surpluspermaculturedesignNatural Building Workshop at Azula, Portugal, 4th-10th May 2018
Azula and Surplus Permaculture Design are excited to invite you to join us for a hands on Natural Building Workshop on a stunning 15 hectare Permaculture project in Portugal.
This workshop will teach you the delights and wonder of building with earth; you’ll learn ancient and modern techniques and methods, theory and design. You will get your hands in the earth from day one and will leave feeling inspired, energized and ready to go out and build the revolution with mud!
We welcome people from all walks of life, from every corner of the globe, all physical abilities and ages; no one is excluded from building with the earth – it’s in us all, a hidden language – and we’ll show you how to tap back into that forgotten knowledge!
Please Note : This workshop is part of the 3 in 1 Permaculture Design Course, for more infomation
What is Natural Building?
Natural building is so much more than just building with natural materials; it is about reconnecting with our ancestral roots and our natural environment. It’s about building beautiful, durable, healthy and spiritually uplifting buildings as well as building relationships with people and the planet along the way. It’s about observing and respecting the world around us, consciously using local, renewable and sustainable materials to creating buildings that work in harmony with our mind, body and soul, and the environment they inhabit.
What will you learn?
This course will mostly be a practical hands on learning experience; you will be connecting with the earth and building with mud from day one.
You will learn how to;
- Test clay sub-soils and use the results to create the perfect earth mix
- Lean about the design process and application
- Make adobe bricks and build with them
- Mix and work with cob in many different forms
- Create beautiful art work and sculptures with earth
- Mix and apply natural plasters
There will be some theory sessions too;
- Ecological House Design – how to design energy efficient homes in connection with your climate
- Natural Building Theory – How it all works and why
- Building techniques across the globe – what techniques are being used, where and why?
We will integrate theory sessions throughout the course along with presentations and documentaries in the evenings and a pizza party on the last night all cooked in our earth oven.
Whilst living at Azula you will learn about community life as you become a valued member of the Azula family, working, learning and sharing together we are united in our positive quest for change, balance and better, more beautiful buildings!
You will leave full of inspiration to go out and start building with earth, an abundance of new skills and knowledge and a heap of new friends from all around the globe.
Course price: € 350
This price includes all meals, a place to stay for the duration of the course, transportation to and from the farm and all course tuition and materials.
We ask all registrants to make a deposit of € 100 to secure your spot and for the remaining fee of € 250 to be paid in cash on arrival.
Early Bird Discounts: Get in there early and secure this natural building workshop for an incredible € 300 if you sign up before December 1st 2017
Azula would like to be as transparent as possible with their finances, as an example to other projects and to be open and honest with visitors and students, who each contribute so much to the building and development of the farm and community.
Azula is currently funded by its founders but they want to create a more resilient economic model by diversifying their streams of income. Creating a volunteer program and by running courses and workshops will help develop the systems on the land. The money paid for your course fee will be divided between Azula project and the facilitators, meaning Azula can go forward with developing the project and purchasing of materials, and the facilitators can continue with their passion to teach and inspire.
Please Note:
In the unlikely event of us canceling the course your deposit will be refunded in full, additionally we will not be held responsible for any financial losses accrued. The closing dates for registering for the course is May 20th 2017. Deposit’s are non-refundable. We will accept late bookings if there is space available.
Fundraise for your Tuition
If you are interested in a creative way to come up with funds for this course, look
into fundraising for it through WeTheTrees.com. It is a great way to reach out to your family and friends, let them know what you are up to and give them a easy way to contribute to your education.
Accommodation and Food:
Accommodation during the course will be provided in a 2 big dormitory tents with comfortable mattresses, lights and mosquito nets. You will just need to bring a sleeping bag. However for those that would prefer more privacy there is the option to rent a private bell tent for a maximum of 2 people at an added charge of € 30 a day. They will be placed in private and beautiful surroundings in the proximity of toilets and showers. We have limited private tents so booking them in advance is a must. If you prefer, you can also bring your own tent and camp on the designated areas.
Fresh and organic vegetarian food will be provided throughout the course and will be sourced from the farm itself and the local market. Special dietary needs can be accommodated for but please let us know in advance.
Contact information:
Please feel free to email us on info@azula.bio for any additional information you may need.
Meet the Facilitator: Lola Bryon
Lola Byron is a nomadic Permaulture and Natural Building facilitator, practitioner and consultant, traveling the globe with her young family and connecting with Permaculture projects. Originally from Birmingham, England, she has been a thriving Permaculturist and natural builder since completing her PDC back in 2010. Following this she was an active urban Permaculturist; designing and implementing a variety of community gardens and co-facilitating natural building and gardening workshops in and around the UK. With a background in studying then teaching Fine Art, Sculpture, when she discovered building with earth she knew she had found her calling in life and she loves to apply these artistic skills to create beautiful, functional buildings, specialising in adobe, cob and earthbags. Having now completed 6 house builds (project managing 4 of these) she is always excited to pass on her knowledge to inspire and empower others to re-connect with the earth, make positive changes and become more self-reliant. Lola was the natural building manager at Panya Project, Thailand for 3 years, where she taught numerous PDC’s, hands-on Permaculture and Natural Building Courses, and co-managed the volunteer and intern program as well as the daily running of the farm. Lola recently joined Surplus Permaculture Design, an international collaboration of Permaculture designers, as a consultant and project manager.
Azula is a new and fresh permaculture project founded in August 2016, in the beautiful Alentejo region of Portugal. The founders are full of enthusiasm, passion, determination and knowledge, and they are transforming this previously heavily grazed land, into an abundant off the grid farm by applying fully integrated Permaculture design systems. This is a fantastic opportunity to see how you can really make dreams into reality by designing and building a Permaculture project from scratch. Not only will you be partaking in a 5 day immersion into everything that is Natural Building, but you will also be part of the beautiful Azula community and thereby learn how to live and thrive with people from all walks of life, go back to basics and becoming more connected with nature. Our aim is to create a supportive learning community for the duration of the course where trust, compassion, support and connection is built among participants, facilitators and community members.