Tamera

Over 160 people live at Tamera, an international peace research and education centre on a rural estate at Monte do Cerro, Odemira, in the Alentejo region of southern Portugal. They include adults, children and young people. Founded in 1995, it is one of Europe's largest self-sustaining intentional communities. Tamera calls itself a 'Healing Biotope': a model settlement that researches and demonstrates the ethical, social, ecological, technological and economic foundations of a peaceful, nonviolent culture. That work is set out in the 'Healing Biotopes Plan' and guided by the idea of 'Terra Nova', a planetary culture of autonomous and interconnected communities. The research is organised into several areas: the healing of love and sexuality, community building, children and youth education, spirituality, art and healing, ecology, cooperation with nature, and decentralised energy autonomy. The community holds its property in common and runs as a not-for-profit social enterprise. Its communitarian ethics are designed to build deep trust between members. The education programme is called Peace Education, and runs both on site and online for an international audience of change-makers. It includes introductory weeks and seminars on water management, community building, self-discovery and decolonisation, as well as specialised programmes such as the Global Love School. Tamera also works on water landscape restoration, having pioneered rainwater retention techniques in the Alentejo, and does outreach work across Europe and beyond. The site has its own campus, buildings, water and energy infrastructure and a medical centre. There are plans to expand it into a fully regenerative model settlement.