Editing Free & Real/Wikipedia

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[[File:Freeandreal.jpg|thumb|350px|Free and Real - one of the Yurts]]
'''Free and Real''' is a non-profit organisation and experimental eco-[[cohousing]] community located in the municipality of [[Istiaia-Aidipsos]], northern [[Euboea]], [[Greece]], about {{convert|200|km|mi|abbr=on}} north-west of [[Athens]]. The organisation is primarily a school for self-sufficiency/sustainability, and a research centre for ways of living in harmony with nature.

One of Free and Real's main areas of research focuses on structures and buildings, aiming to finding the ideal structural shapes and trade-offs between eco-friendly materials and product longevity, creating minimum waste, implementing energy efficiency and bioclimatic integration with the environment, all of the while complying with Greek construction laws. Its research also focuses on farming, including fruits, vegetables, herbs and nuts, which are grown throughout the year on a seasonal basis using the natural farming methods developed by [[Masanobu Fukuoka]].

==Name and History==
The name FREE & REAL, which is an acronym for ''Freedom of Resources for Everyone, Everywhere, and Respect, Equality, Awareness, and Learning'', was coined in January of 2009, and the organisation was officially founded later that year in Athens, Greece, where the founding members lived at the time. The initial actions of Free and Real involved research, attending seminars and workshops throughout Greece and the rest of Europe on sustainability, self-sufficiency, natural farming and building, and visiting existing eco-communities and gaining first-hand experience. In 2010 it began organising its own workshops in Athens on the same subjects, and in May 2010, it relocated to northern Euboea. The property was donated to Free and Real and it is still in use as a test site for natural farming and eco-building projects.

==The Telaithrion Project==
[[File:Telaithrion.jpg|thumb|350px|Telaithrion - Central geodesic dome]]
Free and Real acquired a 3-acre plot of land at Mt. [[Telethrio]], which is being transformed into a multipurpose experimental project called The Telaithrion Project. The three main purposes of this project are: building a school for self-sufficiency, creating a research center for sustainability and low-tech eco-friendly development, and creating a model eco-community capable of being replicated elsewhere.

The Telaithrion Project is the main development project of Free and Real, and has attracted the attention of national and international media, including Alpha TV, Ant1, and Star in Greece; Deusche Welle in Germany, Reuters, Swedish National Television, TV Arte in France, and others.

== Seminars and Workshops ==
One of Free and Real's community's founding aims was the sharing of knowledge. Since 2010, it organises seminars and workshops on a fortnightly basis focusing on various topics including self-sufficiency, environmental building, natural farming, nutrition & health, traditional herbal soaps and remedies, and others. Free and Real has organised several seminars/workshops about Natural Farming in conjunction with the Center for Natural Farming in [[Edessa]], Greece, in which Fukuoka's philosophy was taught to more than 100 students.

== Community Life ==

== Decisions and Organisation ==
The decision making process adopted by Free and Real is based on the scientific method, where every decision is considered separated from emotions and opinions. Decisions are generally arrived by consensus after examining the options using the following criteria:
*''Quantitative impact'': how many people are served by this specific solution/ idea/ choice/ decision
*''Qualitative impact'': how important is the implementation of the solution/ idea/ choice/ decision and how deeply is it going to affect people in their living conditions
*''Time frame'': how feasible is the implementation and application of the solution/ idea/ choice/ decision within a reasonable time frame
*''Difficulty of the achievement'': how simple, as to its implementation, is the solution/ idea/ choice/ decision and what is the predicted cost in resources such as man-hours, money, environment, energy, etc
*''Duration in time'': what is the lifetime of this solution/ idea/ choice/ decision

==See also==
* [[Ecovillage]]
* [[Intentional community]]
* [[Vegetarianism]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://en.freeandreal.org official website in English]
*[http://www.dw.de/eco-community-battles-greek-crisis/a-17226958 Article in Deusche Welle, Dec 2013]
*[http://www.bbc.com/news/world-radio-and-tv-19289566 Mention in article by BBC News, Aug 2012]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUbRjtHZ7mc Video about Free and Real by Reuters]

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[[Category:Counterculture communities]]
[[Category:Ecovillages]]
[[Category:Intentional communities]]