Vale das Lobas
Sustainable Living
Are you dreaming of living on the land, in harmony with nature? In a comfortable home that is ecological and efficient, built from organic materials, with a light environmental footprint? Do you long for more time to spend with your family, time for being creative or simply being? Do you possess the skills to earn your living from what you can grow, make or produce?
Vale das Lobas is a response to our fast-changing world.
- Ecological design and construction
- Development of clean energy systems
- Traditional and organic agriculture
- Art and artisan production
- Children's education provided in a purpose-built school
- Natural medicine
- Inspirational courses, conferences and workshops
Situated in the breathtaking Beira Alta region of central Portugal, in the foothills of the Serra da Estrela Mountains, Vale das Lobas is one hour’s drive from both the Spanish border and the wild Atlantic coast. Surrounded by granite boulders and ancient Neolithic sites, it occupies over seventy hectares of unpolluted, fertile land. The heart of the project is the village of Sobral Pichorro, with its terraced farmlands and 16th century manor house, known locally as The Seminario.
The Seminario and it's beautiful terraced farm will be a multi-faith centre for peace, offering courses and workshops to encourage and inspire people who seek creative change and healing. The themes will range from natural medicine, through permaculture and traditional agriculture, to ecological construction and rural crafts. Residents at Vale das Lobas will be able to develop their income in association with the cycles and rhythms of the centre. Whether it is working in hospitality, to offering courses within the programme, to being part of the ecological building team, or having your own craft or artisan workshop, and selling your products directly to visitors. If you want to live a rural life, but take an active part in changing the world, join us at Vale Das Lobas.
 Riverside Lagar |
Sustainable living requires sharing resources in a responsible way whilst respecting each other’s privacy and freedom; a circle made of strong units, each supported by the whole. We base our model of community on the time-honoured traditional village, where each family has their own space and privacy, but much is shared willingly as a natural result of the loving relationships that grow over time. For this reason, we have chosen to establish the project in the village of Sobral Pichorro, where the residents are kind, good hearted souls, who are open to accept new families, and share their ancestral knowledge of the land and their ways.
All around the planet, similar initiatives are developing. The source of these inspirations is not personal but ancestral. There is a clear and unwavering message that the time has come to remember.
The memory of how to live in harmony with the natural world is within us all; to cultivate it we must live in connection with the cycles of nature, as our forebearers did. Sustainable living can also be comfortable and efficient. To cultivate the fusion between the traditional ways, and the best of the modern world is the great challenge of our times. Our forefathers are speaking to us - across the ages, in the gusting breeze, they are willing us to remember.