An experiential workshop in Epirus, 6-8/6/2025
There are many ways to learn nature. There are many ways to learn our selves. We do both by telling stories. Because narratives and human cultures go hand in hand.
Zagori is known for the wealth of its nature. Mountains, rivers and most of all thick forests. We will be getting to know its abundance of plants with a particular focus on trees – as individual species, but also as relationship systems. As we will be walking in the forests of Epirus, immersing our selves into nature, we will be making and sharing stories: about ourselves, the trees we encounter (and their herbal properties), the landscape that nourishes us and in fact life in its abundance.
This workshop is part of the series “ Doing stories: Story-telling/ Story-making in Epirus, Greece” focusing on the interrelationship between self-awareness, nature/ culture and storytelling. All workshops offered are experiential and they combine walking, individual and group self-awareness exercises, as well as nature activities. All activities are taking place in the area of Zagori (Epirus, Greece) and more specifically in the village of Ano Pedina. You do not need any special equipment. Basic physical fitness required, but we can always adapt; just let us know.
This is not a psychotherapy retreat, neither a workshop specialised on botany. It is a creative seminar focusing on the intersection between the ecologies/ cultures of plants and humans through the art of story-telling and how these shape the ways we perceive the world with an emphasis on the spoken word.
Workshops in this four-stage seminar are autonomous, albeit interconnected and you are not required to take part in all seminars – just the one you have chosen to attend.
Each workshop will start Friday afternoon at 18:00 and will be completed by Monday morning at 12:00 with plenty of unstructured time in between, so that you can engage in your own explorations.
The experiential character of “Doing Stories” means that all group participants will be involved in practical activities leading to the creation of stories and story-telling (aiming at the same time in self-awareness and an awareness of place – as well as the interrelationship between the two).
The aforementioned activities (herb/tree-walks, guided sensory walks, experiential exercises & nature skills activities) will take place in the EcoMuseum of Zagori and/or around the village of Ano Pedina in Zagori.
The workshop will take place in English. Also please note, that if weather conditions do not allow for walking around the area and/or staying outside, we will have to adapt our activities and schedule accordingly.
If you are interested in additional information about the workshop instructors, costs, schedule, traveling to (and from) Epirus and accommodation, please contact Tina at 0030 6975914941 or tinaly@kipos.org.gr.
Registration deadline: 28th of May 2025 – until the 12th of May if you’re aiming at early bird fees!!!
An additional note on self-awareness, story-telling & the world
Self-awareness is not an individual process, but rather an interplay between ourselves and everyone else around us: the people, the animals, the plants, even geographies and weather patterns. In our (Western) culture, we’ve been accustomed in approaching awareness as something residing within our skin, but whether we will understand the latter as a boundary or a bridge is a matter of consciousness or choice. During the workshop, we will be working on the self – and hence community – through experiential exercises; alone, in dyads and the group, using narratives, self-observation and nature activities, seeking to connect what we learn to how we understand our embodied selves in an animate world.
About our partner, the EcoMuseum Zagori: this is a different type of museum, open and interactive, a structure that contributes to the protection and utilization of natural and cultural heritage for the benefit of local sustainable development. The central principle it is based on is that an area’s monuments should remain in situ as a living testament to a specific era. The various points of interest in the area constitute its collection, while the local community plays a central role, as it has been historically responsible for interpreting, preserving, and promoting this collection. The purpose of Ecomuseum Zagori is to protect, highlight and promote the region’s natural and cultural heritage through actions that foster sustainable development, social cohesion and the local economy. Through educational activities and interpretive tours, visitors uncover the hidden aspects of Zagori and interact with the land “behind the mountain,” as suggested by the origin of its name.
