Learning to Design for Sustainability…
Staff Team | May 4 – June 1: Spring Camp; September 21 – October 5: Autumn Camp
Price: EUR 75 (GBP 65) [weeks 1 & 2] / EUR 60 (GBP 50) [subsequent weeks]
(Standard shared accommodation or tent and 3 meals per day included)
Work camps provide an opportunity to join the work rhythms of the Centre, to learn natural building methods and organic gardening and to participate in authentic community building, which includes the building that takes place between people in terms of communication, trust and appreciation.
People often elect to stay on after the May work camp and join our summer staff and there are often opportunities for extending your stay in this way. In the camps we will be building and maintaining physical structures, and building and enhancing interpersonal ones as well. All of our work camp projects give excellent opportunities for gender role reversal as you can see from the photos on this page depicting workers from our previous camps.
In October we will host a second work camp to carry on whatever work remains unfinished from the May camp and to pack up the Centre at the end of the workshop season.
There is work to be done in getting the gardens ready for the winter and the temporary workshop spaces are taken down and packed up. We will be doing some minor maintenance of the buildings, for example, painting and wood preserving. Often there is some pruning and planting and tree work as well. Aside from this, we always need a support team to help with cooking and autumn cleaning.
As usual, working and sharing together as a team engenders a strong community feeling and the feedback on the October work camps over the years has been consistently positive. As opposed to the excitement and strong energy of the May work camp when we prepare ourselves for the season, the October camp is mellow and quiet in keeping with the move towards winter, a chance to go inward and reflect on our accomplishments over the summer season, to give ourselves feedback and to envisage next year’s season. As the weather cools, warm pullovers are useful and we sleep under blankets. The season at this point is usually dry, with the days being crisp yet still warm till about 4 pm.
Rhythms
Working and planning together in a team engenders a powerful community experience–the morning after-breakfast council circle is an integral part of this.
We don’t go to work till we know where we all are and what we want to do and who is going to do what. Sometimes this needs to be a 15-min check-in, and sometimes it is a deeper hour-long sharing.
In the camps we expect team members to put in about 30 hours of physical work a week with one full day a week off to relax and enjoy this remarkable region of Greece, still unspoilt by foreign tourism.
Everyone shares in the cooking and meal clean-up.
There is plenty of free afternoon time to enjoy the beaches and, in May, the late spring flowers along the forest paths.
In October, there is an autumnal tranquility and, although evenings can be cool, the sea is at its warmest at this time of the year and most days are sunny and warm with occasional showers. By the last week of September we have the spectacular beaches of East Pelion virtually to ourselves.
