Foundations and Principles of Syntropic Farming

5-day Workshop

6th - 10th November 24

Barão de São João - Algarve

Portugal

GENERAL INFORMATION

This autumn we are excited to be offering our second workshop in Syntropic Farming in the Algarve, and one of the first to be offered in Portugal by the TERRA Network team.

Join us to

Learn about the revolutionary syntropic farming method, both in theory and practice
Gain hands-on skills that you can directly apply to your own projects
Deepen your knowledge with real-world insights from seasoned practitioners who have many years of experience with this innovative approach
Transform your understanding of how Nature works and enter into a new paradigm of Syntropic thinking

Book your place now

In this course, you will learn from and expand an area in the SW Algarve that is part of Fred Derycke’s developing farm. The first section of the syntropic area was planted during the initial course in October 2022, and the second section was planted between October and December 2023. Fred is developing his syntropic site to produce fruits, vegetables, and herbs for both home consumption and local sales, benefiting from the area's significant market opportunities. The farm serves as a laboratory and educational space to explore optimizing syntropic farming in this dry Mediterranean coastal region. It offers a best-practice model for this ecosystem, with plans to expand the farm into a training and skills-sharing center.

During the course, we will extend this area with two new lines designed by Felipe Amato. These lines will provide the opportunity to cultivate fruits, vegetables, and herbs that are well-suited to Mediterranean conditions. You will gain a thorough theoretical foundation in syntropic farming and learn the basics of designing syntropic areas tailored to specific contexts, including market opportunities. Additionally, you will spend time in the field, preparing and planting beds from scratch. Mornings will be dedicated to classroom theory, while afternoons will be spent hands-on in the field, with ample time for questions and interaction with the facilitators. This course is unique in its depth, teaching the foundations of syntropic farming, and offers the chance to observe the evolution of syntropic beds one and two years after planting, allowing you to see syntropic farming in action.

The course schedule for the theoretical part (mornings) is as follows:

Day 1: Introduction to Syntropic Agriculture and Soil Production

Agriculture practised in Brazil by the indigenous people before colonization, contact with Europeans, and the transformation of agricultural practices;
The development of Ernst Götsch's work;
Entropic vs. Syntropic Processes;
The organization of processes by forests;
From rock to soil: how soil and its horizons form, and the role of life in this process;
The path of nutrients: organic matter or the ocean;
The cycling of organic matter in natural systems;
The importance of disturbance; in the forest and in agriculture;

Days 2 and 3: Natural Succession and Stratification

(Day 2 focusing on spontaneous natural systems, Day 3 focusing on application in agricultural systems)

- Colonization, accumulation, and abundance systems (long cycles);

- Placenta, secondary, and climax (short cycles);

- Quality and quantity vectors of consolidated life;

- Stratification: formed by position in succession + stratum (light requirement) + height;

- Application of Succession and Stratification in agriculture, from placenta to climax;

Day 4: Ecological Interactions, Functions, and Ecophysiological Characteristics

- Understanding ecosystems as macro-organisms;

- Functions inside ecosystems;

- Co-evolution of species and ecosystems;

- Ecophysiological characteristics;

- Elements of disturbance;

- Life process optimization department;

Day 5: Considerations on Market and Commercial Systems; Design Elements

- Market insights and considerations;

- Commercial planting and commercialization challenges;

- Important elements in the development of a design;

- Practical design exercise;

REGISTRATION AND COST

The event is limited to 20 participants and has a cost of €400. This fee includes coffee breaks with snacks, meals and accommodation are additional. See below for more details.

Deposit to secure your place and enable the organizers to manage participant numbers: 180€ (remainder must be paid by 16 October).

Register Now

LOGISTICS

We are offering delicious vegetarian lunches provided by a nearby organic farm, for an additional cost of €10/day, or you can make your own lunch arrangements. You will need to make your own arrangements for other meals, and we can provide you with suggestions of local options.

For a cost of €5/night (per tent/van), there is the option (limited spaces) to camp on Fred’s land, where there will be a compost toilet, running water, and hot shower. There is also the option to camp at the nearby Vinha Velha farm and use their facilities (which include well-equipped outdoor kitchen, shower and toilet, electricity and wi-fi) for a cost of €6 per van/caravan or €4 per tent, plus €8 per person, which we can organise for you.

Vinha Velha also have other excellent accommodation available in their eco-village, including tiny houses. These should be reserved as far in advance as possible to secure your place. For details, see their website and arrange directly with them: www.vinhavelha.com.

There are also other accommodation options available closeby. You may contact us for more information.

We ask all participants to arrive at the latest by 8.30 am on 6 November. If you are camping at Fred’s, you are welcome to arrive from 6 pm on 5 November, and not later than 10 pm.

HOW TO GET THERE

The location is Fred’s Farm, 2 km outside the village of Barão de São João, just 15 minutes from Lagos in the south-west Algarve, southern Portugal. We can also offer a ride from Lagos to the farm if you prefer to come by public transport, and these pickups will be grouped on the evening of 5 November. More details will be provided after registration.

ABOUT THE FACILITATORS

Felipe Amato

Felipe will be the lead facilitator of the course. Felipe is from Brazil and has been an organic farmer since 2007. Soon after, he discovered syntropic farming and was an early student of Ernst Gotsch, meeting him in 2010 and afterwards staying at this farm and accompanying him on site visits. He has extensive knowledge and practical experience of syntropic farming in a wide range of contexts. In 2015, he began developing syntropic farming projects in Mediterranean and temperate climates, while continuing to produce and experiment on his farm in Mogi das Cruzes, just outside São Paulo in Brazil.

Felipe designed the area at Fred’s farm and has been the lead consultant there since he taught the first course in 2022. Felipe is the founder of the TERRA Network and teaches and consults throughout Europe, which has provided him both with an extensive repertoire of plant species for regenerating Mediterranean and other European climate zones and broad practical experience in many different contexts. With a background in philosophy, and having taught for over 10 years, Felipe is an open and engaging facilitator who is able to break down complex theory and make it easily accessible for students, while retaining the detail necessary to offer a solid foundation in what syntropic farming really involves. He currently divides his time between Europe and Brazil.

Helen Perks

Helen will be facilitating classes and assisting in the field sessions. Born in the UK, Helen has been working with permaculture land projects around the world since 2011. She became increasingly interested in food forests and agroforestry linked with land regeneration, and discovered syntropic farming in 2018 at La Loma Viva. She has been immersed in syntropic farming since, learning from several different teachers, and travelling to Brazil to deepen her knowledge in 2019, where she first met Felipe at his farm. She has been based in Portugal since 2019, and has worked at numerous sites around the country. Helen has collaborated with Felipe since 2020. She has been involved at Fred’s farm since the first course in 2022 and is the TERRA Network field guide for the site. She is currently the guardian of a syntropic area near Estremoz.