Departments
The power of diversity
Sunseed is a multifaceted project developing and experimenting with various topics from non-formal education, sustainability, biodiversity and self-sufficiency. Our eight departments are organised into three teams to cover all fields.
Each department runs different activities. As a volunteer or intern you can join one department to master a specific skill or experiment in different departments to broaden your learning experience.
Organising off-grid life
Sustainable Living
From homemade bread and jam, to natural cosmetics and cleaning products, the SL department demonstrates the use of local, sustainable products. Ensuring the smooth running of Sunseed’s low impact lifestyle, SL maintains our vegetarian and non-chemical policy.
Bread baking
How much time? 1 day/week
2 months to become independent
Discover the art of bread baking with home-made sourdough. Through the theory of fermentation, different recipes for different flours, kneading the dough and mastering Sunseed oven you can become The Sunseed Baker.
Making cosmetics
How much time? 2-4h/week
2 months to become independent
Natural cosmetics are an important part of Sunseed's sustainability as our wastewater system is directly connected to the gardens - everything we put on our skins will end up in our veggies. Learn how to produce natural products and make your own experiments!
Kefir, kombucha & ferments
How much time? 1 h/week
1 month to become independent
Learn how to produce your own probiotic drinks and foods rich in good bacterias to boost your immune system and share it with the whole community.
Preserves
How much time? 4h/2 weeks
No minimum length of stay
We do not buy jams, salsa, chutneys, compotes or pickles - everything is produced on site. Help SL department to preserve food using local, seasonal ingredients.
Medicinal garden
How much time? 2-4h/week
1 month to become independent
One of Sunseed gardens is being taken care by SL department for the purposes of providing medicinal plants for cosmetics, medicine and infusions. Tasks include pruning, weeding, planting, preparing beds, discovering companion planting.
Household focalizer
How much time? 0,5h/day
2 weeks to become independent
With many volunteers coming and going we like making sure that everyone knows how the household is run, what the chores are and how to keep our home nice and shiny. Help us keeping an eye on the cleaniness and become the household focalizer!
The soul of the house
How much time? 1h/week
No minimum lenght of stay
There are many vistors coming to Sunseed - every single one needs to be welcomed, greeted, showed around and taken care of. You can take the role of being the first one to welcome all enthusiastic new arrivals, take-care of their wellbeing, manage the bedsheets and make the space nice in the bedroom for them!
Nutrition focalizer
How much time? 4h/week
2 months to become independent
Food is an important part of Sunseed life. Key tasks for these role are: promoting vegetarian diet with good nutritional values balance, demonstrating and encouraging solar cooking, forage and promote the use of local and wild edible plants, make sure that food store supplies are stock up.
Market organisation
How much time? 10h/month
2 months to become idependent
One of the ways to promote the project is through local artisanal markets. You can coordinate the work of different departments to prepare items for the Sunseed stall, managing the logistics and being the promoter during the events.
Agroecology and permaculture in action
Organic Gardens
The Organic Gardens department uses techniques that work with nature to create a regenerative ecosystem and food abundance. Sunseed grows its own organic fruits and veg, reducing food miles whilst promoting practical self-sufficiency.
Composting
How much time? 2h/week
1 month to become independent
Compost is a vital part of the nutrition cycle of food production. You can master the art preparing the new compost - through hot compost process, layering different materials. (1 or 2 times per month/4h)
Another job is to take care of the process, supervising the proportions, mixing compost and adding water (1 time a week/2h).
The last part of the process is sieving the compost and preparing it for the seedlings.
Irrigation
How much time? summer 2h/day, winter 4h/week
2 weeks to become independent
Keep the gardens flourishing and work with either acequia (traditional flood system) or drip irrigation. Maintain the acequia, clean the line and irrigation channels, insulate it with clay.
Seed bank management
How much time? 4h / week
6-12 months to become independent
Supervise our seed bank! The process starts with the research, selection the species typical for our the region, (climate condition, disease immunity, good fruits and yield), and saving the seeds through cleaning, drying and packaging. The second part includes updating and organising the seed bank.
The third part consists of planting selected seeds, taking care of the seedlings, transplanting and collecting fruits.
Seeding & transplanting
How much time? 6h / week
1 month to become independent
You will be preparing the substrate to use in the trays, seeding according to the seasonal and biodynamic calendar, taking care of the seedlings/watering the greenhouse, transplanting them once they are ready, following companion planting and experimenting with different arrangements of the plants.
