Be Here

For those who are called to group consciousness work, this program invites you to stay in the Heartland campground site in Abruzzo, for an extended period of time. It is dedicated as a research platform into the development of new models of society, the study of awareness, working on minimalist farming approaches and creating sustainable structures. This project is a way to use the power of this place to support the enhancement of awareness alongside revitalising a rural community, and repopulating the brown and abandoned plots of land, to reconstruct the ruined houses of stones into small cosy homes where the people who have been called to return to nature live in harmony with the wildlife that has taken over the land.

The Heartland site is built on 12 hectares of pristine land and it was chosen because the land here enjoys no discontinuity – it has never been modernised again. The closest neighbours are over a kilometre away. The abandoned smallholding that has been left 45 years ago is now coming back to life, the olive trees are in leaf, the cherries are fruiting again, and the old wells of limestone are full of clear water, but much has been untouched.

As the site has been allowed to stay wild  and much of it is forested, there are several spots where nature is totally undisturbed. As part of the Be Here program, we offer you a yurt to live in on one of those spots or you can build your own tent or other structure: under the trees, sheltered from the sun in summer and from the big winds in winter. Be aware that this is not a glamping holiday or easy retreat. Nature here is wild, and life in harmony with it means one has to adjust to the wilds, not the other way around.

The program is in place to allow us and you to focus on energizing the Heartland  Centre alongside finding progressive solutions for the economic and social climate of Southern Europe, where so much of the rural population is leaving the country side because the small scale farming they knew is no longer viable. This is even more true in the mountains of Italy, where farming was always harder – we aim to focus on new farming methods, minimalist approach to sustainable tourism, creating models of society that work, focusing on inner work and balance. 

Heartland is an association that was made in order to allow people to live in nature as a solution. Wood and Water: drinking water is currently something that needs to be carried, but that adds to the charm and there is plenty of wood of course. You will cook on a gas ring, or outside fire and if you choose to focus on growing food, the site’s garden is yours to use and cultivate. There are already beds based on Permaculture full of vegetables and herbs, we are growing growing ancient grains and corn, and in autumn and all through summer, there is more fruit than one can eat.

Contact us if you feel that you want to take part in this exciting adventure, that like us you have a passion for living in the wilds in a progressive society, for Permaculture, are attracted to inner work, and the study of consciousness, if you too see the wild boars, wolves and deer as your friends and can enhance the wilds with your being.

Here is the new Heartland website: www.spiritsheartlandofintent.com