RebelFarmer creates volunteering and learning experiences on European organic farms and in rural communities. By putting you in intense contact with the knowledge and practices of rural communities, your experience with nature and the environment will be brought to a whole new level! 

Back to our roots 

In many rural communities traditional methods of farming and forestry are still practiced. Those methods of cultivation remains in the roots of traditional handicrafts, culinary customs, medicine, dances, songs, etc.

Some of those technical methods and traditional cultural skills are now back in "fashion". Probably the best example that can be given here is the art of gardening, conserving and cooking with seasonal and local food products. In Eastern Europe it is now possible to help some elderly people in staying in their villages and live from their garden, and at the same time benefit from their vast experience and knowledge on that matter. In exchange they will often teach you songs, dances and old rituals in which the natural pace of nature and the seasons is being reflected.

New communities

At the same time, new communities are developing in the countryside. Their aim is often the development and promotion of organic agriculture and/or permaculture. Most of them are actively involved with local authorities in the renovation and management of traditional landscapes, they try to connect natural areas by eco-corridors and preserve agro-biodiversity. They offer interesting experimental grounds for ecological building techniques, often re-inventing or combining traditional building techniques and local materials with new scientific approaches. The same applies for renewable energy production and energy-saving. 

Those new rural communities are somewhat “more open” than the old ones due the new communication technologies they are using. Their inhabitants move also more frequently or even live only seasonally on the countryside. Some have complementary jobs outside their village. 

These communities are globally connected through a network of rural and urban activist communities, for example the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN), the Willing Workers on Organic Farms (WWOOF) network, the European Centre for Eco Agro Tourism (ECEAT) and the European Youth For Action (EYFA).

We offer you placements in villages where you can participate, learn and contribute all at the same time, to develop alternatives for our overheated and polluting world. You can become RebelFarmer yourself, by sharing your gained knowledge with us and other RebelFarmers!