Trinoga association was established in 2005 and still is situated in Zhelen village, Sofia district. It is not only an NGO, but also an eco-community of people that permanently live in the nature and implement in real life the beliefs that inspire and lead us. The tree pillars of our philosophy are: life in harmony with nature, social unity and personal growth. By being persistent over the years we attracted many other enthusiasts, some of whom settled for permanent residence in the neighborhood - far away from the cities in a remote area in the Balkan Mountain, 5 km away from any asphalted village and shops. By now there are 20 autonomous households co-habitating and cooperating with each other. We called our place and project, around which Trinoga Association evolves: “Vegetarium Community Home”. The core team includes 5 persons. We are known as one of the first places in Bulgaria, where many young people had the opportunity to come, live in harmony with nature and obtain practical skills and experience, that in many cases determined the direction of their lives. As we are fluent in English, French, German, Spanish and Bulgarian we could accept many local, as well as foreign volunteers . Being integral part of the Global Ecovillage Network, we maintain close relations with NGOs in Italy, France, Portugal and Switzerland. Our team is guest teaching in Sofia University, New Bulgarian University and professional schools on the matters of Sustainable development, Healthy lifestyle and Community building. Our mentor is M.D. Dimitar Pashkulev, a well-known Bulgarian specialist in natural medicine and Integral approach. Since 2015, after tens of enterprises are commercializing his natural products and more than 50 edited books of him, M.D. Pashkulev found his actual vocation in living together in Vegetarium Home. He is permanently consulting and supporting our activities on the aim of non-formal teaching of young people in sustainable activism and solidarity toward environment and communities. Our aims are to apply, develop and spread knowledge, skills and attitudes in: - Young people personal and social development: apart from developing various skills and competence we strongly promote healthy lifestyle: a balance between correct nutrition, proper biorhythm and adequate practices for body, mind and spirit; - Climatic agriculture: regenerative landscaping, enhancing biodiversity and habitats, production of clean food and row materials. - Eco building: constructing with natural materials, harmonious ratio between traditional and new technologies (95% Traditional Low Tech & 5% Modern High Tech). - Active citizenship: eco-activism enhancing biodiversity and social unity. Our main activities are: - Living and promoting healthy life in nature; - Hosting volunteers, helping them discover their authentic vocation and develop various competences; - Sending volunteers in Italy, Portugal, France, and Switzerland; - Enhancing biodiversity trough landscaping and planting more perennial fruits and nuts; - Renovating the old and building new houses using wood, clay, stone, hay and other materials; - Maintaining the place: its gardens, animals, buildings and machinery park, which gives opportunities for volunteers to develop various practical skills; - Exchanging production, physical and intellectual work with the local population; - Participating in projects, funded by various EU programs - usually in partnership with other NGOs ; - Consulting other NGOs' projects. We address our activities to 3 target groups: - Young people aged 18-30, with eco-orientation, who are ready to adopt sustainable lifestyle; - Other NGOs with similar interests and activities; - The local population of Zhelen village and Svoge town; We are absolutely self-sustainable, running our small farm on 3 ha where we grow vegetable gardens and experiment with various plants, we breed horses, hens, bees and, we are autonomous in food, water and electricity. We have developed our social entrepreneurial activities, that support us financially – a guest house and production of herbs, teas and healing ointments - in a scale that does not take all of our time and strengths. Sometimes, when need, we hire people from the local community. We also participate in projects (local and international) that fit our philosophy and are run by people who share our values, that also brings about to our financial stability.

Welcome to Vegetarium community! To live and grow together in this wild area of the Balkan Mountains: enhancing biodiversity, social unity, and personal growth! Master permaculture, discover other eco-projects in Bulgaria, and share authentic lifestyle! During your stay we will be focused on: -Self-improvement, family, and community life: healthy daily routine, morning trainings, sharing circle, healthy nutrition, teamwork. - Autonomy, climate resilience and crisis preparedness. -Helping family and eco projects. - Developing green skills: handling different tools, grow food sustainably, renovate and build a home, organise an eco-friendly householding, balance between nature, local community, markets, and institutions. - Regenerative ecology and agriculture: ability of local creation of living environments that are sustainably productive under changing conditions. - Facing climate change. Welcome to Vegetarium Community Home! Please, read: http://vegetarium.info/our-rules/

We share a hamlet of authentic clay houses, improved with common space, modern kitchen and bathroom. We are looking for 4 volunteers: the volunteers will be in shared rooms, two persons from the same gender per room. We are growing, foraging, cooking and eating together healthy, plant based food with some eggs and diary products. Living in the mountain we mainly walk or horse-ride, when possible. At one hour of walk from our home is the train station with regular connection to Sofia (60km) and Svoge (15km.), or a bus.

Our open and pragmatic methodology provides knowledge, skills and attitudes for: - Healthy and non-violent living; - Regenerative landscaping; - Planting endemic and useful plants: nutritional, medicinal, ecological; - Renovation and construction of houses, using wood, clay, stone, straw and other materials; - Maintenance of eco-farms: gardens, animals, buildings and machinery; - Receiving and training volunteers; - Exchange of production, physical and intellectual labor, with the local population; - Consulting and volunteering for other projects; - Non-dogmatic spirituality;

The Participant profile: No previous experience needed. You need strong motivation and will to live the values and principles of the project, to practice it's lifestyle. To be open and implement the desired habits, regarding food, daily regime and program. To be ready to handle responsibilities. For this, you need to be listening, flexible, hardworking and willing to persevere. The specific knowledge, skills and attitudes transmitted, are demanding openness and respect toward our experience in the last 22 years. NOTE: The Activity dates are FLEXIBLE, the activity can start in May or June and ends in September or October depending on the start date. We are happy to discuss different options that are comfortable for everyone!!
Deadline: 07/06/2026 23:59

The project is implemented under the European Solidarity Corps Programme, financed by the European Commission.
The participating organisations have to be mindful of these needs as they are responsible for providing a respectful and trusting hosting environment. At the same time, the organisations participating in the initiative devote a great deal of time, energy and resources to set up a high-quality activity; they should therefore expect that European Solidarity Corps participants show a similar level of respect for the local communities and the people that are directly concerned by the activities (https://youth.europa.eu/solidarity/mission_en).
What do we provide ?

• Training before and after the project
• Health insurance during your project
• round-trip travel reimbursement
• accommodation and food
• pocket money
• language course
• Return Week-end
• Youth Pass and SVI international Volunteer passport

Before applying for this volunteering project, you need to enroll yourself at European Solidarity Corps Platform (https://europa.eu/youth/solidarity_en) and specify your European Solidarity Corps Participant Number (PRN).
This organisation holds a European Solidarity Corps Quality Label.
Contact the ESC coordinator at +32 2 888 67 13 to get more informations.