The team
The founders:
Quentin: He is at the origin of the project. Quentin is a kind-hearted guide who accompanies people on the path to self-knowledge, self-awareness and openness to themselves and others.
Meriam: Sharing values of the heart and consciousness, she helps beings to listen to themselves and align with their path through her feminine sensitivity and creativity.
Cyrille: Involved since the beginning of the project, he contributes with his multiple talents, both artistic and technical. He is an invaluable part of the project’s development.
Pureza: She immediately identified with this wonderful project and, with great enthusiasm, joined the Association in September 2022. Since then, she has been working full-time as project manager. She is a great help, particularly in expanding and maintaining the network links that have been formed, in the necessary search for financial support, and in making the ideas for the project come into life.
The community:
A growing community, enthusiastic about this project and helping in various ways with its implementation and development. A big thank you to everyone who has already taken part in this wonderful adventure and to those who are joining us 🙏
Our partners:
André Vizinho: A specialist in nature regeneration and conservation techniques, he has developed extensive knowledge and experience in the fields of agro-forestry, permaculture, the management and balance of different types of biodiversity, water management and the creation of an entire eco-system. André has studied deeply the ecosystems of the Alentejo region, and the challenges of climate change.
He was the leading researcher for the LIFE Montado-Adapt project, and collaborates with several programmes and organisations, including the Pastagens Regenerativas project (Regenerative Pastures), in which we partially participated, which aims to study, implement, and monitor more sustainable practices of managing and improving a landscape that has suffered greatly from various human errors made in the past.
Miguel Ferreira Mendes: An architect working with his heart, he has extensive experience in ecological construction and construction with earth (our main choice of building materials). He has projects all over the world, wherever his heart takes him. He works together with other architects, engineers, and artists from the community who, together with Quentin, are already involved in projecting what this place will be.
He is also one of the founders of the “Centro da Terra” association and a member of the CRAterre association.
Zachary Weiss (Elemental Ecosystem): Zach had Sepp Holzer as his mentor. Sepp is the man behind one of the largest ecological permaculture farms in Europe, located in Austria, where, at an altitude of over 1.000 metres, he managed to grow plants considered extremely difficult for that climate, including cherry trees. His philosophy is based, above all, in creating lakes that are integrated in the landscape, which makes it possible to recreate healthy ecosystems and microclimates, that contribute to the emergence and accumulation of water in the landscape. Zach came to help us with the first soil studies, even before we bought the land, to check the chances of creating potential lakes, and to help us with water management solutions. We continue to keep him, and his team, updated on the progress of our project.
VdA: A dynamic team of lawyers, including a human resources specialist, helps the association and the project to be built on solid legal foundations. This allows us to move forward in a spirit of openness and collaboration with the authorities, and also to help find solutions to encourage similar projects, helping to support ecology in general, while taking into account the human element at its heart.
Other partnerships: We work with several neighbouring farms that contribute to the development of our project through mutually beneficial exchanges, such as the loan of machinery, the provision of sheep to manage some of the vegetation on the land and exchanges of several other services.
Inspiring projects:
Here are a few of the projects we’re in contact with, and have been lucky enough to visit. These have explored different aspects and accomplished many things that inspire our project:
Herdade do Freixo do Meio : https://freixodomeio.pt/
Terra Sintrópica : https://terrasintropica.com/
Biovilla : https://biovilla.org/
