Farkha

  • Communities

About the Communities

  • Established
  • Arabic
  • Social

Founding year

  • 2016

What we do

Farkha is a traditional hilltop village in the Salfit district of Palestine, which has been expressing its radical and progressive leanings for decades. In addition to strong left-leaning politics, local leaders have been encouraging autonomy and sustainability for many years through rooftop rainwater harvesting, organic home gardens, and chemical-free agriculture generally. The town has a village-beautification plan, a community-operated kindergarten and civic center, and a women’s cooperative that makes organic olive-oil-based cosmetic products for the international market. Women are unusually visible in civic and political life, and Farkha has the only mixed-gender elementary school in Palestine.
When GEN and Global Campus came into contact with Farkha, they were already developing a two-hectare site on the periphery of town as an organic agriculture and agro-forestry demonstration site. Farkha then hosted the first Ecovillage Design Education (EDE) in Palestine, in 2015/16, and was recognized by GEN as the first Ecovillage in Palestine. The demonstration site has been further developed to include a combination of traditional field-stone terracing and swales for rainwater retention, mixed-culture permaculture, a composting toilet, and a small biogas digestor used for preparing coffee and tea during working times.
Farkha has a unique vision to build resilience and create real abundance for its citizens. They have been happy to integrate knowledge from international visitors, and the support that has come from being recognized as an Ecovillage has been substantial. But they were already well on their own path to create a better life for themselves and their neighbors, and to set a positive and peaceful example for their region and for the world.
Farkha also hosts the Farkha International Youth Volunteer Festival every summer. 2018 will mark the 25th anniversary of this event.
In addition to being an Ecovillage, Farkha is also simply a village, with changing political leadership, and a diversity of opinions and activities. The main movers behind the ecological initiatives and many of the social activities are recent mayor Hammad Bakr and members of his extended family; and local agro-ecologist, permaculturist, and yoga instructor Saad Dagher.

  • Purpose
  • Social
  • Languages
  • Arabic
  • Community type
  • Intentional Neighborhoods

Commemorative dates

  • January 1, 2016
  • Started living together
  • Not open to new members
  • Open to visitors
Total
1200

Guest Book

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Location

  • Palestinian Territory

Farkha

Originally published at …

Needs and Offers

Connecting people and communities through an intentional online marketplace

  • Promoted
Need
  • Promoted
  • Events
3 weeks ago

Healing Love Healing Money: Trust As The Foundation For A New Culture

Money, love and power are among the hardest things any community works with, and many of us carry the same fears into both: not having enough, losing what we have, and the sense that if someone else gets money or love, we won’t. Healing Love, Healing Money: Trust as the Foundation for a New Culture is taught by two intentional communities. Karen McAllister and Duncan Cryle are from Clear Sky Meditation and Retreat Center, a Buddhist-lineage community in the BC Rockies. Monika Alleweldt and Benjamin von Mendelssohn from Tamera Healing Biotope, a community of about 160 people in southern Portugal that has spent decades studying love, trust and relationship. Clear Sky has spent years working on its relationship with money, and our two communities found surprising parallels in the fears beneath both. Over four sessions we explore the roots of fear around money and belonging, love, possession and power, trust as infrastructure (community as a container for healing), and ethical livelihood. We use short meditations, body-based practices, reflection and small-group conversation. You do not need to be in a romantic relationship or live in community. When: October 27, Nov 3, 10, 17. All four sessions: 12–2pm Vancouver, 1–3pm Alberta, 7–9pm UK and Portugal, 8–10pm Central Europe. Note: US and some Canadian provinces change clocks on November 1, so the US west coast is 12–2pm on October 27, then 11am–1pm for the remaining sessions, and Eastern is 3–5pm on October 27, then 2–4pm for the rest. Cost: sliding scale Details and registration: https://www.clearskycenter.org/event/healing-love-healing-money-online/  
October 27, 2026 13:00 – November 17, 2026 15:00
  • Promoted
Offer
Offer
  • Events
2 days ago

Womens Tiny Mud House Workshop

I’m Na, a regenerative designer, earthen builder and educator with the Global Ecovillage Network. I’m passionate about helping people step into action, however big or small. A women’s build I joined back in 2015 was a much needed transformational experience that set me on this path. Offering this workshop is a way of coming full circle and passing that same spark on. Sat 16 to Fri 22 January 2027 This is a hands-on workshop where you’ll learn earthen building techniques and build a tiny house from the earth up, with your own hands. Why tiny? A tiny house requires careful, creative design and asks – what space do we actually need to live? It uses far less material and takes less time to build, so it’s practical and economical. This also allows us to experience all stages of a house build, from design and brick-making to building and finishing. You’ll get your hands into every part of the build. We’ll work with mud brick (adobe), cob and bamboo, then earth plasters and finishes. This workshop is open to women of all ages and abilities are welcome. Come if you’re new and curious, if you want more practice on specific parts of a build, or simply to play in the mud with wonderful people. It’s genuinely good fun. We’ll be in my little forest, a small house on the edge of a village and national park, 20 km south of Chiang Mai, Thailand. You can stay on site in simple earthen dorms or tents, and we’ll share home-cooked Thai food in the cool, bright days of Thai winter. Read more and register here 
January 16, 2027 00:00 – January 22, 2027 23:59
Need
  • Communities with Openings
4 weeks ago

Heart-centered, nature-loving unschooling family seeking a community to land with for winter 2027

We’re a German-American family who left conventional life about four years ago to live in line with our values: freedom, connection, nature, and spirituality. We started out as worldschoolers, moving every month or two. That taught us a lot, including that too much movement leaves a family rootless. Since then we’ve been looking for the balance between adventure and belonging. We found a taste of it on a multigenerational farm community in Austria, and we’re now living alongside a small community in Norway. For January to March 2027, we’d love to spend a season inside a community that feels like home. What we’re hoping for A community with teenagers and a culture that welcomes self-directed learning, where unschooling is understood and not just tolerated Nature at your doorstep (forest, land, animals, or garden) Some shared meals, perhaps shared rhythms, and real relationships, not just a place to park A spiritual or reflective thread, whatever form it takes for you An opportunity to get to know your community by giving back (although we can’t do a ‘full’ volunteering program as we have the past three years – ie: Workaway- because we have meetings online that take up too much of our time to volunteer full time)  What we bring Resilience and emotional wellbeing. I’m an online resilience coach with a BA in Developmental Psychology, certified in HeartMath®, and an experienced yoga and meditation teacher. I can offer community sessions in nervous system regulation, stress resilience, and meditation, and support for parents and teens. Experience raising three children in a nomadic, family-centered lifestyle, including years of travel across Europe. Open, adaptable, and grounded. We’ve lived in many settings and adapt quickly. We show up as contributors, not consumers. Unschooling and homeschooling know-how. We’re glad to share what we’ve learned, especially for families navigating legal and practical questions in Europe. Many other shareable skills: carpentry, sourdough bread baking, food fermenting, music making, dad-joke-telling, drone pilots, cookie bakers, food preservation and much much more.   We’re looking for a mutual fit, not just a bed for the winter. If our story resonates and you have space or know someone who does, we’d love to hear from you. Tell us about your community: your values, your daily rhythm, and what you’re hoping for from the people who join you.

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