Field programs · Ecuador & Peru · 2027
Prepare yourself to shape the regenerative bioeconomy.
Healthy landscapes. Resilient livelihoods. New pathways for future industries.
Work alongside farmers, builders and community partners to connect ecological restoration with bio-based design and enterprise. Through immersive field education, applied research and hands-on projects, build foundational skills, confidence and direction to discover where you can contribute next.
One mission. Three bioregions.
This shared approach unfolds across Ecuador’s coast, the Amazon and the Peruvian Andes. Each bioregion brings distinct ecosystems, materials and land-use practices, shaping projects that respond to local conditions while contributing to a shared vision for regenerative systems.
Coastal Ecuador
Los Arboleros
In the rural hills of Manabí, cacao, bamboo and tropical fruit grow through a landscape once used for cattle pasture. Los Arboleros is RFI’s 70-acre home base—a working farm where food production, forest recovery and everyday life meet. Local farming knowledge and a culture of shared work shape the experience here. Come to understand how a place can regenerate, and what it takes for people to make a living from that change.
Agroforestry · Bamboo construction · Living landscapes
Winter One
Los Arboleros · Coastal Ecuador
Save $150 with Early Bird I
- Early Bird I deposit · $650
- Sep 18, 2026
- Final payment · $1,190
- Nov 13, 2026
Early Bird I tuition: $1,840. Regular tuition: $1,990. After the final payment date, full tuition is due when you register, while space remains.
Check that the dates and program name on your form match your selection. Before paying, review the payment policy.
Winter Two
Los Arboleros · Coastal Ecuador
Save $150 with Early Bird I
- Early Bird I deposit · $650
- Sep 25, 2026
- Final payment · $1,190
- Nov 13, 2026
Early Bird I tuition: $1,840. Regular tuition: $1,990. After the final payment date, full tuition is due when you register, while space remains.
Check that the dates and program name on your form match your selection. Before paying, review the payment policy.
Spring One
Los Arboleros · Coastal Ecuador
Save $150 with Early Bird I
- Early Bird I deposit · $650
- Oct 23, 2026
- Final payment · $1,190
- Jan 22, 2027
Early Bird I tuition: $1,840. Regular tuition: $1,990. After the final payment date, full tuition is due when you register, while space remains.
Check that the dates and program name on your form match your selection. Before paying, review the payment policy.
Spring Two
Los Arboleros · Coastal Ecuador
Save $150 with Early Bird I
- Early Bird I deposit · $650
- Oct 30, 2026
- Final payment · $1,190
- Jan 22, 2027
Early Bird I tuition: $1,840. Regular tuition: $1,990. After the final payment date, full tuition is due when you register, while space remains.
Check that the dates and program name on your form match your selection. Before paying, review the payment policy.
Spring Three
Los Arboleros · Coastal Ecuador
Save $150 with Early Bird I
- Early Bird I deposit · $650
- Nov 6, 2026
- Final payment · $1,190
- Jan 22, 2027
Early Bird I tuition: $1,840. Regular tuition: $1,990. After the final payment date, full tuition is due when you register, while space remains.
Check that the dates and program name on your form match your selection. Before paying, review the payment policy.
Spring Four
Los Arboleros · Coastal Ecuador
Save $150 with Early Bird I
- Early Bird I deposit · $650
- Nov 13, 2026
- Final payment · $1,190
- Feb 12, 2027
Early Bird I tuition: $1,840. Regular tuition: $1,990. After the final payment date, full tuition is due when you register, while space remains.
Check that the dates and program name on your form match your selection. Before paying, review the payment policy.
Spring Five
Los Arboleros · Coastal Ecuador
Save $150 with Early Bird I
- Early Bird I deposit · $650
- Nov 20, 2026
- Final payment · $1,190
- Feb 12, 2027
Early Bird I tuition: $1,840. Regular tuition: $1,990. After the final payment date, full tuition is due when you register, while space remains.
Check that the dates and program name on your form match your selection. Before paying, review the payment policy.
Summer One
Los Arboleros · Coastal Ecuador
Save $150 with Early Bird I
- Early Bird I deposit · $650
- Jan 8, 2027
- Final payment · $1,190
- Apr 2, 2027
Early Bird I tuition: $1,840. Regular tuition: $1,990. After the final payment date, full tuition is due when you register, while space remains.
