RE:HABIT - Bringing Rural Spaces Back to Life!
Kinoniki Sineteristiki Epihirisi
Larissa, Greece
Description
This house has been empty since 1948. This November, we’re bringing it back to life!
RE:HABIT is a 14-day ESC Volunteering Team bringing together 15 young people in Nessonas, rural Greece. Together with experienced natural and eco-builders, we will begin restoring a 100 m² traditional earth-built house and transforming it into a community guesthouse for future volunteers, learners, travellers and people with fewer opportunities.
You’ll learn by doing: earth-wall restoration, natural plastering, painting, woodwork and floor restoration. No previous building experience is needed - just motivation, teamwork and willingness to get dusty!
Alongside the hands-on work, we’ll share everyday life at COB’s off-grid eco-project through communal meals, intercultural exchange, village life and community activities.
Come help us turn an abandoned rural space into a place where life can happen again.
Read full Infopack: https://drive.google.com/file/d/13rH6YMH9ECleNQP1mnRHLbNArfyn0bVE/view?usp=sharing
Accommodation, food and transport arrangements
Volunteers will be sleeping in buildings made of natural materials inside COB’s ecofarm. Bring your own material to be comfortably sleeping outdoors in case of outdoor excursions. Tents and sleeping gear are provided. Compost toilets and outdoor showers with hot water will serve our needs. Please bring plant based fully biodegradable toiletry (shampoo, soaps, toothpaste). The farm provides us with a big kitchen to cook our daily healthy, vegan meals. The farm is off-grid, energy supplied by a solar panel system, so electricity is limited in winter. Transportation (cars, bikes+local buses).
Training during the activity
Participants will learn directly from experienced natural builders through hands-on practice. Training will cover traditional earth/adobe construction, assessing and repairing earth walls, removing and applying natural plasters, finishing and painting, and basic woodwork including floors, doors and windows. Learning will happen through practice, teamwork and reflection. No previous building experience is required. Volunteers will also develop skills in community living, intercultural cooperation and sustainable/off-grid living.
Participant profile
We are looking for young people aged 18-30 from EU countries who are motivated to take part in a hands-on volunteering experience combining natural building, rural regeneration and community living.
No previous experience in construction or natural building is required. We are looking primarily for motivation, curiosity, reliability and willingness to learn and contribute.
This opportunity is especially suitable for people who:
- are interested in natural building, sustainability, traditional skills, reuse and rural regeneration;
- enjoy learning through practical, hands-on work;
- are willing to participate in physically active tasks such as removing plaster, working with earth, plastering, painting, woodwork and carrying materials;
- are comfortable getting dusty and dirty and working both indoors and outdoors;
- are interested in eco-community living and intercultural exchange;
- are willing to share everyday responsibilities such as cooking, cleaning and taking care of common spaces;
- are open to living simply in an off-grid ecological project, with conscious use of water, electricity and internet;
- can cooperate respectfully with people from different countries, cultures and backgrounds;
- are available for the full duration of the activity, 2-15 November 2026 + 2 travel days.
We particularly encourage young people with fewer opportunities and those who have not previously participated in an ESC project to apply.
Participants do not need to be “eco-experts” or builders. What matters most is being genuinely interested in the purpose of RE:HABIT and ready to contribute to a collective project.
This is not a tourism programme or a construction course: it is a volunteering experience where learning happens through contributing to a real community project. Alongside the practical work, volunteers will share meals, responsibilities, reflection, intercultural activities and everyday community life at COB.
A basic level of English that allows you to communicate with the international team is helpful, but perfect English is not required.
If you have accessibility needs, health considerations or other circumstances that may affect your participation, we encourage you to let us know in the application so we can discuss how best to support you.
Activity dates
From 02/11/2026 to 15/11/2026
Activity location
COB, Nessonas, Larissa, Larissa, Greece
Activity type
Volunteering teams
Looking for participants from
Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madeira, Malta, Moldova, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine
Activity topics
Social challenges
Environment and natural protection
Education and training
Deadline for applications
Application deadline: 15/10/2026 23:55
Project code
2026-1-EL02-ESC51-VTJ-000401822