Take part in an eco community project in Agios Vlasios, Greece

Details

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  Description

  Hi Workawayers! We are a Greek-German couple with two children living in the stunningly beautiful Pelion peninsula that we chose as our home eight years ago. We are currently setting up a community and retreat space in an olive grove, with a small farm house that is completely off-grid, with photovoltaics and water processing installations. Heating is done using fire wood from the regular pruning of the olive trees. The space has fantastic sea views and is close to a mountain stream, ideal for cooling off in the summer.
  
  Marina is a yoga teacher and holistic nutritionist, and Wolfgang is former climate scientist turned farmer, project developer and activist writer. We are currently developing the olive grove into a community space complete with camp site, activities deck, access to the local stream, small pond and a vegetable and herb garden. We also have an additional 3/4 ha plot 500 m from the beach where we have planted various fruit trees. This will be the space where we will grow the vegetables to supply the retreats.
  
  The vision is to build a self-sustaining community healing space that can also run various seminars centered around the themes of nature awareness, meditation, yoga, self-sufficiency and practical life skills. Please note that we are not a business activity, as we have no intention to earn money with the operations.
  
  Our ethos is the following one: we want to create a space for healing for anyone to stay as long as they like (ideally), and as a volunteer you'd both profit from that and then what you give back will not be for us, but for the next people to come. We supply the space, ideas, and the material. But it's not for us. In this way, we hope that it will grow bigger and bigger and become more and more attractive over time.
  
  At a later stage there might be the need for some income for the project to pay for expenses. All will be strictly not-for-profit, with the goal of self-sustainability. But this might be the chance for people to take on greater responsibilities. Possibilities for income include production of olive oil, edible cured olives, or olive soaps; vegetables and fruits; or the running of seminars and events.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Help with Computers/ Internet
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  Interests

  

  Politics / Social justice

  

  Sustainability

  

  Self development

  

  Farming

  

  Music

  

  Books

  

  DIY & crafts

  

  Drawing & painting

  

  Writing

  

  Photography

  

  Languages

  

  Gardening

  

  Cooking & food

  

  Blogging

  

  Yoga / Wellness

  

  Nature

  

  Camping

  

  Beach

  

  Mountain

  

  Outdoor activities

  

  Hiking

  

  Cycling
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  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

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  What's this?
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Developing an autonomous, off-grid living space is a complex task that requires both careful planning and a lot of learning by doing. Our plan is develop the olive grove into a full retreat space for people to stay within a community of like-minded people and connect with nature. We want to share with you this process so that you can gain inspiration and learn new insights for what you are looking for in your life. There are also many nature immersion opportunities here, as there are the sea, the olive and fruit tree growing zones, and the dense forests higher up the mountains, interspersed with picturesque villages.
  
  So if you are interested in any way to help out, take part and still shape the project, you'll be very welcome. There is lots of landscape design work to do, working with wooden structures, growing vegetables and tending fruit trees.
  
  We will not only work together, but also practice social and community building skills, sharing our experiences and setting goals for ourselves and the project alike. If you wish, the there will be the opportunity to start the day with a free yoga class.

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  Help

  We are mainly looking for volunteers who would enjoy staying in place of natural beauty where you can relax and detach and retreat from a busy life, and at the same time help us build out the space so that we can host more people in the future.
  
  First of all, there are various routine tasks, like collecting and preparing fire wood, taking care of the olive trees or the newly planted fruit trees, maintaining paths on the site, checking the irrigation and water system etc.
  
  Then, there are various projects planned: setting up solar hot-water boilers, building washing facilities for the camp site, setting up spaces for several large tents (where you can stand inside) and building some furniture to make it comfortable, erecting a deck space for seminars close the stream and a sauna/sweat lodge, planting some more fruit trees for an orchard/small park near the house with sea view, planting a herb garden, preparing a smaller meditation space, and building a clay-bottom pond.

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  Languages spoken

  German: Fluent
  Greek: Fluent
  English: Fluent
  French: Intermediate
  Italian: Intermediate
  Romanian: Intermediate

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  Accommodation

  You will stay in the small and newly renovated stone farm house with a living/sleeping area upstairs and a kitchen and bathroom downstairs. In front of the house there is a large veranda where you can enjoy the view onto the sea and the mountains beyond.
  
  We will supply food for you to prepare by yourself, except for the days we work together, when you will be provided one prepared meal per day that we share.

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  What else ...

  Walking distance to the sea or to the nearest bus stop is half an hour. The centre of Volos is then about 25 minutes by city bus. Volos is a decent size city with everything you need basically.
  
  You can also start hiking trips directly from the farm to all over Mt Pelion. Pelion is a kind of Greece in microcosm, with dense deciduous forests in the part where we are (just higher up), pine forest in the south, rocky landscapes, lots of beaches.
  
  The specialty of Volos is called "Tsipouro with mezé": you order a Tsipouro, which is distilled wine either with or without Anis seed, with a "mezé", which is some small accompanying food, usually seafood, but you don't know which will come (surprise effect).

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Can host digital nomads

  If you need to work on the internet, you will have to organise your own connection. There is a phone mast on top of the neighbouring hill, so there is good 4G connectivity on-site.

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  Can possibly accept pets

  We allow dogs on the land, but you need to be aware that there are wild boars in the area roaming after night fall.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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