A diary by Angelika Bartholomäi, co-founder of Dandelion Social Innovation Lab, from the Erasmus+ Permaculture Design Course she coordinated on behalf of ACARBIO in the COB eco-village of Nessonas (Larissa), Greece.
Short biography
I am a network weaver and a facilitator and coordinator of national and international projects focusing on youth participation, rural development, youth employment, and intergenerational initiatives. I live and work in Italy. In March 2026, I coordinated an Adult Education Permaculture Design course on behalf of ACARBIO.
My Story
No one would have bet on the success of this social experiment: five young NEETs, three middle-aged unemployed participants and six women over 50 living together for 15 days in an eco-village, facing challenging conditions as they learnt about permaculture. Except us, that is. And yet, what happened next surprised even us, the organisers.
The group was remarkably diverse, comprising six women over 50 with a wealth of life experience, three middle-aged women, and six young participants facing extreme job insecurity. What brought us together was our shared desire to change the course of our lives by moving closer to a more meaningful and sustainable way of living: caring for the land, the environment and our relationships with each other.
Permaculture teaches us exactly that: care for people, care for the earth, and fair sharing of resources.
For two weeks, we immersed ourselves in social permaculture. We stayed together in the COB eco-village in Nessonas, Larissa, Greece. We shared spaces, meals and bathrooms. We practised mutual respect. To ensure inclusivity, we followed a strictly vegan diet based on the principle of the lowest common denominator. Anyone who wanted to eat meat or fish could leave the village, but in the end, nobody did. Everyone respected this choice and adapted accordingly. The meals, which were prepared by volunteers staying at COB during our time there, were excellent: varied, fresh and locally sourced from their own cultivation. We even took home some recipe ideas to try out. The bathrooms, however, were challenging for everyone. The village uses compost toilets — a centralised, water-free system that allows human waste to be reused as compost. Naturally, this requires rules to ensure it works properly, and everyone respected them. The same applied to the shared showers, where each person had a limited amount of hot water.
Most of the energy used to heat water came from photovoltaic panels, but they didn't perform well during our stay due to the overcast weather. The alternative was gas, which was used for both heating water and cooking. Some of the gas was produced by a biogas system from a septic tank. This was not yet fully operational, but was improving. In the meantime, we got used to taking short, lukewarm showers. Some even chose to start their mornings with cold showers.
For those with long hair, washing it became one of the biggest challenges. Due to the low voltage from the solar system, hairdryers couldn't be used, so we had to wait for sunny days to dry our hair naturally. There were only a few such days. Otherwise, we used cold water at the small sinks in our huts.
We realised that not only could we survive without many of the comforts we usually take for granted, but the longer we stayed, the more unnecessary they seemed.
On the first day of the course, we established shared living rules, including a rotation system for cleaning communal areas, preparing meals, communicating with the outside world and keeping track of time. We also agreed on quiet hours, punctuality, and respect for the facilitators. In our case, we also needed to provide near-simultaneous translation for participants with limited English skills who struggled to follow complex theoretical lessons. So we organised a group of translators and their shifts.
The theoretical sessions were challenging for many participants. When dealing with abstract concepts, it's easy to lose focus. The trainers addressed this by alternating theory with practice. They were highly experienced in teaching Permaculture Design Courses (PDCs) and facilitating groups, and they did an excellent job. After an initial introduction, we quickly moved on to permaculture design, which would form the basis of our final project. We were divided into four groups, each working on a different project.
Most participants enjoyed the practical part the most. As well as doing some design work, we built a compost system, pruned the food forest and prepared soil beds for potatoes before planting them. We dedicated a whole day to natural building techniques, using the adobe method, a traditional construction style in Nessonas made possible by a nearby clay quarry. There, we built our first raw-earth shelter together. It was a masterpiece, both in terms of construction and collaboration. Some participants cut clay bricks, some carried them, some prepared the ground, some collected mud from a pond for mortar, some laid the bricks and some cooked meals for the hungry workers. The result — and our satisfied (and muddy) faces — spoke for itself.
We also planted 150 trees on a hillside affected by a large photovoltaic field, creating a Miyawaki forest. This method involves planting trees close together, which naturally limits their size while creating a highly active green ecosystem. Miyawaki forests were originally developed for urban areas with limited space and offer a powerful way to regenerate land. Throughout all these activities, the four groups continued working on their permaculture designs. On the final day, each group presented their project to the trainers and external evaluators. One group designed a new eco-village shaped like a lemniscate (the infinity symbol), integrating private and public spaces. Another group created a guesthouse concept featuring shared outdoor spaces, water collection and reuse systems, and an innovative guest layout. A third group designed an olive grove incorporating plant guilds, a space for agricultural workers and an irrigation system. The final group developed a social permaculture project for Nessonas village, reimagining abandoned public spaces as community and cultural hubs for residents and visitors alike.
All four designs passed the evaluators' critical review and were so well received that they could inspire real future initiatives. The certificates we received were a meaningful reward for everyone's commitment, not only in terms of academic and practical work, but also in terms of the social skills demonstrated and developed. So, what will we do with these certificates? Many participants arrived with clear ideas about how to apply their new skills once they returned home. Others found inspiration for entirely new paths to explore. One thing everyone agreed on was that this journey doesn't end here, the PDC is just the beginning. Some have already enrolled on advanced courses.
Naturally, we exchanged phone numbers and social media contacts, and wished each other well in the hope of meeting again. We truly became a close-knit group, demonstrating that intergenerational projects can unlock unexpected energy. They simply have an extra gear. Needless to say, when it was time to say goodbye, there were many sincere hugs and tears. The project includes a follow-up after six months, which will be an opportunity to reconnect and share our experiences.
Diary of an Erasmus+ Project Coordinator · Permaculture Design Course (PDC) · Organiser: ACARBIO, Italy · KA122_ADU_AUT — 2025-1-IT02-KA122-ADU-000344811, at COB.gr, Nessonas (Larissa), Greece · 13–26 March 2026.
This article was originally written by Angelika Bartholomäi and published on the EPALE platform of the European Commission: Angelika Bartholomäi: Growing Sustainable Futures.