Origin & development of the project

This project came to light in a vision that Quentin had during a meditation, in the beginning of 2017, by a river in the mountains of southern Spain.

“A land where everyone can live happily, consciously and in harmony with each other and with nature.”

From there, with enthusiasm and a sense of alignment, other beings joined him through this vision that also became meaningful in their hearts. A very broad and complete project quickly emerged, in which we invested our efforts and energy to bring to life. There are some of the key aspects that we believe are essential to the success of this project, and that, in some way, describe this future eco-village. Those are:

Inner foundations:

From the experience of existing eco-village projects, we all know that the most difficult task is not exactly building a house, or, for example, managing a self-sufficient food system. The hardest thing to manage is the human factor.

This is what we like to call the inner foundations. It is first needed to build oneself inside, to genuinely get to know ourselves, before imagining being able to live together in harmony with other people in the same place, on the same land. This is what we call the inner foundations.

This project is inspired by the spiritual values shared by Quentin, which are of cultivating an open heart and consciousness so that we can live in harmony with ourselves and, just after, with everyone around us.

By building this stable inner foundation, 80 to 90% of the success of such a project has already been achieved.

A concrete, well-grounded vision:

While it’s essential that this kind of project is based on an inner process of openness, and raising consciousness, we also want it to be a living experience that balances “Heaven and Earth”.

In other words, we don’t want to be neither at one extreme of the “hippie” style, rejecting entirely the system, without questioning it, nor at the other extreme, too materialistic, seeing money for money’s sake.

So, we are working with local entities, to try to be part of an evolution in favour of creating, developing, and supporting more ecovillages, collective and social projects.

Co-create, share, redistribute, pass on:

The eco-village is also seen as an open-air laboratory. We would like to share and pass on what we’ve learned, experienced and know about living together, personal and collective fulfillment, permaculture, ecology, ecological construction, water and energy resources management, etc.

We want it to be a place where everyone can find their own place and develop their individual skills and qualities, while strengthening and growing the collective.

In our view, the only way to live in harmony together and move towards a more conscious society is to create harmony within the collective, by actively listening, and opening our hearts and minds to the needs and aspirations of every being who is part of it. That starts, of course, by creating that openness in ourselves and listening to what makes us truly happy, so that we can welcome others.

Key dates in the project’s development:

2017: The vision for the project is born and the search for a plot of land starts in the mountains of southern Spain.

2018: After an unsuccessful search in the southern Spain, the search for a land begins in Portugal.

June 2019: An 80-hectare plot of land is found in Portugal.

September 2019: Presentation of the project to the interested community and collection of the first donations for the purchase of the land.

November 2019 : Field work to verify the possibility of creating natural lakes, which included a week-long study of the soil composition in many areas of the land (the purchase of the land had not yet been formalised, but we had the owner’s prior agreement to carry out these initial works which would help us understand whether the project is feasible or not – and this has proved to be very positive 🙂).

March 2020: Establishment of the Portuguese association Living Harmony.

March 2020 to 2021: Work with architects, lawyers, and the municipality to present the eco-village project, with a tourism activity.

September 2021: Difficulty to reach an agreement with the landowner, and our estate agent advised us to give up.

November 2021: An agreement is finally reached with the owner to buy the land in two instalments over 2 years, on the condition that the City Hall accepts the eco-village project.

April 2022 : To our great satisfaction, the City Hall accepts the project. They are very enthusiastic and welcoming of our intention to restore this rural area, to regenerate nature, to create a place for ecological tourism and to develop all our promising ideas, which are aligned with the region’s goals and strategy.

We have also received permission to build enough to complete the entire project, which means we can move forward with the idea of developing an ecovillage that can accommodate more than a hundred residents (families, children, elderlies), as well as visitors for short or long-term stays, a reception centre for events and a wide range of activities, such as a restaurant, and the processing and sale of artisanal products.

April 2022: We gather all the donations needed to cover the payment of the first part of the purchase of the land.

June 2022: Decision to hire Pureza to work full-time for the Living Harmony Association. Pureza is a Portuguese person who we met six months earlier, and who, with enthusiasm and dedication, is helping to develop this project.

September 2022: 1st week spent camping directly on the land, with around 15 people in resonance with the project. A magnificent experience!

October to December 2022: By discovering other similar projects in the region, networks start to be created.
April 2023: Signature of the purchase of the land. This brings a great joy for the whole community, who managed to finance it.

January 2023 to present: The network in the region has continued to develop, and contacts and synergies are increasingly being formed with other similar associations and projects.

A great team has been formed with a specialist in preserving the region’s ecosystems and adaptation to climate change. He works with several other people, each one with their own unique sensibility, intelligence, and experience, which is very inspiring and full of knowledge to share.

In addition, a highly experienced architect has joined the project, adding his experience developing different forms of construction with earth (the material chosen to develop this project, along with wood).

And the adventure continues…

In progress:

Drawing plans to renovate and extend the existing ruin on the site, with the goal to create the first activity and tourism centre, which will serve as the base from which to develop the rest of the project.

Decision to rent a space in the area to accommodate volunteers year-round, who would like to help develop the project.

Drawing up several plans to regenerate the landscape: a regeneration plan for the soil, a planting plan for trees and shrubs, a pruning and protecting plan for the existing flora, a plan for restoring the roads and paths, and also a plan for creating a natural lake and protect the existing lake.