Check that the dates and program name on your form match your selection. Before paying, review the payment policy.
Summer Two
Los Arboleros · Coastal Ecuador
Save $150 with Early Bird I
- Early Bird I deposit · $650
- Jan 15, 2027
- Final payment · $1,190
- Apr 2, 2027
Early Bird I tuition: $1,840. Regular tuition: $1,990. After the final payment date, full tuition is due when you register, while space remains.
Check that the dates and program name on your form match your selection. Before paying, review the payment policy.
Summer Three
Los Arboleros · Coastal Ecuador
Save $150 with Early Bird I
- Early Bird I deposit · $650
- Jan 22, 2027
- Final payment · $1,190
- Apr 2, 2027
Early Bird I tuition: $1,840. Regular tuition: $1,990. After the final payment date, full tuition is due when you register, while space remains.
Check that the dates and program name on your form match your selection. Before paying, review the payment policy.
Summer Four
Los Arboleros · Coastal Ecuador
Save $150 with Early Bird I
- Early Bird I deposit · $650
- Jan 29, 2027
- Final payment · $1,190
- Apr 23, 2027
Early Bird I tuition: $1,840. Regular tuition: $1,990. After the final payment date, full tuition is due when you register, while space remains.
Check that the dates and program name on your form match your selection. Before paying, review the payment policy.
Summer Five
Los Arboleros · Coastal Ecuador
Save $150 with Early Bird I
- Early Bird I deposit · $650
- Feb 5, 2027
- Final payment · $1,190
- Apr 23, 2027
Early Bird I tuition: $1,840. Regular tuition: $1,990. After the final payment date, full tuition is due when you register, while space remains.
Check that the dates and program name on your form match your selection. Before paying, review the payment policy.
Ecuadorian Amazon
Tena
Where the Andes give way to the Amazon, Tena sits among rivers, tropical forests and Indigenous chakra gardens. Food, medicine, building materials and cultural knowledge are rooted in the same living landscape. Near Ikiam University, local communities and researchers bring distinct perspectives to its future. Learning here means seeing those connections firsthand—from the forest floor to bamboo structures—and understanding why healthy ecosystems matter to the people who call this place home.
Amazon ecology · Chakra agroforestry · Bamboo innovation
Tena Spring One
Tena · Ecuadorian Amazon
Save $150 with Early Bird I
- Early Bird I deposit · $650
- Oct 30, 2026
- Final payment · $1,190
- Jan 22, 2027
Early Bird I tuition: $1,840. Regular tuition: $1,990. After the final payment date, full tuition is due when you register, while space remains.
Check that the dates and program name on your form match your selection. Before paying, review the payment policy.
Tena Spring Two
Tena · Ecuadorian Amazon
Save $150 with Early Bird I
- Early Bird I deposit · $650
- Nov 6, 2026
- Final payment · $1,190
- Jan 22, 2027
Early Bird I tuition: $1,840. Regular tuition: $1,990. After the final payment date, full tuition is due when you register, while space remains.
Check that the dates and program name on your form match your selection. Before paying, review the payment policy.
Carrboro High School
Tena · Ecuadorian Amazon
Remaining balance: $1,190. Your first payment, total program fee and payment dates will be confirmed by RFI or your school coordinator.
Check that the dates and program name on your form match your selection. Before paying, review the payment policy.
MassBu
Tena · Ecuadorian Amazon
Save $150 with Early Bird I
- Early Bird I deposit · $800
- Jan 15, 2027
- Final payment · $1,450
- Apr 2, 2027
Early Bird I tuition: $2,250. Regular tuition: $2,400. After the final payment date, full tuition is due when you register, while space remains.
Check that the dates and program name on your form match your selection. Before paying, review the payment policy.
Peruvian Highlands
Zurite
Set in the Andean highlands near Cusco, Zurite is an agricultural community where terraces, irrigation canals and mountain watersheds shape daily life. Quechua cultural knowledge and ayni—the practice of reciprocity—connect land and community across generations. Highland farming, local building materials and community enterprise offer an intimate view of how people adapt to a place. Learn with the families and practitioners working to keep its landscapes productive, its watersheds healthy and its opportunities locally rooted.
