Syntropic Agroforestry Design Course
Where & When?
April 13 - 18 2022
Miravet, Spain
(2hrs from Barcelona)
What will you learn?
What will you do?
5 days full of:
​
-
Connecting with nature, yourself
& likeminded people -
Breathwork & meditation
-
Active learning through hands-on activities
-
Eating amazing & nutritious food
The principles of Syntropic Agroforestry & Ecological Restoration will be combined with
-
Syntropic management principles
-
Alley cropping,
-
Animal integration,
-
Soil tests,
-
Evaluate tree cropping potential,
-
Develop a profitable design,
-
How to adapt a design to your unique context so you can apply your knowledge effectively anywhere in the world.
Looking to deeply reconnect with nature?
Describe your image
We are extremely excited to introduce you to our second course at the farm. Building a learning-hub to provide tools, knowledge and experience for your regenerative journey is a very important part of our mission. Syntropic Agriculture is where it all started for this project. After seeing the video Life in Syntropy Carlo was inspired to change his life and apply these principles to disrupt our food systems. Diving into the principles, methods and practicalities of Syntropic Agroforestry together on our farm is a dream come true!
This Course is created for the serious land restorationist, farmer and people who are passionate about transforming the food growing industry. In 5 days of intensive on-site case study, you’ll be guided through the most essential steps in creating a perennial crop based regenerative agricultural design. With the stunning context of the northeastern Spanish Mediterranean farmland, we will work as a team to gather essential site data, understand the local economy, evaluate tree cropping potential, and do real work implementing syntropic agroforestry plantings on the land. Our experienced instructors, Oliver Goshey and Jacob Evans will guide you with extensive knowledge from the worlds of permaculture, ecosystem restoration and agroecology.
​
​
We will cover many essential skills to get you started designing and building diverse and resilient agroforestry systems in any climate zone, including:
​
-
Defining your holistic context
-
Soil testing and plant observation as indicators of ecological health
-
Plant identification
-
Collecting seeds & plant propagation material
-
Making seed mixes and propagation boxes
-
Understanding species succession
-
Hands on planting of syntropic cycles
-
Selecting plants for context, maintenance & profit
-
Installation of syntropic agroforestry rows
-
Understanding management of the macroorganism
-
Basics of tree pruning
-
Understanding compost, biofertilizers, and natural pest management
​
Though we’ll cover many intermediate and advanced topics you don’t need any prior knowledge or experience to join the course. All of the information throughout the week is easily accessible to beginners and you’ll have close guidance along the way.
​
This is a very hands-on workshop. Outdoor activities will take place, rain or shine, so come prepared for a full immersion experience. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, this course will take place with a small group (<15 students) of people to ensure the optimal learning experience and comply with all health and safety measures. This means that spaces are strictly limited, so do not wait to reserve your spot!
​
​
Given by
Oliver Goshey & Jacob Evans
We have been inspired by Oliver Goshey since the beginning of our journey with 170+ of interviews with leaders and rebels to regenerate, and his driven personality to make the world a better place has really touched us. Today Oliver is not only our friend, but also our mentor at Climate Farmers.
​
Oliver is a designer, educator, and consultant for regenerative social and land based projects. After studying as a marine engineer and working mostly in blue collar trades such as commercial shipping, trail building, construction, and farming, across the world, Oliver has built a unique and wide perspective implementing projects and managing complex systems as a practitioner on the ground.
​
Struggling to justify his participation in destructive and extractive industries, Oliver quickly shifted his focus to land stewardship and rebuilding community connections. Since then he’s applied his unique experiences from 15 years of travel to helping clients and organizations to design and build natural healthy homes, develop businesses for social equity, and restore healthy native landscapes.
​
Oliver is also host of the 'Regenerative Skills' podcast, which is Oliver’s effort to create a larger and more engaged community around regenerative living by making the most cutting edge knowledge and techniques accessible to everyone.
Jacob Evans worked for 4 years at the Suryalila yoga retreat center as their permaculture farm manager, where he established some impressive syntropic agroforestry and food production systems with limited resources in Andalucia, a region known best for rapid desertification and extremes of hot dry summers and frigid winters.
​
Jacob was interviewed by Oliver on his podcast, and this interview was actually one of the triggers for us to proceed with the acquisition of the degraded farm, giving us hope that even on this concrete like soil we can grow an abundance of diversity. Listen to their interview here.
Both teachers are fluent in Spanish & English. The course will be given in English while the other teacher will translate in Spanish for the Spanish speaking students.
“Oliver is a very engaging and informative speaker. He aims to dig into his own experience and knowledge to share that with the classes, and he takes a fundamental ecological approach to the teaching of his courses. The course highlighted the importance of observation and designed the classes to ensure the participants learn and have a more profound understanding of the land and Agroforestry."
Will Elrick, Australia
"Oliver is a very knowledgeable and organized guy. His teaching style is on eye level, carefully taking into consideration any thoughts and questions students might have on any given topic. The course was very engaging with just the right amount of theory and practice. I had a great time, learned a lot, connected to some amazing people along the way and left inspired."
Nelson Bell, Germany
Facilities
The course includes the possibility to camp on-site with your own tent / campervan, and is including all meals, snacks, water, tea & coffee. All meals provided are plantbased. Camping facilities are including basic & ecological facilities; a dry-compost toilet and a shower.
​
If you prefer to stay in an AirBnB, please have a look here.
El Pinell de Brai & Miravet are about 10 mins drive from the site. From Barcelona it is a bit more than 2 hours drive, or 2,5 hours by train.
Compensation
We are able to provide the 5-day long course including activities, food and campsite facilities for a contribution of €550 per person. If you'd prefer to reduce the price by helping us with some work (building an outside shower, toilet or any other necessary facility) before the course, send us an email and we are happy to give a discounted rate.
If the course has to be cancelled you will be refunded or credited for another date, the choice is up to you. To confirm your registration, a 50% of the total amount needs to be paid. The full amount has to be paid 2 weeks before the course.
​
If you pay the full amount before 14th of March, the price is €500. If you need to cancel the course due to covid-19 related causes, you will be given a credit for another course.
Covid-19
measures & conditions
We are continually following government guidelines to assess how we can safely deliver our course. If the situation changes and the course has to be cancelled, we will refund or reschedule participants.
During the course site is well sanitized, physical distance can always be maintained and as much time as possible will be spent outdoors. Upon arrival, all participants will be asked to fill in a covid-19 screening form to assess safety and vulnerability, we reserve the right to ask someone not to attend if they are considered a risk to other participants.