The Purpose Pod podcast with Richard Mullane
It was a pleasure to connect with Richard Mullane on The Purpose Pod! Richard accompanied us through a walk in our demonstration site in South Peloponnese where we spoke about our journey in regenerative farming and the vision for a vibrant and resilient rural Greece. Many thanks to Investing for Purpose for opening this platform to share impact-driven voices.
Investing in Regenerative Agriculture Podcast with Koen Van Seijen
Episode 376 Sheila Darmos - Why Greece is leading the regenerative agriculture movement and what the world can learn It was a big pleasure to discuss with Koen the underlying values and structure that guide our work in Greece and how it connects to the ever-growing international movement of Regenerative Agriculture! We hope you enjoy it as well!
We were happy to share our insights and concerns about the future of farming, farm health, and farmers’ well-being during this event organised by the NGO A Promise to Animals and the Danish Plant-Based Diplomacy. If we want, in the future, to ensure the possibility of a plant-based diet and increase the consumers’ access to nutritious whole foods, it is essential to look at the foundation of this food source: the soil and the farmers.
Our team member Maria Catana, founder of Húmus Vivo, joined the EARA policy tour stop in Portugal to join forces for the agri-food transition, from the ground up to the EU level. “Where are the farmers of tomorrow?” was the underlying pressing question. A constructive mindset guided the group through an afternoon on policy, education, re-ruralization, and value chains, inspired by numerous good examples and possibilities shared in the morning.
Rooted to Earth Podcast with Fernando Lerner
In this podcast episode by SAE Innova, we share our insights about our holistic approach to building up the regenerative movement across the Greek landscapes and communities. Thank you, Fernando Lerner, for such a dynamic conversation! Hear it and explore other episodes of Rooted to Earth.
Student visit from Plymouth University
Our headquarters farm welcomed environmental science students from the University of Plymouth. Through hands-on learning, the students explored the Evrotas river basin and compared soil quality between a conventional farm and our own regenerative agroforestry site.
European Carbon Farming Summit
We were honoured to speak at the European Carbon Farming Summit in Ireland and represent the voice of farmers. While the carbon management industry is struggling to accurately measure its commitment, a key conclusion from the conference was that there is still no reliable and cost-effective method, and that current systems are dysfunctional and economically unsustainable. We are deeply grateful for the space offered to have insightful and, at times, uncomfortable discussions with others doing great work in the sector.
We are very grateful for all the support that we have received from the Bodossaki Foundation through the journey of Regenerative Farming Greece. Our director, Sheila Darmos, gladly joined as a speaker on the panel of organizations that have been previously selected for funding by the Bodossaki Foundation. We hope more organizations doing great work on the ground get connected with the Bodossaki Foundation.
During the tour's first event on policy, in Brussels, our director, Sheila Darmos, spoke as one of the pioneering regenerative farmers and a founding member of EARA. The EARA Regenerating Europe Tour is about building alliances that drive real change. By connecting pioneering farmers with key players across the agrifood supply chain, we can create a political landscape that truly supports agroecosystem regeneration. Change happens when those working the land and shaping the system come and join forces together.
Interview feature at Naturanrg Green & Healthy Lifestyle Magazine
In this article, Sheila Darmos, through her personal journey, introduces us to The Southern Lights farm, showing how it evolved from organic into an agroforestry hub that explores regenerative and prototyping solutions. She highlights the challenges we face in rural Greece and how we can overcome them through collaboration, both on a bioregional level and with farmers across Greece and Europe, including the crucial role of Regenerative Farming Greece along the journey. This is a highly insightful article for anyone, from consumers to new farmers, who wants to learn more about our work and discover practical, on-the-ground solutions. Enjoy and...
What a great opportunity, alongside other farmers, to amplify the voice of Greek farmers in the European discussions. This year, at the 2nd EARA conference, farmers & their families celebrated achievements, shared needs, exchanged best practices & found ways to promote the CAP proposal prioritizing the farmer, focusing on economic viability & resilient farming operations, based on healthy agroecosystems.
Our co-founder Sheila Darmos has been recognised for her advocacy work through Regenerative Farming Greece, as a farmer and social entrepreneur, in promoting the transition towards healthy soils. In the spirit of uniting movements of collective efforts to protect and improve the future of Europe’s soils, the European Mission Soil Week 2024 gathered great speakers and pioneers in Brussels. We’re honored to receive this recognition and further share insights with a great, engaged audience!
4 per 1000 Mediterranean Regional Conference
Our director, Sheila Darmos, was part of a very important minority group - farmers - present at the conference led by 4p1000 Initiative aimed at co-drafting a roadmap to clearly outline the steps in making the transition happen.Thank you for the kind invitation and great effort in enabling agroecological practices to be implemented in farming across the Mediterranean!
