Sete Fontes
Sete Fontes is a 15-hectare off-grid permaculture project near Portalegre, Portugal, founded by Michel Siebenaller and Isabel Valente, now evolving into a small ecovillage. Since 2016 it has hosted volunteers while regenerating land, growing food, and building community.
Located in the Parque Natural da Serra de São Mamede near Portalegre, in the Alto Alentejo region, Sete Fontes is a 15-hectare off-grid permaculture project with forests, natural springs and abundant water. Founded and cared for by Michel Siebenaller and Isabel Valente since 2016, the project has focused on regenerating degraded land, growing organic food, and living simply and sustainably.
Sete Fontes combines gardens, syntropic agroforestry, animal husbandry, and a greenhouse, alongside communal spaces such as a shared kitchen, living room, workshop area, pizza oven, yoga deck, and a natural forest pool. Building work uses traditional eco-construction techniques such as wattle and daub, made from locally sourced sand, clay, and straw. The project also participates in a conservation program for the endangered Pedrês Portuguesa chicken breed, in partnership with AMIBA.
Over the years, Sete Fontes has hosted volunteers from around the world through WWOOF and Workaway, sharing daily tasks like animal care, gardening and construction. The project is now transitioning towards becoming a small ecovillage, inviting new community members to live — not just stay — as neighbours with private spaces and shared responsibilities, guided by consensus and regenerative, ecological, off-grid, and zero-waste values. Community life follows a vegan/vegetarian-oriented lifestyle, with an emphasis on maturity, kindness, and rural practical skills.
Sete Fontes also connects with the wider regional community, hosting occasional workshops (such as digital security sessions in Portalegre) in collaboration with local partners.
Our Goal
To regenerate degraded land in the Alto Alentejo region through permaculture and syntropic agroforestry, evolving from an off-grid volunteer-hosting farm into a small, consensus-based ecovillage.
Our Wishes
Sete Fontes is seeking socially engaged, like-minded people to join as new community members and co-create the ecovillage, ideally with rural/practical experience, financial independence, and access to a car.
