School of the Earth (SoE)

School of the Earth (SoE) was founded in 2009 in Greece with the aim to inform, educate, inspire and support people to redefine their needs and redesign their lives, for the transition to a regenerative future.

The SoE develops activities along the following streams:

• Permaculture design and regenerative agriculture
• Renewable energy and off grid systems
• Climate crisis and nature based responses
• Homesteading skills
• Community building and cultural regeneration
• Refugee support, vocational training and integration

Until 2013 SoE was an urban community centre, facilitating the transformation of physical and social spaces in Athens. It then moved to a small suburban farm and created a permaculture community centre and test site for researching and adapting different techniques to the Mediterranean climate. This was the first permaculture educational centre in Greece and serves as a focus point for the local network.

Over the years, SoE has:

• Designed and established regenerative land-based projects and off grid renewable energy systems for farms, businesses, refugee settlements and remote communities – across Greece and abroad.
• Organised 150 seminars and 80 long-term educational programs, with more than 7000 participants and supported students’ projects
• Produced educational material and manuals
• Worked with local grassroots initiatives around food sovereignty, energy and climate justice and organised related events, gatherings and festivals with more than 10,000 attendees
• Introduced permaculture design and homesteading skills’ sharing into Greek refugee camps and promoted them as a tools for facilitating integration and developing entrepreneurial initiatives.