Maintenance
How much time? 6h/week
6 weeks to become independent
The gardens need constant care and love. You can pick a garden or a part of it that you like most and be in charge of managing the beds, chopping and dropping, weeding, adding mulching, compost and manure, installing and cleaning the irrigation pipes, building shade and support structures, seeding green biomass and tidying the toolshed.
Experimentation & research
A lot of things to be done, so come and join the garden team! No, but seriously, contact our coordinator organic.gardens (at) sunseed.org.uk to pick the subject of your interest that matches project's priorities 
Drylands management
Ecosystem restoration
Through observation of natural ecosystems the Drylands Management department aims to understand the processes of desertification. We experiment with methods to combat land degradation, improve soil quality, restore the local vegetation, and implement innovative water management technologies.
Seed bank management
How much time? 2h/week
3 months to become independent
Keeping in order and enriching our tiny but precious wild seeds collection. Enjoy fruitful harvest walks, clean and dry the seeds, store them safely and label them.
Nursery supervision
How much time? 8h/week
3 months to become independent
Watering our baby plants, weeding, propagating native plants through seeds or cuttings, compost making.
Arboretum maintenance
How much time? 2h/week
1 month to become independent
Our experimental and educational section of the nursery needs some weeding every once in a while, and the big trees need to be taken care of with mulching, pruning and watering in summer. The name tags also need to be renewed, to nicely illustrates to visitors which species can be grown in the area.
Fruit trees care
How much time? 2-4h/week
3+ months to become independent
To enjoy the wonders of this oasis, figs, oranges, almonds olives and much more, we need to give some love to our trees. Depending on the season they need to be watered, pruned, or given nutrients. And then go for the deserved harvest!
Winter: pruning and olive/almond picking
Summer: watering and harvesting fruits
Wild harvesting
How much time? 2-4h/week
1 month to become independent (summer mainly)
Capers, thyme, blackberries are some of the delicious little wild things we can find in our surroundings. Learning to harvest consciously and process the fruits is like tuning in with nature and cherishing it all.
Creative irrigaton
How much time? 4h/week
1 month to become independent
All of the restoration works in the drylands department count on some summer irrigation. Locations with difficult access and no irrigation require innovation when it comes to giving water to the newly planted trees and bushes. From drip bottles to ceramic pots, we try many different methods to sustain our regreening efforts.
Earthworks
How much time? 4h/week
1 month to become independent
To combat soil erosion and improve water infiltration in our plots, it's important to learn to use the scarce water flow. Divert the water through swales and dig her way through the land so that it can bring the most help where needed, instead of running away quickly with nutrients and topsoil.
Low-impact, off-grid systems
Appropriate Technology
The Appropriate Technology department promotes innovation in the use of available technologies to reduce our impact on the environment. AT maintains our solar and water systems, whilst focusing on innovating and researching biogas, solar energy and bicycle-powered machines.
Biogas digester
How much time? 2h/week
1 week to become independent
We are experimenting with alternative ways to provide energy sources. Learn and understand the biogas digester construction, take care of our biogas digester by feeding it and improving it.
Photovoltaic system
How much time? 4h/month
2 months to become independent
Help taking care of our system by checking the energy levels, doing maintenance of the batteries and the panels.
Rewiring
How much time? 3 days/week
previous knowledge required
Some of our electric systems have been developed over time and became unnecessarily complicated. Help us with the rewiring or work on a new design.
Hot water system
How much time? 8h / month
3 months to become independent
Join the AT team for the maintenance and supervision of the system that allows us to use solar energy to have hot showers and gain the understanding of our off-grid installations.
Low impact, local materials
Eco-maintenance
The Eco-maintenance department demonstrates ecologically-friendly building techniques and natural alternatives to dangerous modern construction practices. A mix of traditional and local ecological building methods and materials are used.
Waterline and ram pump
How much time? 4h/week
2 months to become independent
Discover the 'acequia' - traditional watering system and the mechanics of the hydraulic ram pump. Make sure that the flow is steady on the whole length and all the village can enjoy the water in their taps.
Building maintenance
How much time? 2h/week
1 month to become independent
Traditional buildings need a lot of care and attention. Learn how to use natural materials to keep walls and roofs in a good shape.
Structures with recycled wood
How much time? 4h/week
2 weeks to become independent
Help us beautify the project and make it more practical. Experiment with furniture with recycled wood!
