Our Vision

We would like to share the first draft of our Vision for the next 5 years with you

We are an intentional community focused on the implementation and the operation of an Eco-Social entrepreneurship named O Fojo | Integral Education Center, in central Portugal. Organized as a formal association, this Living and Learning Center is designed to be successful social experience, ecologically sound and economically viable through this six areas of focus and business:


O Fojo Community

A functional international intentional community focused in creating experience on regenerative relationships and regenerative education, supported economically by the different areas of ethical business we are involved in. We envision to live a happy, non stressful, healthy and nature connected meaningful life.


Integral Education Center

A center for an integral regenerative leadership education and for the self realization of human beings. Permaculture, agriculture, natural building, bio-climatic and organic architecture, alternative technologies, personal coaching, practical skills, community and ecovillage design, circular processes, non violent communication, conflict transformation, decision making technics, group work technics are just a part of huge range of knowledge we want to explore by the time that also will include children’s activities and camps.


Eco-Lodge

A nature connected lodging for the volunteers, event participants and pilgrims to rest in natural building cabins, yurts and camping area with all the facilities to make their time at O Fojo an unforgettable experience. We also intent to offer affordable lodging, camping area and food for the Way of St. James Pilgrims (Camino de Santiago), from pilgrims to pilgrims, starting next May 2016.


Healing Center

We are creating the facilities to offer different group practices and therapies like group circles, biodanza, yoga, massage, reiki and for sure, meditation. The sacred medicines will be a part of O Fojo’s range of offers to closed groups and we are open to external people’s offers to create events and healing practices.


Retreat Center

O Fojo will offer different spaces and facilities to rent to individual facilitators and their students, groups and organizations for their events and retreats. The facilities will include different pricing lodging, meditation room, activities and teaching room, office, kitchen facilities, sauna, natural swimming pool, showers and outside space for practices.


Gourmet

We are creating O Fojo Gourmet, a brand to offer O Fojo’s land’s and region’s products to the general pubic and to our visitors. We are going to have an online shop at our site and, at the same time, a small shop area at O Fojo to offer high quality natural and organic local products like olive oil, olives, teas, infusions, marmelades, hygiene products and all kinds of handcrafted articles.

Our Mission

We would like to share the first draft of our Mission for the next 5 years with you

As a functional international intentional community focused on the implementation and the operation of an Integral Education Center, Eco-Lodge, Healing Center, Retreat Center and a Gourmet brand working in the framework of a formal association and living at O Fojo we intent to accomplish with this many achievements in each area of focus, as following:


O Fojo Community

With the self realization of each individual member of the community as the main goal of this whole experience, at O Fojo we are going to co-create our dreams and be responsible for the 100% of their realization, integrating and merging them at the framework of the Vision.

With the fundamental base of commitment, transparency and trust we are going to live the experience as it is, here and now, assuming with courage the mindfulness on the personal and collective process of transformation towards the collective being, through the self discovery and consistent metamorphose.

To experiment and use as much as social tools, organization concepts, community rituals, practices of available collective knowledge and all our creativity to create a peaceful environment of happiness, health, mindfulness, truth, transparency, abundance and evolution beyond borders.

Create and share our experience as a whole process to the large community and become an inspiration to other people willing to follow the community pathway.

To be a living experience of Eco-social entrepreneurship of how to organize a group of people in the new paradigm we are creating to be able to support other communities and individuals by the evolution of the whole concept and framework of this process.

As a core community practice we are going to meditate everyday together. We are going to have meals and activities together as well community bounding practices daily, weekly, monthly and yearly.

At the same time we are going to privilege, as much as we can, the individual and personal space and time for the continuum of the community health.


Integral Education Center

We are going to provide high quality adult environmental, social and ethical entrepreneurship education.

We are going to create the facilities and the leaning environment to make the learning process as comfortable and effective possible with the visible and livable solutions and practices availability.

We are going to explore as much as diversity of subjects, views and possibilities and integrate them at our agenda to serve as best as we can the community experience itself and so the larger community.

We are going to use and express all our capacities to generate a shift of conscience and attitude towards the regeneration of our Eco-social planetary environment.
To generate attention to the important social, economical and ecological through specific educational calls to the main stakeholders in terms of politics, activism, entrepreneurship and business.

To create specific journeys, different courses, daily visits and weekend experiences, long term education programs, volunteering periods, internships and advanced study practices to serve the international community of the new paradigm students and entrepreneurs in the areas of Permaculture, agriculture, natural building, bio-climatic and organic architecture, alternative technologies, personal coaching, practical skills, community and ecovillage design, circular processes, non violent communication, conflict transformation, decision making technics, group work technics, children’s activities and camps and what else the pathway will demand us to do.

To be focused not only at the local level but becoming an international reference to Eco Social regenerative education.

To improve, adapt and tweak as much it is necessary to be always at the cutting edge of the new paradigm education.

To become a center for an integral regenerative leadership education and for the self realization of human beings.


Eco-Lodge

We are going to provide nature connection experiences to our volunteers, students and visitors as well to the pilgrims that are going to spend their time at O Fojo.

We are going to provide experiences of using different appropriate technologies to hygiene, sanitation, heating, recycling, using of kitchen waste, etc.