RAW! Regenerative Agriculture Works Ελληνικό
This training designed for farmers and agronomists will be hosted at The Southern Lights farm, that has been implementing regenerative practices since 2018. The focus of this packed and practical training is on improving farm productivity and fertility through specific practices that take advantage form natural processes on site. The trainer, Giuseppe Sannicandro, is an italian farmer, internationally recognized by his teachings across the Mediterranean region.
RAW! Regenerative Agriculture Works – training events
Co-funded by EIT food, we organised a series of 7 trainings for farmers across Greece on regenerative farming. More than 140 farmers participated in the 1-day trainings that happened in Athens, Kalamata, Corfu, Sparta, Kyparissia, Chania and Corinth. During the events, which were separated in two parts, participants had the opportunity to visit a farm that applies non-conventional practices and learn from the experts about regenerative farming and transition.
1st Hellenic Agroforestry Conference
We are very happy that the 1st Agroforestry conference took place in Greece and we hope to see it evolve into many more conferences attended by farmers, as a tool to implement them across our landscapes! Thank you Hellenic Agroforestry Network for organizing this event, and inviting us to share our experience with agroforestry in the context of regenerative agriculture.
Side by side with Simon Kraemer, we were interviewed about the recently founded EARA - the European Alliance for Regenerative Agriculture, of which our director, Sheila Darmos, is a founding member. We discussed the crucial role it has with its approach “from farmers to farmers” and the influence it can bring to the movement in Europe. We are deeply grateful to Regeneration International for streaming this interview at their impressive yearly worldwide event, The People’s Food Summit in October 2024.
Interview on YouTube with Istorima
A video interview featuring our headquarters farm: The Southern Lights - an agroforestry farm in South Peloponnese with main crops of citrus and olives. Watch the video to know the history of this farm, as well as the logic and values we are guided by while managing it. We are deeply grateful to Istorima for showcasing to so many people in Greece the evolution of our farm and philosophy throughout the years. Audio in Greek.
The World Organic Forum VII, a melting pot of movements, from Agroecology, to Natural Farming, Regenerative Agriculture, Conservation Agriculture, and so on. We spoke about the role that each of our movements plays in the transition of agriculture and our complementarity in going forward united.
We were invited to participate in the Groundswell Regenerative Agriculture Festival in the UK. This event gathered many professionals and organizations in the field, marking it as a great opportunity to exchange best practices with those doing similar work as ours at a global scale.
2024 Regenerate Europe Conferece
Sheila Darmos was a panel speaker at the Regenerate Europe Conference, side by side with Yanniek Schoonhoven from La Junquera farm, also a regenerative farmer and member of EARA.
Article for Efsyn Bio, Afimerida ton Syntakton
Our co-founder and director, Sheila Darmos, has been featured in Efsyn Bio in a 7-page interview. We are very grateful to have our voice amplified by one of the major newspapers in Greece, thus contributing to reaching a wider audience and further supporting our mission. The article is available in the issued magazine and is written in Greek.
Sheila Darmos from our team was on the panel at COP28 for the presentation of EARA's White Paper launch and to express her farmer's voice under the talk on Agroecology and Regenerative Approaches from the Ground.
It was great to be part of the Agroecology Europe Forum and come together with other initiatives from all over Europe, Researchers, Activists and decision-makers under the common aim to transform our agri-food systems towards agroecological practices. A huge thank you to the Greek Agroecology Network!
We are thrilled to announce the launch of the European Alliance for Regenerative Agriculture (EARA)! We are also excited to share that Sheila Darmos, our director, is a founding member of this farmer-led organization that is committed to advancing regenerative practices across Europe. Over two days, 50 forward-thinking farmers from 20+ European countries gathered at Schloss Kirchberg, uniting for a common cause — to spearhead a regenerative transformation in our agri-food ecosystems.
Participatory workshop for young farmers
We are delighted to have shared our knowledge with other practitioners, to be supporting people to start their farms and make them thrive, as well as exchanging insights within a learning environment!
Align4LDN stakeholder conference
In the context of the Align4LDN project, we were present at the stakeholder conference contributing to design recommendations towards aligning land management approaches with sustainable land management and land degradation neutrality criteria that seem not yet to be supported.
TUI Field to Fork Greece kick-off event
We were invited to moderate the panel discussion "Regenerative food supply chain in hospitality services". Soils were at the center of the conversation of this whole event, particularly on how we can safeguard and honor them, through the production and consumption chains and links.
Article feature in The Werde Medien summer edition
We are honored and grateful to have made it on the cover page of The Werde Medien summer edition and be featured with a 10-page article in this magazine. We really like their tagline, "Inspiration for a better world". The article showcases our regenerative farm in the South of Peloponnese, in the agricultural region of Sparta and Skala, which is also our base. A big thank you to all the people behind the scenes of the magazine and to Jessica Jungbauer for this article!