Non-formal learning
Education
A big part of Sunseed's mission is to provide a flexible and inspiring learning process. From hosting Erasmus programs and Youth Exchanges, to establishing contacts with universities, organising transformative courses and visits from local schools, the Education department is the engine that keeps Sunseed full of people learning and experiencing sustainability practices.
Recruitment
How much time? 4h/week
min. 2 months stay
Do you want to gain experience in HR? Become Sunseed's headhunter! Apart from short-term volunteers, we are hosting many interns from around the world. Help them go through the recruitment process, analyse their applications, schedule skype calls, learn how to interview and prepare the documentation. It's an extremely valuable experience to gain an understanding of how recruitment works and what information is crucial for your future employers.
Networking
How much time? undefined
no minimum stay
Are you a teacher or a student? Or maybe you know someone who works for a university or an organisation that is a part of the Erasmus network? Let us know and help to establish new links to promote sustainability and create resilience.
Tour guides
How much time? 1h / week
3 weeks to become independent
We are proud to inspire not only the ones that devote their lives to sustainability but also the ones that would like to get a taste of it. We regularly organise guided tours for visitors curious about the systems we are implementing in Sunseed. Participate in at least two guided tours, take notes, observe our daily life and share it with others while practising how to give tours!
Archiving
How much time? 2-12h / week
min. 1 month stay
There has been numerous research and study done in Sunseed. A big part of it is still in analogue version. Develop a methodology of classifying the information, organising it and presenting it in a digital format (e.g. Sunseed wiki).
NGO management
Administration
Administration department takes care of the accounts, bookings, reservation system, inquiries, recruitment, contracts, insurances and contact with the Board of Trustees. Activity in this department is connected with management, networking and a high level of organisation.
Accounting
How much time? 4-6h/week
min. 2 months stay
Gain an understanding of the financial part of the organisation by monitoring income and expenses. You will learn how to use GNUcash software and create reports for the stakeholders.
Organising the booking system
How much time? 4-6h/week
min. 2 months stay
Gain experience in hospitality management! There are lots of new volunteers, visitors and interns coming every week. Help us facilitating their stay by being in contact with them before their arrival, updating spreadsheets, collaborating with SL department for the bed management, room allocation and the induction tour and collaborating with the kitchen by updating the numbers on the boards.
Answering enquiries
How much time? 4h/week
min. 2 weeks stay
We are receiving many inquiries about the project from possible volunteers, interns, applicants, teachers or collaborators. Help us stay in touch with them and provide all the necessary information while getting to know many interesting people, stories and projects!
Online and face to face networking
Communication
The primary mission of the communication department is to share knowledge and promote sustainable lifestyles. Activities range from reaching out to online and local audiences, to communicating internally with volunteers and staff
Instagram
How much time? 1h/week
No min. lenght of stay
Do you like photography? Are you using Instagram? Help us to maintain our online presence and share some good vibes. Simply follow our social media handover and don't hesitate to propose creative ideas to make it even better!
Facebook
How much time? 2h/week
1 month to become independent
Take over our fan page reaching few thousands of followers. Participate in the creation of the on-line marketing strategy and promote valuable and educational content Sunseed has to offer.
Newsletter
How much time? 8h/month
1 month to become independent
Direct email contact is the most efficient way to maintain a valuable connection with our audience. Take part in the planning, selection and creation of the content to keep our subscribers updated!
Journalism
How much time? 6h/month
2 weeks to become independent
Do you like creative writing? Are you curious about the world around you and feel the importance of sharing your experiences with others? Help us documenting Sunseed's experiments and solutions by writing blog posts.
Film-making
How much time? 3 days/month
no min. length of stay
Video plays an important role in online communication. Pick the subject that you are most passionate about, pick the form (tutorial, documentary, informational video, live broadcast, interview, etc.) and share it the way you like it! (Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, movie screening, etc.)
Campaigning
How much time? 3 days/week
4 months to become independent
The local aquifer Aguas is dramatically over-exploited by massive intensive monoculture olive plantations. Help to raise awareness about the ecocide by connecting with local platforms, organising activist actions and producing educational content.
Design
How much time? 8h/month
1 month to become independent
Are you passionate about graphic design? Would you like to use your skills for a good cause? Help to design informative and educational content following our identity brand book.
Photography
How much time? 2h/week
no min. length of stay
Are you coming with your camera? Good pictures are always needed for the website, social media and print! Take part in different activities and help us documenting