Guarda Rios Ecovillage is a young ecovillage on 24 hectares beside the River Mondego, near Nelas, Viseu, started in 2022. Four resident members were living there as of March 2025, alongside visitors and work-exchange helpers building a straw-and-clay common house and shared gardens.
Guarda Rios Ecovillage began in the summer of 2022 on Quinta do Guarda Rios, a 24-hectare rural property on the River Mondego near Nelas, in the Serra da Estrela area of Central Portugal. The name comes from the Portuguese word for kingfisher, the bird that inspired the project. Hari, the project's initiator, first proposed the ecovillage model, and after a series of founding gatherings a resident group began to take shape. By March 2025 the community counted four resident members.
The land started undeveloped, and the group has been building shared infrastructure from scratch: a straw-and-clay common house with a green roof and roundwood frame, a 6-metre communal yurt, a caravan and a smaller yurt for guests, solar showers, compost toilets and solar power for basic electricity and charging. Current projects include finishing the common house kitchen, expanding the vegetable gardens and watering system, building a cob spiral shower room and clearing mimosa and broom scrub around the buildings.
Daily life runs on shared lunches and dinners cooked from a stocked kitchen of organic grains, pulses and vegetables, with weekly heart-sharing circles and monthly singing circles in the yurt. Meat, dairy (except local smallholding eggs), caffeine and processed sugar are kept out of shared meals and spaces, and alcohol, drugs and smoking are not permitted on site outside of agreed ceremonies.
Visitors can stay in exchange for 15 hours of work a week plus a food contribution of up to €35, rising to 25 hours a week with food included once trust is established. Those interested in staying longer can enter a structured joining process, moving from visitor to a trial period of three to six months, with regular checkpoint conversations before any decision to become a resident member.
Our Goal
Guarda Rios Ecovillage is building a viable ecovillage on 24 hectares of rural land in Central Portugal, combining community life with regeneration of the local ecosystem. If the model succeeds, the project intends to expand to nearby land and help other groups start similar communities.
Our Wishes
The project is looking for visitors, work-exchange helpers and long-term residents willing to commit to community life, along with donations, loans and pre-sales of event tickets to fund construction and land development.
