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Learning the shoemaker’s craft! Monchique’s first shoemaking apprentice took his leave from his parents on Monday, 25th April, and set off for Austria. José Pedro Mira Nunes, aged 23, had applied to ECO123 for the shoemaking apprenticeship training project. In his application, he wrote about a longstanding family tradition dating back to the time of his great-grandfather, who was making shoes in Monchique in the 1960s. The jury selected him as the first of two candidates who were suitable for this training. Having arrived at GEA in Schrems, five kilometres from the Czech border, after a three-day train journey, he …

Hydroponics + Aquaculture = Aquaponics. The first ECO123 workshop took place over a long weekend in Caldas de Monchique and was attended by twelve participants from all over Portugal. The trainers, João Cotter from Lisbon and João Vidal Lemos from Aveiro, started with a short theoretical presentation in the hotel and then all the participants moved from the seminar room to the garden. There, they inaugurated the two-by-five-metre plant pond. The first lettuce, courgette, tomato and melon seedlings were placed in the water in small baskets. The first fish from local waters were four small largemouth bass (achigã) that were …

The Sunsailer 7.0 is the first electro-solar boat to be built by the SunConcept company, in Olhão. The system of this boat, which is seven metres long and capable of accommodating up to seven people, which can be driven by anyone with a “carta de marinheiro” (sailor’s licence), allows for noise-free use, with no water pollution and no fuel costs. “It is essentially about demonstrating a concern for the environment,” says Jorge Severino, the partner responsible for the technical side. Owners can also install a sail or an igloo tent system. With two, six-horsepower electric outboard motors, the boat can …

Volker Gassner (l-r), spokesman Greenpeace Germany, Jürgen Knirsch, trade expert, and Stefan Krug, Director of the Political Representation Greenpeace Germany, speaking on 02.05.2016 on the re: publica in Berlin. The environmental organization announced at the press conference that makes it public secret TTIP papers. See the file here:

Fig, carob, almond, honey and flower of salt are the ingredients of the 100% natural Querença Energy Bar (BEQ), made from the products of the Algarve barrocal; it comes in two versions, one for athletes, the other for the general public and children. The Querença Energy Bar (BEQ) came into being through a partnership between the Querença Project and the University of Algarve with the aim of taking young people with university degrees to the interior of the municipality of Loulé to develop new ideas and put the region’s natural resources to good use. “The idea is to use indigenous …

Want to make your world a greener place? Let Us Build Aquaponics In Our Garden The number of people who take care to enquire where and how their food is produced is growing steadily. More and more people want a guarantee that their foodstuffs, whether vegetables, salads or fish, are produced locally, in an ecologically impeccable manner, and in harmony with nature. Fruit and vegetables produced oneself or grown in the region, ok; but fresh fish too? Aquaponics = Hydroculture + aquaculture. The number of people who take care to enquire where and how their food is produced is growing …

People who supply weapons, sow the seeds of war. Those who sow war will reap refugees. But those who supply clothing, sow charity. The volunteer helpers from Aljezur and Lagos sent a shipping container full of clothing and other household goods by road from Lagos to Setúbal, and then from there by ship to Piraeus. The transport costs of around 1,400 euros were covered by donations to the Portuguese Red Cross in Lagos. The Greek logistics company Arkas Hellas S.A. is not charging anything for the final leg from Piraeus to Lesbos. In the container are 270 boxes of non-perishable …

Around 80 participants from 20 countries came to the international conference on solar cooking “Consolfood 2016” at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Algarve (ISE). They were warmly welcomed by Professor Celestino Ruivo (photo) and his team. During the two-day meeting, new technologies were presented and knowledge exchanged from different fields. Solar fruit driers for figs, plums, mangoes, for foodstuffs such as spirulina, tomatoes and beans – the different techniques and construction methods for solar cookers – the new solar refrigerators – and the variety of recipes and preparation methods for solar cooking, were the focus of the …

The Algarve Way is a long distance footpath that a good walker can finish in fourteen days. The route is not especially challenging but that does not mean it does not need treating with respect. We are trekking from the Spanish border all the way over to the Cape Saint Vincent – a unique crossing of Portugal running some 328 kilometres in length. We do need to be in relatively good physical shape. Furthermore, it does make sense to wear the right kind of footwear and carry only the essential. In our backpacks, there is only the minimum needed making …