Andean watersheds · Highland agriculture · Eucalyptus construction · Ayni
Redwood High School
Zurite · Peruvian Highlands
Remaining balance: $1,190. Your first payment, total program fee and payment dates will be confirmed by RFI or your school coordinator.
Check that the dates and program name on your form match your selection. Before paying, review the payment policy.
Peru (Summer)
Zurite · Peruvian Highlands
Save $150 with Early Bird I
- Early Bird I deposit · $650
- Jan 8, 2027
- Final payment · $1,190
- Apr 2, 2027
Early Bird I tuition: $1,840. Regular tuition: $1,990. After the final payment date, full tuition is due when you register, while space remains.
Check that the dates and program name on your form match your selection. Before paying, review the payment policy.
Menlo School
Zurite · Peruvian Highlands
Remaining balance: $1,190. Your first payment, total program fee and payment dates will be confirmed by RFI or your school coordinator.
Check that the dates and program name on your form match your selection. Before paying, review the payment policy.
Lincoln High School
Zurite · Peruvian Highlands
Remaining balance: $1,190. Your first payment, total program fee and payment dates will be confirmed by RFI or your school coordinator.
Check that the dates and program name on your form match your selection. Before paying, review the payment policy.
People make the experience
What stays with you.
“Learning about regenerative agriculture was amazing, and I hope to find a way to integrate that into my future career!”
Edgar Vasquez
UC Davis participant
See the work. Meet the people.
A window into RFI.
Stories from the field show how learning, community and regeneration come together.
Reflections from the field.
Students and staff reflect on bamboo building, agroforestry and learning together.
Moments from the field.
Your next steps
From choosing a program to joining us.
Choose & register
Check your program dates and location. Read the itinerary and complete that program’s registration form.
Make your first payment
Check your session’s deadline and the payment policy below. Use Venmo to make the payment due for your program.
Prepare for the field
Follow RFI’s confirmation and travel instructions, arrange the required insurance and pay the remaining balance listed for your program by its final payment date.
Payment & deadlines
Save $150 with Early Bird I.
Make your first deposit by your session’s Early Bird I deadline to save $150 on tuition. Pay your remaining balance by the final payment date listed for your program.
| Program | Early Bird I deposit | Final payment | Early Bird I tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard programs | $650 | $1,190 | $1,840 Regular tuition: $1,990 |
| MassBu · Tena | $800 | $1,450 | $2,250 Regular tuition: $2,400 |
High school programs have separate pricing and payment instructions.
Enrollment & payment policy
Enrollment is rolling and remains open while spaces are available. Each RFI program has a maximum capacity of 30 students, and programs typically reach capacity approximately 6 weeks before departure. Early enrollment provides a substantial discount for students, gives access to better and cheaper flight options, and helps RFI comfortably coordinate with local community partners and service providers before programs. Students may reserve their place using RFI’s first deposit option until the program’s standard payment date. On that date, students who have already made a first deposit must pay their remaining program balance. Enrollment remains open after the standard payment date while space is available. At that point, the first deposit option ends and the full program tuition is due at the time of registration. All payments made to RFI are non-refundable. However, cancellations resulting from extenuating circumstances (i.e. medical or family emergencies) may be reimbursed through the mandatory travel insurance. In certain circumstances, RFI may also allow a student's payment to be transferred to a future program session on a case-by-case basis. Students whose circumstances change should contact RFI as early as possible so we can evaluate the available options.
RFI account: @RegenerationFieldInstitute. Include the participant’s name, program and dates in your payment note. Check the amount due before sending payment. If your school coordinates payments, follow its instructions.
A look at life in the field
Sample schedules for standard programs.
Los Arboleros · 9-day sample
- Welcome to Ecuador. Meet RFI staff at Quito (UIO) airport. Travel by private bus to Los Arboleros Farm for dinner and orientation.
- Farm tour & bamboo materials. Tour Los Arboleros Farm and explore syntropic agroforestry and its management. Join a lecture on bamboo design and material use, then begin a bioenterprise design project.
