an integral part of the experience of this place, offering a wonderful opportunity, in free time, to reconnect with nature and with the spirit of water.
  
  Valchiusella is also home to a remarkable concentration of intentional communities and alternative living projects. Among them is Damanhur, one of the largest and most established intentional community experiments in Europe, with a community of more than 600 people. The valley is also home to other initiatives involving people from different countries, including Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.
  
  This creates a unique international environment, where different languages, cultures, lifestyles and approaches to community living meet and interact. The whole valley can be experienced as a living laboratory for connection, exchange and exploration — both between people and with the natural world, including a deeper relationship with the Earth and the living environment around us.
  
  This is a place devoted to the arts, the development of individual talents, creativity, and personal and spiritual exploration. It is a space where people can connect with nature, with themselves and with others, while contributing to the ongoing life and evolution of the community.

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  Arten von Hilfe und Lernmöglichkeiten

  Kunstprojekte

  Hilfe bei Ökoprojekten

  Leichte Gartenarbeit

  Kreative Heimwerkerprojekte

  Betreuung von Tieren

  Babysitten und Kinderbetreuung

  Zubereiten / Kochen von Mahlzeiten für die Familie

  Hausarbeiten

  Leichte Instandhaltungsarbeiten
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  Interessengebiete

  

  Events & Sozialleben

  

  Nachhaltigkeit

  

  Haustiere

  

  Kultur

  

  Selbstentwicklung

  

  Karitative Arbeiten

  

  Farmarbeit

  

  Geschichte

  

  Gärtnern

  

  Musik

  

  Heimwerken & DIY

  

  Bücher

  

  Kunst & Design

  

  Fotografie

  

  Sprachen

  

  Gartenarbeiten

  

  Kochen & Backen

  

  Architektur

  

  Schreiben

  

  Darstellende Künste

  

  Zeichnen & Malen

  

  Tischlerarbeiten

  

  Tiere

  

  Yoga / Wellness

  

  Natur

  

  Camping

  

  Tanzen

  

  Gebirge

  

  Segeln / Boote

  

  Outdoor-Aktivitäten
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  UNO-Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung, die dieser Gastgeber verfolgt

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  Was ist das?
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  Kultureller Austausch und Lernmöglichkeiten

  Valchiusella is a very lively and diverse territory, with a rich network of intentional communities and alternative living projects, some highly structured and others more informal. This creates many opportunities to meet people from different parts of the world, discover other ways of living and helping together, and explore other projects and initiatives in the valley.
  
  The area also offers a variety of events and gatherings related to holistic practices, arts, culture and community life, providing further opportunities to connect with the local and international community.
  
  We regularly share convivial moments around abundant lunches and dinners with friends, visitors and people passing through. We enjoy cooking and eating together, often celebrating the abundance that comes from sharing our time, food and skills.
  
  Seasonally, we may also help together on food preparation and preservation, such as making tomato sauce or jams. These activities can involve several families and become beautiful moments of cooperation and exchange.
  
  There are also simpler and more spontaneous moments: singing together around the fire under the stars, spending time with children, taking walks in the woods, or simply enjoying each other's company after helping together during the day.
  
  At the moment, we are also developing a new pilot project: the creation of an **Art House and creative workshop space**. The building is currently being restored, and we are organising participatory restoration workshops involving local craftspeople as well as the skills already present. Work on this project will continue through the autumn, so Workawayers may have the opportunity to participate directly in this process and connect with local artisans and other people involved in the project.
  
  The valley itself is a wonderful place for people who love nature and walking. It is crossed by a large network of trails, ranging from easy walks through the hills and forests to more demanding mountain paths. We are surrounded by woodland, and the nearby rivers, streams and waterfalls offer many opportunities to slow down, find silence and reconnect with nature. The area is also particularly interesting for climbing.
  
  The skills and knowledge that we can share with Workawayers
  
  This is a place where knowledge is shared mainly through practical experience and everyday life.
  
  We can share our experience in ecological and natural building, gardening, growing food, caring for fruit trees and working with the land. We can also share knowledge related to food preparation and preservation, community life, ecological living and the practical skills involved in maintaining a rural property.
  
  A particularly exciting area of development at the moment is our new Art House, which we are restoring as a creative space dedicated to a wide range of artistic disciplines. The vision is for it to become a place where different forms of art can meet and be explored through workshops, practice and collaboration.
  
