Come and give new life to an old school! On a mountainside in western Greece, join The Living School, an ESC volunteering team helping to renovate a former primary school into a guest house using natural building, woodworking, stone techniques, and dry stone walling, while living in a self-sufficient eco community rooted in permaculture and sustainable living.

About the Host

Yamochori is a project that started in 2021 in a small field in a mountainous village, to implement activities and create an example of a sustainable way of living. Using permaculture, organic farming, and natural and traditional building methods, the team is building a small eco community and creating opportunities for local youth and the wider community. So far they have built many structures from wood, stone, and clay, planted many trees, supported the local community, and created an organic garden that provides self-sufficiency.

Yamochori is a place for people who respect nature and want to engage in permaculture, natural building, natural cultivation, and zero intervention in the natural environment. It is a nest for European programmes such as youth exchanges, volunteer programmes, local activities, and trainings, gathering people who love soil, water, self-sufficiency, autonomy, and freedom.

The Living School Project

This project promotes sustainable rural development through natural building, environmental restoration, and community engagement. Volunteers will:

🏫 Renovate the village's former primary school into a guest house using woodworking, natural building, traditional stone construction, dry stone walling, and DIY techniques

🥾 Restore and maintain the historic hiking trail that connects Yamochori with the former primary school, the route that generations of local children once walked every day

🌍 Experience an alternative way of living by participating in everyday tasks and engaging with the local community

The project offers practical learning, intercultural exchange, and the chance to develop green skills while creating a lasting positive impact on the local community and environment.

Who Is It For?

The opportunity is offered to 17 volunteers who are legal residents of Erasmus+ programme countries and do not require a visa to enter Greece. The profile includes:

🎂 Aged 20 to 30 (not older than 31 on 1 September 2026)

🌱 Eager to learn, or already knowledgeable about the project's themes

🔨 Enthusiastic about hands-on activities and eager to take initiative

🏕️ Ready to live in a rural environment with basic conditions

🤝 Ready to build a sustainable community together with people from different cultures

💡 With a clear plan and vision for their participation in the project and beyond

Extreme priority will be given to those who are facing, or have faced, any kind of difficulties in life.

Roles

👷 15 participants in charge of hands-on work

📱 2 participants in charge of social media

Choose your role when you fill out the application form. Every day, 3 participants cook for the team.

A Typical Day

🍳 7:45 Breakfast, then a morning circle and check-in

🔨 9:00 to 11:00 and 11:30 to 14:00 hands-on activities or social media

🌞 14:00 to 17:00 lunch, siesta, and open-space activities

🛠️ 17:00 to 19:30 hands-on activities or social media

🔥 20:00 gratitude and dinner, then open space (movies, open fire, board games)

The days 7, 13 to 14, and 19 to 20 September are free days.

Objectives

For hands-on volunteers: 70% major objectives (renovating the school interior, hiking path maintenance and construction, and permaculture design including water management, regenerative agriculture, food forest, and renewable energy), 10% a personal project related to the major objectives, and 20% everyday tasks such as cooking, watering the gardens, and cleaning.

For social media volunteers: 70% managing the organisation's social media and website by creating photo and video material, daily stories, a post every three days, reels with interviews, and a 10 to 15 minute documentary about the whole experience, plus a 10% personal project and 20% everyday tasks.

Accommodation and the Place

⛺ Accommodation is in waterproof tents

🏡 On the field there is a wood shelter used as a common area, 4 showers with gas heater, 4 compost toilets and 2 vermicompost toilets, internet access and electricity, an outdoor kitchen, many fruit trees, a washing machine, and athletic facilities (ping pong, balls)

⛰️ The field is in a mountainous area at around 700m altitude, surrounded by hiking paths, high peaks, rivers, waterfalls, gorges, and Trichonida, the biggest lake in Greece. The closest village is Kallithea (4km), the closest big village Thermo (13km), and the closest city Agrinio (28km)

Practical Details

💶 Pocket money of 7 euro per day for personal expenses

🥗 Food and accommodation are covered; the diet is vegetarian, with the team's own olive oil, jams, and seasonal produce, and meals cooked communally in rotation

✈️ Travel costs are reimbursed within the first month after departure, according to the distance between your home and Yamochori

📜 You will sign an agreement, receive a European Health Insurance Card plus private insurance, and be entitled to a Youthpass certificate

Getting There

🛬 By airplane: fly to Athens or Thessaloniki, take a KTEL bus to Agrinio, and be picked up from there

⛴️ By ferry: ferry to Patras, KTEL bus to Agrinio, and be picked up from there

🌍 Green travel (car, bus, train, bicycle) allows up to 4 travel days in total, and the team will help you find the best way to reach Greece

New to the European Solidarity Corps and how volunteering teams work? Start here: https://youthworkshub.org/15101/

How to Apply

📝 Complete the online application form, and make sure you have registered on the ESC portal and received your PRN

🎥 Send a short video describing yourself to yamochori@gmail.com

💬 An online interview takes place before the final selection

You can apply even if you have already participated in short-term or long-term ESC volunteering activities.

Deadline

As soon as possible!

Links

🔗 Application form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdPVtQuYQ9WL7i3U5o6wIwiFVRiN4kQl6-JB77pE4e2gmRbnA/viewform

🔗 Infopack: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14RZ4jVx_5bY5XW49XsCfJI-Ns0GYwlV3/view