- Explore the bioregion & work with bamboo. Hike through Selva Chunu primary forest. Practice bamboo harvesting and joinery, and continue developing your bioenterprise project.
- Begin the bamboo construction project. Rotate through workshops to build a community bamboo structure, install bamboo erosion dams, apply GIS to a long-term biocorridor project and conduct a monkey census.
- Agroforestry immersion: minga. Work alongside a Farmer Field School leader on agroforestry planting and management. Share a traditional tonga lunch, then play volleyball in town in the evening.
- Field workshops & archaeology. Rotate through bamboo construction, bamboo forest management and soil microbiology and compost workshops. Attend an evening presentation by a Jama Coaque archaeologist.
- Bean-to-bar chocolate & cultural activities. Make bean-to-bar chocolate with cacao nacional at Pastora Sol heritage farm. Spend the afternoon salsa dancing and enjoying the pool at Quinta Casita Azul.
- Deliver the structure & celebrate. Continue breakout workshops, then deliver and celebrate the bamboo structure with the local community. Reflect on the experience in an evening closing circle.
- Travel home. Return to Quito (UIO) airport by private bus with RFI staff.
Sample only. Activities and order may change.
Los Arboleros · 8-day sample
- Welcome to Ecuador. Meet RFI staff at Quito (UIO) airport. Travel by private bus to Los Arboleros Farm for dinner and orientation.
- Farm tour & bamboo materials. Tour Los Arboleros Farm and explore syntropic agroforestry and its management. Join a lecture on bamboo design and material use, then begin a bioenterprise design project.
- Explore the bioregion & work with bamboo. Hike through Selva Chunu primary forest. Practice bamboo harvesting and joinery, and continue developing your bioenterprise project.
- Begin construction & explore local archaeology. Rotate through workshops to build a community bamboo structure, install bamboo erosion dams, apply GIS to a long-term biocorridor project and conduct a monkey census. Attend an evening presentation by a Jama Coaque archaeologist.
- Agroforestry immersion: minga. Work alongside a Farmer Field School leader on agroforestry planting and management. Share a traditional tonga lunch, then play volleyball in town in the evening.
- Bean-to-bar chocolate & cultural activities. Make bean-to-bar chocolate with cacao nacional at Pastora Sol heritage farm. Spend the afternoon salsa dancing and enjoying the pool at Quinta Casita Azul.
- Field workshops & community celebration. Rotate through bamboo construction, bamboo forest management and soil microbiology and compost workshops. Deliver and celebrate the bamboo structure with the local community, then gather for an evening closing circle.
- Travel home. Return to Quito (UIO) airport by private bus with RFI staff.
Sample only. Activities and order may change.
Tena · 8-day sample
- Welcome to Ecuador. Meet RFI staff at Quito (UIO) airport. Share dinner, take part in program orientation and stay overnight at Alpachaca Hotel near the airport.
- Ikiam University & bamboo materials. Travel by private bus to Tena and tour Ikiam University. Join a lecture on bamboo design and material use, then begin a bioenterprise design project.
- Bamboo processing & agroforestry. Practice bamboo harvesting and processing, and explore Amazonian bean-to-bar chocolate. Learn agroforestry principles at an Ikiam student chakra, continue the bamboo lecture and develop your bioenterprise project.
- Begin the bamboo construction project. Rotate through bamboo construction, agroforestry implementation and management, and GIS workshops. Play soccer with local residents in town in the evening.
- Kichwa culture & primary forest. Explore ceramics and Amazonian foods with the Tiyuyaku Kichwa community. Canoe through Laguna Paikawe and hike in primary forest at Jatun Sacha Ecological Reserve.
- Field workshops & bioenterprise presentations. Continue bamboo construction, agroforestry and wildlife conservation workshops. Present your bioenterprise project.
- Whitewater rafting & community celebration. Go whitewater rafting and visit the artisan market in Misahuallí. Deliver and celebrate the bamboo structure with the local community, followed by a closing reflection circle.
- Travel home. Have breakfast in Tena, then return to Quito (UIO) airport by private bus with RFI staff.
Sample only. Activities and order may change.
Ready to find your program?
Choose your session, explore the details and take the next step.
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