Project for a collaborative, educational micro-farm cooperative in France.
Land
- Minimum size of 5 hectares for private spaces, common spaces, and gardens
- Larger flat area preferred for easier gardening
- River/water source, forest/greenery, and lake access desired
- Good road access, especially if close to major transport road for lower transport costs
- Decent soil preferred, with a few bigger trees, good quality land for crops
- Safe from worst of climate change (flooding, drought, storms)
- Land that can be built on and used for agriculture, with autonomy to decide on use (few regulations preferred)
- Constructible area large enough for a community space and personal spaces
Region
- Strong local ties a plus
- Regions with existing community a plus
- Close proximity to larger city (500,000+) for sales and quick travel
- Decent size village/town within biking distance for cultural life, local ties, and shops
- Supportive neighborhood for mutual aid, exchange of knowledge and practices, services, people, goods, and vegetables
- In a politically left-wing region with no risk of totalitarian political system
Country
- Live with a few close people invested in the project and with similar mindsets on living together
- Place to live, develop, strive for autonomy in terms of inputs, and achieve financial sustainability
- Art and education meet
- Live in peace and show the world alternative ways of living
General community idea
- Max 10-15 people on the land, depending on size
- Smaller group initially, max 6, min 3-4
- Highly committed people with diverse skills, willing to commit for a few years setting up the place
- People known well by founders
- Nomadic living allowed as long as commitment to project remains, tasks are handed over fairly, and enough people remain on site
- Space for a limited number of volunteers, not exceeding number of people living on site
- Willingness to create integrative governance system
- Awareness of potential conflicts and willingness to address them
- Recognition that human factors can cause collective breakdowns and importance of human aspect in community
- Use of tools such as sharing circle, affective mutual aid, and non-violent communication
- Ongoing research into human management tools and willingness to adapt or abandon them as needed
- Cross-competence with core group having a variety of skills, including:
- Manual skills: construction, woodworking, carpentry, joinery, bioclimatic insulation, earthwork, permaculture, market gardening, electricity, plumbing
- Intellectual skills: knowledge of law for financial arrangements, management of human relationships, shared governance
People
- Max 10-15 people on the land, depending on size
- Smaller group initially, max 6, min 3-4
- Highly committed people with diverse skills, willing to commit for a few years setting up the place
- People known well by founders
- Nomadic living allowed as long as commitment to project remains, tasks are handed over fairly, and enough people remain on site
- Space for a limited number of volunteers, not exceeding number of people living on site
- Values: non-profit goal (reinject value creation into community activities), degrowth, feminism, inclusiveness, link to the living, relational ontological relationship, intergenerational, being able to make links with other alternative places
Living areas
- Tiny homes spaced out over the land for privacy
- Social contact is abundant but intentional, allowing for choice to socialize or be alone
- Individual freedom to choose living accommodations
- Each household has at least 400 m2
- Individual households choose their own home facilities
Common spaces
- Spacious and inviting common spaces central in the community
- Common spaces serve as social and functional spaces, such as kitchens, toilets, tool sheds, clothes washing, and offices
- Reduces need for individual households to construct these facilities
Management
- Holocracy or non-hierarchical system for permanent residents
- Volunteers and visitors can share opinions and ideas but not part of decision-making process
- Decisions made with collective intelligence, respect for domain of work, and emotional/communicational maturity
Finance
- Diverse income sources for greater resilience
- Microgreens sold in nearby cities
- Long-term expansion to regular permaculture crops and mushrooms
- Education and courses on permaculture and natural building, supplemented with tours, memberships, ecotourism, and art events/courses
- EU partnerships through youth exchanges or ESC volunteers
- Individuals can have their own jobs as long as commitment to project is maintained and fairly distributed among inhabitants
- Financial set-up through scop, cooperative, or scip
- System for resaleable shares in the event of community leaving, to make financial and human contributions worthwhile
- Ability to re-establish themselves in other places, with importance placed on maintaining links with other alternative places
Education & Art
- Place to live simply and in peace, with individual freedom to live as desired
- Education and connection to outside world through art activities
- Permaculture design courses
- Permaculture garden tours
- Farm to table dining events
- Permaculture day/weekend courses
- Creative writing/poetry events
- Open-mics
- Photography/DIY/natural dying
- Art building for activities such as painting, drawing, woodwork, and pottery
Garden
- Common garden with annual vegetable plots, perennials, fruit and nut trees, and berry bushes
- Maintained by community members, with a few overseers
- Food is shared equitably
- Features straight growing beds, greenhouses, seed nursery, raised beds, herb spirals, ponds, polycultures, and food forests with tree guilds
- Wild and local flowers/plants included
- Permaculture/syntropic farming principles followed
- Individual households can create their own gardens on their plot of land and are responsible for them