Colab Podcast – Episode 3

Daniel and Candida – Climate Design Project

Daniel Mello-Mattos and Cândida Shinn live on an organic farm cultivated for the past 50 years in the countryside of the Algarve, in the South of Portugal. The farm has apple, fig, pear, persimmon, custard apple, guava, 9 varieties of avocado, 15 varieties of citrus, apricot, peach, plum, sapote, Surinam cherry, mulberry, loquat, almond, walnut, pecan, macadamia, pistachio, olive trees, carob trees, cape gooseberry, pomegranate, passion fruit, blackberry, grape, a great variety of aromatic herbs, more than 50 ornamental trees and flowers, besides a large diversity of spontaneous native vegetables and herbs. There is also an Agroforest, vegetable gardens, compost units, a nursery for fruit trees, a garden and natives, a well-equipped workshop, a woodworking workshop (carpentry), a toolshed, plenty of spots for meditating and resting, a small pool, a trampoline, dry toilets, and a complete house and facilities for volunteers. This is all embedded within the educational program they hold through Ecotopias, a school for Sustainability and Regeneration.

Their main project is called Climate Design, whose purpose is to mosaic landscapes across continents, nurturing strategic partnerships to restore and rebuild livelihoods in the mountains and ranges, with biodiverse forests and agroforests, to influence and interact with climate on both regional and continental scales.

Visit the website for Ecotopias

Find out more about their project by listening to the podcast:

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