Educational Eco Retreat - Poland
TRADITIONS OF RURAL POLAND - STUDY TOUR: May to October each year
Only on the Polish countryside you can learn the traditional methods of farming, cooking, preserving food as well as most advance ecological technology.
See pictures form workshops on the Polish countryside
http://www.eko-cel.pl/eng/index.php?id=creative
The place: ECOCENTRE ICPPC (*) Stryszow near Krakow, Poland www.eko-cel.pl
Draft proposal of the program: can be adopted as you wish - Mix and match any of the following:
1st day - accommodation on the farm in Stryszow (traditional or organic eco-tourist farm), starting with dinner, and walking in the area
2nd day- visiting traditional farm, butter and cheese making, hand milking cow, feeding animals, traditional way of hay collecting, making stacks, cutting grass by hands (using scythe) weaving, other work on the farm dependent from the season, walk to the fruits&herbs farm
3rd day- visiting (20 minutes walk from the accommodation ICPPC ECOCENTRE guided visit around centre (1 hour), clay and straw building workshop - making blocks from straw and plastering with clay (3 hours) and traditional palm and garlands making (2 hours)
4th day - climbing Babia Gora (1725 above see level, the Quinn of Beskidy Mountains. Visitors will go by local train (40 min) then bus (30 min) to Zawoja, 3 hours climbing and then back. All day excursion.
5th day "traditional basket making workshops" (6 hour) the main aim of the workshops is to make simple, traditional baskets from wicker (in the ECOCENTRE), possible visit to the Kalwaria Monastery (UNESCO monument with 40 chapels around)
6th day - after breakfast going by train to Krakow (1 hour 15 minutes), coming back for dinner
7th day - after breakfast going to an organic farm in Lekawica (15 min) by local bus, - accommodation, learning about farm, working horse using, sight seeing with horse cart, other work on the farm
8th - traditional cooking and baking, juice and jam making, traditional folk music, meeting with local farmers, horse care, sight seeing,
9th - departure (including breakfast and lunch on the way/or on the farm)
Vanishing Occupations - A series of residential 3-days workshops for youth concerning traditional skills for example “Making basket”, “Traditional wooden toys”, “Pottery,” “Weaving”, “Clay and straw constructions”, “Traditional gardening and food processing”, “Embroidery”. The main aim of training is to conserve traditional disappearing skills, to give the young generation new opportunities for find occupations and source of additional incomes and also to show one another / alternatives or free time activities. Participants are also accommodated in local farms to see how organic farming works. www.eko-cel.pl
OPINIONS OF THE PARTICIPANTS
'Ms. Łopata arranged an excellent program of activities for us over the course of our nine-day stay, which included accommodations on local eco-tourism farms; a series of workshops on local crafts, highlighting vanishing occupations; a hands-on workshop on sustainable building design using clay and straw; and a series of presentation lectures addressing the status of organic farming in Poland, the situation of small farmers, and the potential impact of GMOs on the country's traditional farms. We enjoyed several site visits in the local area, including a farmers' market, and a day-long visit to Babia Góra, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Most of our on-site activities took place at the ICPPC-Ecocentre in Stryszow. The ecocenter was an excellent learning site for our students, with opportunities to see sustainably-designed buildings, an organic garden with geodesic dome greenhouse, black and greywater processing systems, solar power panels generating electricity, and a rainwater harvesting system. The students were extremely happy about the program in Poland, with many of them remarking that it was a life-altering experience and made them even more eager to work on issues related to the environment and sustainability...' Karl J. Schmidt, Ph.D.
I have so enjoyed my time in Poland and couldn't possibly express my thanks enough! Thank you for the beauty you seem to find in everything & your willingness to teach! - Kate Wegehaupt
Jadwiga & Julian, Thank you so much for all you have done for me. Your kind spirits and beautiful hearts have made
me feel so welcome. All of the you have taught me have changed my life and shaped my soul in a way no others have been able. Thank you both so much. - Holly
Leaving you with love and a sincere hope our paths will cross again soon. You have been such an inspiration. - Christine
JADWIGA & JULIAN, You both are incredible inspirations to a boy from small town South Dakota. The Ecocentrum is
beautiful, and you're made a powerful impact on my life. - Mitch
Cost: Each booking is completely unique and can range from 3 days to 10 days which would reduce or increase the price stated. Bookings are gererally encouraged in groups, therefore the total price price is a group rate based on min 6 people and a maximum of 10 which will be around 2300 PLN for 1 person = £497 sterling for 9 days or 1200 PLN per person = £260 for 5 days. (You will have to confirm price in May 2010 becouse of possible inflation). The price includes: costs of accomodation, meals on the farms, lectures in English, workshops, English speaking general guide. Price is NOT including local and international travel costs, extra meals outside accomodation.
Flights can be booked with easyjet.com from Gatwick to Krakow for approximately £60 return if booked in advance.
* We would be happy to organise group bookings if you are happy to attend with people you don't know (sometimes thats half the fun!) - Contact us or leave a comment at the end of this page (username required )
Please mention: Natural Food Finder when enquiring / booking:
CONTACT: (*) ICPPC - International Coalition to Protect the Polish Countryside, 34-146 Stryszow 156, Poland
tel./fax +48 33 8797114
Please mention: Natural Food Finder when enquiring / booking:
Further information:
Huge efforts have been made to create a national and international campaign to protect the Polish countryside. Real gains have been made. 470 Polish and international organizations representing over 30 million people have been supporting ICPPC. They have been lobbying both nationally and internationally, holding conferences and seminars, publishing articles and pamphlets and speaking on both radio and television. They have been urging cooperation and closer working connections for the well-being of all and the future of the Polish countryside.
Malopolska Group of Eco-producers „Urodzaj” initiated by ICPPC in 2001 associated a dozen or so traditional and organic farms from Stryszów area. Simultaneously a group of consumers were formed in Krakow securing constant demand for products. Apart from producing organic food, farmers from the group deal with ecotourism, offering accommodation on the farm, a warm, family atmosphere and tasty, healthy meals. On some farms educational classes for children, youths and teachers are acquainting them e.g. with traditional methods of making butter, cheese or baking bread. Together with ICPPC farmers from “Urodzaj” group educational workshops are carried out at schools entitled “The Day of Healthy Food”. ICPPC and the farmers willingly participate in fairs and exhibitions as well as organizing organic receptions.
The Eco centre is in Stryszow near Krakow is the first place in Poland where one can see ecological technology solutions working in practise, like renewable energy systems, ecological buildings and water treatment systems. It is not a static exhibition. In the ECOCENTRE ICPPC – all appliances are working producing electricity, heating water and rooms or treating wastage. Practical working models make it easier to understand the principles of how they work. We believe that the best way to convince people to use these ecological technologies is by showing that they operate in local circumstances. In the ECOCENTRE ICPPC there is clay and straw conference building powered exclusively with solar energy. There are also organic herb and vegetable fields. Since September 2003 ICPPC ECOCENTRE ICPPC has offered one-day and residential courses and workshops, lectures and conferences. Accommodation and meals for participants of these meetings are provided by local eco-tourist farms cooperating with ICPPC. Activities of the centre contribute to disseminating of ecological ways of living and show in practice how to protect the cultural and biological heritage of Polish countryside
