Craft retreat in Cyprus (shell)

Planet

The conservation and protection of the environment come primarily from raising personnel and guest awareness and consciousness towards a sustainable future. It furthermore encourages always having a positive attitude towards this goal without compromising the protection of personnel at all levels of the organisation and the enjoyment of a quality experience for our guests. These actions are a clear indication of our commitment to continuous improvement and pollution prevention.

We are based in a national park and as such every resident and visitor is a caretaker of our beautiful and natural environment. We leave no litter, and we take out anything left behind by those less vigilant visitors

The village draws water from a local spring. This provides water for both the residents and agriculture.

In the last couple of years, there has been a shift towards renewable energy. Cyprus has both Wind turbines and solar farms. On a micro-level roof top solar water heating and photovoltaic systems are in place..

People

Providing local benefits from tourism, especially to the local community. Agioi Vavatsinias is just off the tourist route and our goal is to incorporate the village on the tourist route and provide extra work for the local community.

Most importantly the Gallery and Retreat provide a venue for displaced artists, from Africa, Middle East and Europe (War Zones), whilst actively taking part in the renewal of our village, utilising renewable resources wherever possible.

This multicultural community of artists is complimented by other local art forms,
examples of which are hand-made lace and silversmiths in the adjacent villages, specifically Lefkara which is a world heritage site.

Our goal is to create a national heritage site in the village and use this as a training platform for both local youth and young people who have been through traumatic life experiences to learn traditional Cypriot trades and crafts both as experiential therapy and a way to generate income.