Ziggy

Travel information

I am currently

Activities i am interested in:

I would love to learn more about regenerative agriculture, community living, permaculture, ecosystem restoration, crafts and natural building.

Description

Hi!

My name is Ziggy. I am 28 years old and half Belgian, half Irish. I would describe myself as a calm, flexible, positive and open-minded person who is very motivated to help others in developing their projects. Getting to know different people, cultures and perspectives, and learning new skills is what excites me! Besides that, enjoying the simple things in life - sharing a meal together, walking in the mountains, planting new seedlings in a vegetable patch,... - also bring me a lot of happiness.

For the past six months I was a volunteer in a small, intentional community developing permaculture in Catalonia. During this period it has become clear to me what I love doing: working together with people to create more sustainable ways of living in which cooperation, creativity, and care (for ourselves, other humans and nature) are central. And I'm not afraid of getting my hands dirty in the process!

Interests

Languages

Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Dutch: Fluent
Spanish: Intermediate
French: Beginner

More details about my language interests
I would love to further improve my Spanish! It has been so nice to be able to communicate with people in their own language. I can help others in learning English or Dutch if necessary.

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Skills and knowledge I'd like to share or learn

I'm interested in:  

Art Projects

Life at a Farmstay

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Some knowledge of:  

Eco Projects

Gardening

DIY and building projects

Animal Care

Creating/ Cooking family meals

Helping around the house

General Maintenance

More details about your skills

During the past six months I have been a volunteer in an intentional community developing permaculture. I learnt many skills and gained a lot of knowledge related to the different systems that are part of a permaculture project (and how they are designed to interact with each other):

- Vegetable garden: sowing, planting, maintenance, watering, harvesting, collecting seeds, ground cover, mulching, flowers, etc. (with a focus on the soil - minerals, organic matter, microbiology - to understand which plant associations and rotations are desirable)
- Food forest: maintenance, mulching, harvesting, pruning, planting, etc.
- Sheep: holistic grazing management (and a sheep dog was being trained to move, manage and control the sheep)
- Chickens and ducks: cleaning, feeding, egg incubation, composting, etc.
- Bio-construction: building a new outdoor kitchen with cob, wood (pallets and beams), second-hand windows, doors and roofing, stones, glass bottles and natural mortar (to make the outside layer of the walls waterproof)
- Water management: creating drip irrigation system for trees and vegetable plots, maintenance and improvement of grey water system (building of pond to filtrate water with round gravel stones of different sizes and aquatic plants)
- Compost: humanure (dry toilet), worm compost, sheep compost, chicken compost, etc.
- Community living: social permaculture (understanding how a communty organises itself through different types of assemblies), sociocracy, personal development, etc.

I further deepened the above-mentioned knowledge and skills during a 2-week Permaculture Design Course that was organised at the farm.


Before volunteering, I studied Geography at Ghent University. This also gave me certain skills and knowledge that can be applied within permaculture and regenerative agriculture projects:

- Map making and spatial analyses in GIS software
- Applying holistic and interdisciplinary approaches to understand a landscape
- Understanding human-nature relationships

Relevant topics: Nature Conservation, Landscape Ecology, Spatial Ecology, Environmental History, Rural Sociology, Environmental Philosophy, etc.

Age

28

What else ...

To relax I love being outside, hiking, dancing, reading, listening to music, playing (board) games, cooking, practicing yoga and writing.

Some more information

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  Smoker

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  Driver's licence

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  Allergies
  no

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  Special dietary requirements
  no