We are going to offer countryside experiences to city people, connecting them to the food production, building and community experiences.

We are going to explore many different design solutions to create ecologically sound and economically viable lodging solutions and prepare them to replicate as a product to other projects and customers.

We are going to build quality low budget natural building solutions to lodge people simply, comfortably and economically.

We are also going to use natural and high standard technological materials together to create high standard design solutions to lodge people at a high standard level.

We are going to bring a different offer of lodging to our region and starting on captivate different ranges of people to become aware of our ethical livelihood, helping them to break prejudices and building trust to our main O Fojo Community goals.


Healing Center

To create the facilities and the environment to offer different group practices like group circles, meditation, yoga, tai chi, biodanza and other self discovery group practices.

To create the facilities to offer healing therapies like massage, reiki, aromatherapy, ofurô baths, sweat lodge and other healing therapies.

Create the facilities and a safe environment to offer sacred medicine opportunities to closed groups exploring ancient and contemporary knowledge for the self healing and realization.

Create a weekly Art Caffé with healthy food solutions to the local people providing awareness about food, practices and communications to improve the well being of our members, volunteers, visitors and neighbors.

To become an active local center for the awareness of self healing practices and well being.


Retreat Center

To create a safe and peaceful environment to receive retreats to the practice of meditation, yoga, tai chi and other self discovery practices and courses.

To create the facilities will include different pricing lodging, meditation room, activities and teaching room, office, kitchen facilities, sauna, natural swimming pool, showers and outside space for practices and courses.

To offer different spaces and facilities to rent to individual facilitators and their students, groups and organizations for their events and retreats.

To open a range of experiences to O Fojo community and our larger community and to keep on helping the evolutionary pathway of the human beings.

To bring a different offer of activities to our region and starting on captivate different ranges of people to become aware of our ethical livelihood, helping them to break prejudices and building trust to our main O Fojo Community goals.

To become a retreat center for self realization allied with the awareness of or Eco-social regenerative goals.


Gourmet

To create and develop the brand O Fojo Gourmet, natural, organic and local high quality products of food, beverage, teas, infusions, conserves and hygiene.

To provide the taste and the health of the countryside to the city inhabitants as a form of awareness to the Eco-social challenges we are working.

To create an online shop at our site and, at the same time, a small shop area at O Fojo to offer to a much bigger range of people our products.

To explore different channels to enable the selling of the local production.

Valuing the knowledge and the importance of the traditional ways of conserving food and using the available resources to the local and familiar economies and, at the same time, valuing and creating the local workers.

Explore different possibilities of innovations through the creative transformation of the raw products like olive oil, olives, teas, infusions, marmelades, hygiene products to bring add value to this products.

Become a successful Permaculture inspired brand entrepreneurship case.


Join us!



To become a community member

If you feel like minded wit the vision and missions of O Fojo, schedule a visit for us to talk about his possibility. If you are able to make this commitment, come to talk to us! Send us a mail that can become the mail that change your life!

To volunteer

If you are a beginner or an experienced practitioner of permaculture, gardening, natural building or you just feel like helping, talk to us! Go to the Volunteer FAQ section at this site to be clear about our conditions and come to join us! It will be a pleasure to receive you here!

To participate at the events

Come and try one of the many opportunities of learning experiences scheduled for this year at O Fojo. Become part of this immense global family of conscientious people doing the right thing at the right time of this challenging planetary times!

To sponsor our vision

If you feel like sponsoring partially or even totally the manifestation in time of our vision, please contact us and we will find a way to collaborate with you. Your generosity on sharing your available resources is helping us to make this world a better place! Become an investor or a sponsor!

To donate resources

Money. Building materials. Vehicles. Solar panels. Food. Time. Mattresses. Blankets. And many other things you can find at our wish list that you can find at the FAQ section at this site! Help us to achieve our goals!

To be our friends

Each time we meet new people at O Fojo in events, visits or even outside here they become our friends. You can come and participate the way you can and help us to achieve our goals. Come to visit us, talk about us, share our events and activities! Come to join us my friend!

Our Team

Maurício Umann

Maurício Umann, man, seeker, father, designer, Permaculture and Bioconstruction practitioner and educator. For the last 12 years MU has been making his pathway to a totally focused life in Permaculture and in 2011 he has made his transition from the workaholic urban businessman to the full time rural based Permaculturist.

Luca Arguir

Lucas is a young Romanian Permaculturist with lots of good things to bring to the Permaculture movement and he is coming to volunteer at O Fojo, by now, from March until July 2016. Luca is starting to give the first steps on his Permaculture Diploma. Welcome Luca!

Feijão

Feijão (Bean) is a friendly and lovely free dog.

Chicken

Chicken are nice and productive workers and they live happy here!

Volunteers 2015-2016

  • Flávia Sousa
  • Xavier Gaspar
  • Luis Gaspar
  • Lucas Nogueira
  • Pedro Mariano
  • Fabiana Santos
  • Rita Santos
  • Diogo Santos
  • Aurelian
  • Susie Wadham
  • Victor Vorski
  • Sandra Pinto
  • Evgenia Emets
  • Lisa Kiehn
  • Mia Martta Elisa
  • Luca Arguir
Become a Volunteer