  The building will eventually welcome many different artistic disciplines, including graphic arts, hand printing and digital printing, weaving and textiles, sewing, ceramics and sculpture, drawing, painting and other forms of creative expression.
  
  The restoration itself is also part of the project. Local craftspeople are involved alongside people with existing skills, creating an opportunity to learn through practical participation in a real, evolving project. Workawayers with an interest in arts, crafts, restoration or simply learning by doing may therefore have the opportunity to become part of this process.
  
  Beyond specific skills, we enjoy sharing ways of living that are based on cooperation, self-sufficiency, creativity, connection with nature and the development of personal talents.
  
  Because we are already an international and multicultural environment, we can also share experiences of living across cultures and languages. Italian is the main language, but English, Spanish, Portuguese and French are also spoken within our network and community.
  
  What we hope to learn by hosting people from different cultures
  
  We see hosting people from different cultures as an opportunity for continuous exchange and learning.
  
  Every person brings their own traditions, language, ways of thinking and ways of approaching everyday life. We are curious to discover these different perspectives and to see how they can enrich our own way of living.
  
  We also hope to learn new practical techniques and approaches that Workawayers may bring from their own experience — whether related to gardening, building, cooking, crafts, sustainability, artistic practices or other areas of everyday life.
  
  This place is already a crossroads of different cultures and backgrounds. Alongside Italian culture, our life and relationships are influenced by people and experiences connected, for example, with Brazil, Belgium and other parts of the world. We value this cultural diversity and see it as an important part of who we are.
  
  For us, hosting is therefore not simply about receiving help. It is about creating a space for mutual exchange, where everyone can contribute something of their own and leave with new experiences, knowledge, connections and perspectives.

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  Projekte mit Kindern

  Dieses Projekt schließt möglicherweise den Umgang mit Kindern ein. Mehr Informationen findest du in unseren Verhaltensregeln und Tipps hier.

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  Arbeit

  We are looking for people who would enjoy contributing to the everyday life and ongoing development.
  
  The main areas where we need help are:
  
  * **Garden and vegetable garden:** caring for and maintaining the vegetable gardens, fruit trees and greenhouses, including seasonal tasks. Herboriste preparations.
  * **Animal care:** we have Indian Runner ducks, cats and one peaceful dog, who may also need some additional care and attention.
  * **Natural building and upkeap:** helping with the ongoing restoration, renovation and development of our spaces using ecological and natural building techniques that we can share and teach too, for who is interested on. Depending on your skills and experience, there may be different kinds of practical projects to get involved in. All these projecrts are not dangerous or in substitution to employed professional figures which we use for bigger tasks. If some workaway is specialized in something we need then will be nice for us to cooperate and why not to learn new things us too!
  * **Housekeeping and common spaces:** helping to keep the shared indoor spaces clean, welcoming and organised.
  * **Outdoor spaces and land projects:** helping us take care of the surrounding areas and the spaces we use in our everyday life.
  
  The whole property covers around 4 hectares, including approximately 1 hectare dedicated to vegetable gardens and fruit trees, while the remaining land is mainly woodland. We also have several buildings and a substantial amount of indoor space, including around 150 square metres of shared/common areas that need regular care and maintenance.
  
  We welcome people who are hands-on, responsible, curious and happy to learn. You don't necessarily need to have professional experience in all these areas: a willingness to participate, learn new skills and contribute to the life of the place is what matters most.
  
  People with practical skills in gardening, natural building, carpentry, maintenance, animal care or other crafts are especially welcome, but we are also happy to meet people who simply enjoy working with their hands and being outdoors.
  
  There is also a young child in the family, currently three and a half years old. Families with children are very welcome, as are people who particularly enjoy being around children and have a natural and caring attitude towards them. This is not a requirement, but it can be a lovely additional way to contribute to family and community life.
  
  Most importantly, we are looking for people who appreciate community life, respect the natural environment and enjoy sharing their time, skills and energy with others.

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  Gesprochene Sprachen

  Italienisch: Fließend
  Englisch: Gute Kenntnisse
  Spanisch: Gute Kenntnisse
  Französisch: Gute Kenntnisse
  Portugiesisch: Grundkenntnisse

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  Unterkunft

  Workawayers will mainly be accommodated on the top floor of our **Community House**, a three-storey building.
  
  The ground floor is home to our summer communal kitchen, which is used by everyone during the warmer months. It has both indoor and outdoor areas and also serves as a space for food preparation and preservation.
  