Pomegranate pilot farm feature in “Ελαιας Καρπως”
One of our pilot farmers, Charis Basiliou, has been featured in the major farmers' Greek newspaper “Ελαιας Καρπως”, increasing the reach of regenerative farming in Greece. We have been accompanying Charis' journey into regenerative production since 2022. Charis' main crops are pomegranates and olives. Explore our "pilot farms" section to learn more about his farming operation. Read it in Greek!
Third Places for Europe Conference
We were invited to present our work with farmers on sustainable food systems in a panel discussion during the conference Third Places for Europe in Montpellier, France allowing us to create valuable connections in Europe with other practitioners.
Sheila Darmos was invited to speak on behalf of Regenerative Farming Greece on the Panel of “Regenerative Investment - The Biodiversity Opportunity” during the Impact Days 2023 conference in Vienna organized by Impact Hub Vienna.
Nominee for the Earthshot Prize
Our initiative, Regenerative Farming Greece, has been nominated by the Institute for Sustainable Development at EPLO for The Earthshot Prize as an initiative that supports the transition of the Greek farming sector to regenerative approaches. We're honored to be recognized among other great initiatives that highlight the collective efforts needed to bring systemic change!
Feature in CIHEAM Watchletter 41, on ‘Youth Commitment to SFS’
This publication illustrates the crucial role that young people can play in addressing issues like climate change, food insecurity, and socioeconomic inequalities. By strengthening their capacities and allowing them to act as decision-makers in agri-food systems, we can harness their creative potential and dynamism to build a more sustainable and fairer future. We are honored to share our insights in this publication and thank CIHEAM, Union for the Mediterranean, and UNOPS for the opportunity to do so.
Feature in “Mapping The Development of Agroecology in Europe” book
This enlightening publication of AE4EU and Agroecology Europe Association discovers the latest agroecological developments in Europe, highlighting 112 initiatives and concrete examples from 13 countries. Among them is Regenerative Farming Greece's efforts towards transitioning the Greek farming sector to regenerative practices.
112 Climate Tone podcast interview by NEON
On this podcast, Sheila Darmos had the pleasure of discussing with Professor Prodromos Zanis and Andrew Spyrou how various stakeholders are working to make the Mediterranean terrestrial biodiversity more resilient. Hear the episode!
ARTE TV 360° Reportage Peloponnese: A Passion for Agriculture
The Southern Lights and its initiative Regenerative Farming Greece have been featured in the thought-provoking documentary '360° Reportage Peloponnese: A Passion for Agriculture' by Arte. Through the lens of the talented director Marie Daguenel, the film highlights the power of regenerative agriculture practices in the Peloponnese and how this movement is scaling up.
Consumers play an essential role in shifting the agricultural paradigm. We are extremely grateful to the Vegan Life NGO team for inviting us to share our insights on "How consumer choices can support the transition to regenerative agriculture".
We were delighted to be a guest speaker among all the great professionals present at EUPC forum 2023. We had the chance to present a speech on “How the food market needs to change to accommodate biodiverse farms in transition”. Furthermore, we participated as a facilitator at the European Permaculture Convergence from the 1st to the 5th of March.
FoodTank interview on growth of Regenerative Farming in Greece
Food Tank is a research and advocacy nonprofit organization devoted to storytelling and dedicated to building a more sustainable food system. We are thankful for having our work featured in their online news section, and add our voice to the many other advocates for a just transition of the agri-food sector. Read the full interview here.
Regenerative Farming Israel Conference
It was great to be part of the Regenerative Agriculture Conference in Israel with over 500 people from diverse backgrounds, working towards a transition in the farming sector.
Global Earth Repair Summit 2022
Sheila Darmos, co-founder and director of Regenerative Farming Greece hosted a speech and shared an insight into the regenerative movement in Greece, the country-specific challenges and opportunities, useful approaches to capitalize on these opportunities, the scaling up of the regenerative movement and how we can connect it to other sectors.
WikiFarm feature of The Southern Lights farm – video
In the framework of an online webinar on olive farming practices organized by Wiki Farmer, we had the opportunity to share about the olive farming practices on our headquarters regenerative farm. Panos Darmos, who is co-managing the land, gives an insight into the importance of organic matter in the soil, water retention, biodiversity and crop yield. Sheila Darmos and Giuseppe Sannicandro give a broader vision of the Regenerative Farming Greece initiative and regenerative farming techniques. Watch the video!
From monoculture to a regenerative farm – videos
Samuel Kalika from Critical Concrete in Portugal came to see us in Greece during our pilot farms planting tour, to share with his audience how it looks in practice if you convert a monoculture into a regenerative farm. 2 videos were produced, showcasing the process of implementation to transition into agroforestry.
In the Omega 3 show on the Greek national TV channel ERT 3, we spoke live about the Regenerative Farming Support Program and the Food Forest Tour, both initiatives of our mother organisation, The Southern Lights. If you understand Greek, check it out!
