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1 Dec 2025
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Description
---{{IMPORTANT NOTE: Message us to receive our Volunteer Application Form}}---
Welcome!
We are a growing permaculture living lab and eco-community stewarding 3.6 hectares of forest in northern Portugal. Our aim is to regenerate the land, support biodiversity, and create a culture of cooperation, learning, and resilience.
Volunteering here means joining a small, close-knit community made up of three permanent households, one part-time household, and a handful of volunteers. Together, we care for the land through ecological restoration, natural building, food growing, and community projects.
You’ll be part of the wider project with your own cooking and living space, while still sharing in the daily rhythms of the land — our communal workdays, occasional gatherings, and the warm, family-friendly atmosphere that naturally creates plenty of shared moments.
🌿 Our Vision 🌿
This is a long-term project focused on:
- ecological regeneration
- community resilience
- permaculture design
- natural building
- water and energy independence
- diverse habitats for people, plants, and wildlife
We see ourselves as a place to learn, experiment, and co-create. Volunteers contribute to this evolution by helping care for the land and shared spaces.
🌿 Who We’re Looking For 🌿
We welcome volunteers who are:
- Enthusiastic about gardening, forestry, land care & permaculture
- Handy with tools, DIY, maintenance, or natural building
- Respectful, reliable, and comfortable with simple living
- Independent but also open to community participation
- Kind around children & family rhythms
- You don’t need professional experience — motivation and openness matter most.
- Families with children, couples, and solo volunteers are all welcome.
🌿 What You Can Expect 🌿
- Life in a forest-based, emerging eco-community
- Learning through doing: permaculture, natural building, land care
- A balance of independence and community connection
- Beautiful nature, fresh air, quiet nights
- Monthly gatherings and shared celebrations
- Space to slow down, reflect, and reconnect with nature
We can’t wait to meet you and share this adventure. If you feel called to join us at, get in touch!
Types of help and learning opportunities
Art Projects
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Babysitting and creative play
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Interests
Events & social
Sustainability
Self development
Farming
Animals
Photography
Languages
Gardening
Cooking & food
Books
DIY & crafts
Music
Plant care
Hitchhiking
Drawing & painting
Carpentry
Yoga / Wellness
Camping
Nature
Dancing
Mountain
Outdoor activities
Hiking
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Staying with us offers a chance to disconnect from the fast-paced world and reconnect with the natural beauty surrounding us. We believe in the power of slow living, and here, you’ll experience a unique blend of work, rest, and learning.
We’re eager to share our expertise in a wide range of areas, including:
- Permaculture & Ecology: From sustainable gardening practices to forest care, water management, and soil regeneration.
- Natural Building & Construction: Working with natural materials like clay, wood, and stone.
- Woodworking & Simple Carpentry: Crafting functional and beautiful items from wood.
- Cooking & Food Preservation: How to create delicious, nourishing meals from scratch and preserve seasonal food through canning, drying, and fermentation.
- Herbalism & Natural Cosmetics: Beginner herbalism, making homemade creams, oils, and salves.
- Education & Childcare: Sharing experiences in alternative education methods and activities for children.
- Community Organizing: Building and maintaining healthy, supportive community structures.
As free spirits and lifelong travelers ourselves, we understand what makes for a great volunteer experience. We know how important it is to foster a welcoming, collaborative atmosphere where travelers feel valued and supported. We also take pride in our relationship with our Portuguese neighbors and our growing network of like-minded locals and internationals. Even though we’ve only been here for a short time, we’ve integrated ourselves into a vibrant community of people working on similar regenerative and sustainable projects.
This exchange is an opportunity to learn practical skills, experience new ways of living, and become part of a dynamic, welcoming community. We look forward to sharing our journey with you!
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
We (Luana, Dennis, and Inti) moved onto the land in October 2022, and since then, it has been an incredible journey of regeneration and creation. Now, in January 2025, we’ve cleared a significant portion of the forest and made great progress—but there is still so much to do!
🌿2026 Focus & Ongoing Projects🌿
In 2026, our work here focuses on regenerating the land, strengthening our food systems, and improving essential infrastructure. Volunteers will support a mix of ongoing and seasonal tasks, including:
- FOREST CARE – Clearing overgrown areas, removing brambles, chopping firewood, planting trees and shrubs, and ongoing fire-prevention work.
- GARDENING – Maintaining and expanding our annual and perennial gardens, improving soil and compost systems, and increasing our food production.
