Descalças Cooperativa Integral

description of organisation

Descalças cultural cooperative is an organisation that was founded in 2006 in the Azores by five artists and social entrepreneur women. Its mission is to cooperate for the development and to intervene socially through the arts.
Descalças focuses on art as a tool for social transformation, namely theatre, music and humour. In 2016, the organisation moved to the Portuguese continent, settling in the Alto Alentejo, another peripheral and economically disadvantaged region with an ageing population where artistic and cultural activities are scarce.
Since 2020, the cooperative also incorporates the areas of permaculture and healthy eating, areas that - alongside cultural activities - aim to support the younger population, providing more opportunities and tools for resilience, so that young people no longer feel that they have to leave the region to thrive.
In 2020, Quinta das Avelãs, an 8-hectare former hazelnut farm located in Portagem/Marvão (Alentejo), was ceded to Descalças Cooperativa Cultural by the Marvão municipality. Quinta das Avelãs is situated in the transnational region of The Line (Portuguese-Spanish border), the São Mamede Natural Park and the Tagus International Nature Reserve where Descalças carry out their artistic, sustainability, and community projects.
Since Descalças have settled in Quinta das Avelãs, this farm has been home for a variety of different projects and activities, involving the members of the cooperative but also for other local community members who needed a space to develop their projects. Projects currently taking place in Quinta das Avelãs:
1) Bosque Escola Avelãs - Founded in 2017 by three families of the community, Bosque Escola Avelãs is a forest education project for children aged two to ten years based on the triple pillars of nature, free play, and diversity. The children of various nationalities and socio-economic backgrounds learn from each other and nature, as well as from qualified educators with specialised forest-school training. This project organizes every season an Education in Nature training aimed for the educators, parents and everyone who is interested in the topic.
2) Community garden - The communal garden is a project open to anyone. Members tend to the garden together and are entitled to part of the harvest. The garden is designed according to permaculture principles.
3) Cantina Social Avelãs - The Cantina Social is a project that provides healthy meals to the children of the educational projects and to the local community. The work is based on ethical food principles and aimed at both environmental and social sustainability. Vegetarian, healthy, local and organic food is a priority in this project, which also educates for healthy lifestyles.
4) Terra d’Amor Humor - Situated in an area of 0.5 hectares in Quinta das Avelãs is the Terra d’Amor Humor. It houses the accommodation of an artist (clown Luna) and offers regular cultural events, as well as glamping accommodation. It is also one of the spaces of the Maria d’Alegria brand, welcoming tourists and the local community for routes and guided tours with science and art (Rotas Palhaças), an open-air and monthly story-telling event (Contos na Quinta) and promotes partnerships with social solidarity organizations (Terapias pela natureza).
5) Coworking space - The coworking space in Quinta das Avelãs provides a comfortable space with free wifi and desks/tables for the community. Here Bolina (International Clown Women Festival), Arte e Natureza (holiday programme for children) and Cabaret do Bosque (artistic show) are organized; regular activities like a drumming workshop, or other local people's artistic rehearsals, production and office work take place.
In this way, by providing the local community with a place to develop their projects, descalças cooperative enables and supports people to develop a strong community sense, expanding the spirit of solidarity and cooperation, integrating and encouraging access to all people on an equal basis in a space that, being owned by the city council of Marvão, belongs to everyone.