Sunseed Desert Technology is a hands on practical centre for low impact living and environmental education. We are an international community of volunteers and coordinators who work and learn together, and develop, demonstrate, investigate and communicate alternative ways to reduce our ecological impact. We are situated in a beautiful Almerian village, Los Molinos del Rio Aguas. Sunseed is a project off the grid, committed to self sufficiency and a low environmental impact.We are a well established international and multicultural community that works in collaboration with other projects and organisations at a local, national and international level, such as schools, universities, environmental associations, plus UK and Spanish media. We are developing both formal and informal ways to educate, so we offer workshops, seminars, guided tours, internships and apprenticeships. We also welcome volunteers from all over the world throughout the year to get involved with our various departments: Appropriate Technology, Sustainable Living, Organic Growing, Drylands Management, Communication and Education and Eco-construction. Activities that volunteers can get involved with include the following:Sustainable Living co-ordinates the smooth running of Sunseed’s low impact lifestyle. Volunteers in this department help oversee our food policy to ensure an ethicall and healthy vegetarian diet. This team demonstrates and encourages the use of solar cookers and other appropriate technologies; oversees the harvest, processing and preservation of local plants to produce jams, pickles, creams, soaps, toothpaste, herbal teas, etc. Organic Growing focuses on organic food production, including composting and irrigation, in Sunseed’s garden terraces, promoting practical self-sufficiency. This offers an educational hands-on experience of food growing using organic garden techniques. Drylands Management aims to halt the process of desertification, to replenish the soil by managing and harvesting scarce water resources and implementing planting programmes of indigenous plants, shrubs and tree species. We seek to understand the process of soil degradation through observation of natural ecosystems, and to use this knowledge as the foundation for advising on and applying appropriate practices.Appropriate Technology promotes innovation in the use of available technologies to reduce our impact on the environment. Volunteers in this department help to maintain the solar power and water pumping systems, and promote projects in areas such as biogas, solar energy and also water, wind and pedal-powered energy generating machines. Eco-construction and Maintenance is responsible for the upkeep of the project site and our buildings. A mix of traditional and local ecological building methods and materials are used, such as caña, a type of bamboo growing locally in parts of south Spain. Communication and Education co-ordinates the website, information and educational aspects of Sunseed’s aims across all departments. Volunteers help to produce and to distribute information, research and literature produced by Sunseed, help with translations, open days, courses and developing partnerships and networks and contribute to the website in particular the volunteer stories.Our philosophy is learning by doing and personal responsibility for yourself, other people and the environment. This is a source of knowledge for many people, especially young people, who after spending sometime in Sunseed, realise that they themselves are agents of change in our society. The various tasks and daily work that we do, from working in the garden to cooking for a group, to public speaking, to developing a project with the help of a coordinator, are factors that motivate and empower the volunteers. Furthermore, thanks to the fact that all the activities take place communally with people from different backgrounds and origins, the volunteers have the opportunity to discover and experience the beauty and benefits of team work, internationalism, cultural tolerance as well as youth social participation.We share the spirit and the values of EVS: we are committed to informal learning through action and cooperation, social resposibility, as well as the importance of promoting solidarity and tolerance, the development of international solidarity and respect for current and future generations. Thanks to community life, we promote the internalisation of these values through every day practice.