- PLANTING NEW HEDGEROWS – Creating living borders that support biodiversity and protect young plantings.
- NATURAL BUILDING – Renovating an old stone ruin with natural materials and low-impact construction techniques.
- WATERWAY REHABILITATION – Restoring basins, channels, and catchment systems to improve water flow, retention, and resilience across the land.
-INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS – Upgrading outdoor showers, pathways, communal areas, and general facilities to support daily life on the land.
- CHICKEN CARE – Feeding, cleaning, and tending to our small flock.
It will be a practical, hands-on year where volunteers help deepen the ecological resilience here while contributing directly to long-term regenerative systems.
🌿Special Skills We Appreciate:🌿
- Permaculturists and Farmers: People with experience in permaculture or (organic) farming to help with garden design, soil improvement, and planting strategies.
- Builders and Craftspeople: Skilled individuals who can assist with natural building, carpentry, fencing, and general construction projects.
- Supporting the Kids & Community Learning: We welcome volunteers who enjoy spending time with children. This may include helping with our kids or contributing to our developing community kids’ project, especially if you have experience in education, play-based learning, or children’s activities.
- Content Creation: Capturing photos and videos, creating social media content, or assisting with online marketing to help us share our story with the world.
We welcome enthusiastic and adaptable travelers who are excited to roll up their sleeves and contribute to our shared vision of a thriving, self-reliant permaculture learning community.
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: Fluent
Croatian: Fluent
Dutch: Fluent
French: Intermediate
Italian: Intermediate
Portuguese: IntermediateThis host offers a language exchange
Luana is always happy to practice her French or Italian. Dennis really needs to learn more Portuguese :) Ishi loves practicing Spanish Sarah likes conversing in any language
Accommodation
Your own campervan / motorhome
- Shady, flat spots
- Water refill available
- No electricity hookup
Your own tent
- Bring all your own camping gear
- Plenty of peaceful, private camping spots
Tent provided
- Simple but comfortable
- Includes mattress, bedding & essentials
All volunteers have access to:
- Outdoor communal kitchen
- Compost toilets
- Warm Shower
- Indoor shared space depending on season
- Forest, terraces & nature all around
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🌿15 hours per week — Accommodation exchange🌿
Includes:
- 15 hours of work weekly
- Accommodation in your chosen setup
- Access to volunteer kitchen & shared facilities
Volunteers self-provide food and ingredients. You cook for yourself, and volunteers often choose to cook together informally — but this isn’t organized by the community.
Households have their own family meals, so these are separate from volunteer life.
Occasional shared meals or potlucks may arise naturally.
What else ...
Our surroundings:
- The Douro river is 2km away. There are many walking trails and river beaches in the nearby area.
- The town of Marco de Canaveses is a 15 min. drive, we go several times a week and are happy to share the ride. There you can find nice cafe's and restaurants and many cultural events.
- The Roman archeological site of Tongobriga is also a 15 min. drive.
- The bustling city of Porto is a bit more than an hour by train away. We're happy to bring you to the nearest station.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We have high speed internet available inside the big house. If you need internet outside the house to be able to work in a quiet spot, the best is to get a Portuguese internet sim-card for €15,- every two weeks.
Space for parking camper vans
There are flat, easily accessible and shady spaces. We can provide water/refill, and a space to dump your grey water. Bathroom can be shared with us in the main house & there is a communal outdoor kitchen available as well. Any vehicle up to 3500kg. can access the property via cobble-stone road. There is one part which is quite steep in the middle of a turn. On rainy days old vans with weak motors can have some trouble getting up. We DO NOT allow people pulling caravans to visit us since they seem to have loads of trouble reaching our place. And it stresses everybody out.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
My animals / pets
Pai & his hens (5 months)
Pai and his 20+ hens also live and thrive at Vale Ondula.
Gaia (3 years)
Gaia is our soft natured, super playful, high energy rescue dog.
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I had the fortune of living alongside other Workawayers from various parts of… read more
We spent the last summer with Denis Luana and Inti and it's been very beautiful to help out in their enchanted land. We were supposed to stay a couple of weeks but those homie vibes kept calling us back for the rest of the summer. While dealing between our digital work and early years of parenthood, Lua & Denis has always… read more
We learned a lot of new things (like playing the didgeridoo!) and Denis and Lua created a nice atmosphere… read more
We were sad to see them leave!
There were always options as to what kind of work we could do and we… read more