  The first floor contains private family spaces and apartments.
  
  The entire top floor is a spacious attic area dedicated mainly to communal and guest life. It includes a large shared living room, which is also used by the family for convivial moments, and a kitchen that can be used by guests as their main shared base.
  
  Next to the living area there is a shared bedroom with 4 to 6 beds, including a loft space, as well as a bathroom with a shower, hot water and all the essential facilities.
  
  Depending on the number and composition of guests, it may also be possible to arrange separate sleeping spaces for women and men.
  
  For those who would like a closer connection with nature, there is also the possibility of camping in a tent in some flat areas around the house, depending on the season and weather conditions.
  
  The accommodation is simple and communal, in keeping with the spirit of our place, and offers both shared spaces for socialising and opportunities to enjoy the surrounding nature.
  
  We provide simple, healthy and mostly organic food as part of the exchange. We grow a large part of our vegetables and potatoes in our own garden, and we also prepare many things ourselves, such as tomato sauces, pesto, jams and fruit juices. We buy very little from supermarkets and, whenever possible, choose organic products.
  Breakfast usually includes milk or organic plant-based milk, homemade or organic biscuits, homemade jams, fruit, coffee, butter and our own honey. We also provide basic shared dairy products, such as Parmigiano Reggiano.
  Lunches are generally shared and based on vegetables, eggs, rice, pasta and other grains such as millet and buckwheat. Our diet is mainly vegetarian and largely gluten-free, although we also eat wheat products. We enjoy sharing meals and cooking together, especially at lunchtime.
  In the evening, meals are more flexible: we may eat together, prepare something simple from what was cooked at lunch, or everyone can cook for themselves. When we are not at home, all the available food and ingredients are left for Workawayers to use.
  Meat and fish are not part of the basic food arrangement. If we decide to buy them, they are purchased separately and shared among those who want to eat them. Similarly, specific products required for particular diets or dietary preferences are not included in the basic food arrangement and would need to be purchased separately.
  Our aim is to offer wholesome, mostly homemade and organic food, while making meals an enjoyable and natural part of the cultural exchange.

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  Etwas mehr Information

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    Internet Zugang

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    Eingeschränkter Internet Zugang

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    Wir besitzen Tiere

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    Wir sind Raucher

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    Familien möglich

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  Kann Digital Nomads unterbringen

  We do not currently have a Wi-Fi connection, but mobile internet coverage is generally good through the local telephone network. Workawayers who need to work online should therefore check in advance that their mobile provider has good coverage in the area or offers roaming through one of the networks that work well here. Among the Italian providers, **Iliad currently has particularly good coverage** in our area. It is also possible to purchase a temporary Italian SIM card if needed. There are several spaces where someone can work quietly with a laptop, including shared indoor areas and other more private corners. The spaces are quite large, so it is usually possible to find a suitable place depending on the needs of the moment. The printing/workshop space can also sometimes be used as a working area. For more reliable Wi-Fi, there are several options nearby. **Damanhur Crea**, a local cultural and community centre, has a café and public Wi-Fi, and it is possible to work there, including in the library area, without necessarily needing to purchase anything. There are also cafés, libraries and other public spaces in the nearby villages where digital nomads can work and connect to the internet. For people who need to work online, we therefore recommend planning their connectivity in advance, but there are several practical options available in and around the valley.

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  Platz zum Abstellen von Camper Vans

  There is a flat parking area approximately **50 metres from our place**, just outside our property, where it is possible to park and stay in a campervan or motorhome. The space is suitable for **smaller campervans and motorhomes, approximately up to 5–6 metres long**, such as a Fiat Ducato converted into a camper. Larger vehicles, around 7 metres or more, cannot be comfortably accommodated here. There are **no dedicated camper facilities**, such as a chemical toilet disposal point or other services. For those travelling with a larger camper or who need these facilities, there is a dedicated camper area in the nearby village of **Vidracco**, where it is possible to empty chemical toilets and access other basic services. It is also possible to stay there overnight for a small fee (approximately €10), take care of the necessary services, and then return. The parking area near is therefore best suited to people travelling in relatively compact campervans who are happy with a simple, nature-based setup.

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  Kapazität - wie viele Workawayer maximal

  mehr als zwei

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  Meine Tiere/Haustiere

  

  Cipolla (1 Jahr)

  Cute female cat.

  

  Frutta (7 Jahren)

  Peaceful and sweet female dog.

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