Welcome to Rainbow Communities  Sustainable Life Skills Training 2007/08 This year we are offering practical "hands-on" applied permaculture workshops and great working holidays opportunities now in Alentejo, Portugal to help you learn practical life skills at Arco-Iris Sustainability Centre.  This is an exciting new program as we move into our first year of creating a sustainable built environment for our community neighbourhood, and our second year on this wonderful land

Listed below is the full range of our Workshop program.  The first few are happening this season.  We run one week workshop per quarter on average with a working holiday month to follow on - to progress our learning these skills and help complete the tasks we started!  

Click on the appropriate link to be taken to your specific interest - all pages have a booking form included, all you need do is complete it to secure your place.  Please check by phone or email for latest up to date details.  

We are keen to support developing eco-quintas and community projects.  If you would like us to participate in an event or arrange a workshop with you  - please contact us.

How to Make & Install ...  DIY Solar Water Heating & ELECTRICITY!   
Part 1 - 20 to 26 May
Choosing your own system will be a lot easier once you know what is involved and could save you €£1000's! We will be installing a simple 'diy' hot water store and solar heating panel plus solar powered washing machine!  This is a 5 day activity for up to 6 people.  
Cost: €15 / day or work exchange.

Part 2 - 3 to 9 June
Learn how to install a complete domestic solar water heating and electricity system for one of our traditional houses at Qu.Arco-Iris.  This is a 5 day activity for up to 6 people.  Cost: €15 / day or work exchange.

Friends + Family (working holiday) SOLSTICE ACTIVITY WEEK - 18 to 24 June
This is a wonderful event.  Meet friends old and new, share cooking, explore the nature, sing, tell stories and help make Quinta Arco-Iris even more beautiful.  This is the mid-Summer Solstice celebration of high-Summer.  We will build a limecrete and pallet chicken house, 'taipa' + straw bale donkey house, clean out the spring font, repair the terrace garden and other lovely jobs!  A contribution of €5 per day towards food.  Accommodation and everything else is provided in exchange for your efforts.

How to Make your own ADOBE Geo-Dome HOME! - 15 to 21 July
make your own year-round accommodation using locally sourced natural materials.  A geo-dome is not only an attractive and versatile temporary building but can be a low-impact dwelling. Making shelters and structures is a basic survival skill, and a way into self-sufficient and community living. We will use eucalyptus poles, wire mesh and adobe and install a door and window to make a visitors accommodation.  This is a 5 day workshop for up tp 6 people.  Cost: €15 / day or work exchange.

Vision Quest!  Riding with Donkeys -  7 to 11 August
A 4-day experience following the old trails along the River Mira as it winds its way to the West Atlantic.  We will go as a small group taking with us only basic essentials, meeting our needs from natural sources of water and food and people on our way.  We will sleep under stars, tell stories and share experience and renew our trust in nature and the spirit in Life.  For more details contact Marie-Joao ...

Eco-Village living feature ~ ECOTOPIA  -  4 to 19 August
Across Iberia people are gathering at this event to share green ideas and ways of living. Quinta Arco-Iris plans to join with other eco-quintas and villages to create a showcase feature of eco-living, including our Exchange Economy and Community Trading Shop, Permaculture, Solar + Wind Power workshops.  This event is organised by Gaia - Grupo de Acção e Intervenção Ambiental   http://www.ecotopiagathering.org/

Rammed-Earth & STRAW-BALE - builD A DONKEY HOUSE - September 2 to 16
Rammed Earth, or "Taipa" is a simple natural technique using clay-rich soil to create solid masonry walls.  We will build a short low-height taipa wall, then raise height using straw-bales.  We will construct a roof and front timber wall.  Join us on this two week work exchange activity to help us construct a new home for Snr Romao!  A contribution of €5 per day towards food.  

((We will also learn how to use adobe natural “barro” and machine made blocks, prepare stone/slate “xisto” foundations, and use “Cal” lime plaster - comprehensive skills needed to build or renovate your own earth house. This is a two week long workshop + practical community living experience with ongoing working holiday opportunities following this month.))

Make Your own Gas-Bottle Wood Heater  – October 8 to 13
How to make a heater for your low-impact home using easily obtained free or recycled materials.

Introduction to Eco-Village Living - October 22 to 25
How to design, create and develop eco-villages based on the pioneering experience of Findhorn and the Global Eco-Village Network.  Sharing experiences and supporting people seeking to live on shared land in Portugal

ONGOING

Meditation for Creative Living and World Goodwill.  New & Full Moons (monthly meetings)
Learning to work with our higher Self towards creative group living is a key to right relationship with people, nature and ourselves.  We will learn and share from experience, and join in the world-wide meditation service to transform and create a better world though the power of goodwill.

PROVISIONAL * PLANNED FOR 2008

How to Make... A Clay-Earth Oven! + How to Make ... Honest To Goodness Bread!
We will; Learn from different traditions, (N.American, European, African), Gather, prepare and work with rock, earth and clay, Build a man-sized heat sink base from stone and shingle, Construct a dome with sand and clay, Bake some bread! This is a 3 or 4 day workshop.
Bread is the "staff of life". Making bread is a living creative process working with nature - it can put us in touch with ourselves, restore health and well-being to our families, and reconnect us to the earth which gives us the wholegrains and all that we need. This is a 1 day course.

HOW TO LIVE WITH SOLAR, WIND POWER for Electricity and Water Heating - Alentejo  October 14 to 22, 2006
How much energy do we need and how does it work?  What do I need to run my home, my office, my camper?  We will learn how renewable energy can meet our needs and how to install it.  We will make a low-cost solar water heating system * install a wind-generator and solar electricity.

Plant Spirit Medicine + the Journey of Life - Quinta Arco-Iris, Alentejo January '07. 2 day Workshop 
An introduction to shamanic journey and five-element self-healing. Deepen your inner connection to life living through us and our relationship to the nature that gives us medicine, food and resources.  This workshop can help you understand how nature can truly support our well-being and how we can live more natural sustainable lives.

Working With Trees - at Arco-Iris Community, Alentejo    February, 2007 
If you love trees this is the time they need most care for the seasons ahead.  Pruning, transplanting and hugging benefit both species.  We will learn from Portuguese teachers how to tend Olive, Almond, Cork, Sweet Chestnut, Pear and Apple, to cultivate and use their wood and produce for food, construction and medicine.

How to Design For ... Sustainable Living - Alentejo   March 2007 
If you are interested in:- Growing food, Sharing and Exchanging, Natural Building, Renewable Energy, Recycling & Reusing, Pure Water, Whole Health, Cooperative Living... This 2 week workshop is an introduction to Permaculture and Sustainable Living methods, a practical group experience for yourself, if you're thinking of joining or starting your own eco-village.

How to Build ... A Dry Composting Toilet!
This is a practical experience for people who are interested in living more self-reliant and sustainable lifestyles. This is a 2 day workshop.

How to Design & Install... Solar Rain Water Harvesting!
Learn how to harvest rain and build a totally solar powered system to reuse this valuable resource. Harvested rainwater can be used for loo-flushing, hot-water appliances and washing, even potable water. This is a 2 day workshop (and may extend up to 5 days to include part 2 - "Self-Install").

How to Build your own PEDAL POWER GENERATOR!
It's a simple but effective power supply and a great way to keep fit!  Make a pedal bike generator and you can recharge a 12Volt car battery or watch TV - great entertainment for lazy kids?