Wanted: Collaborators on Village Design Projects
I would share this video of me being interviewed about my different village design projects at Regen Week, which I came back from last Wednesday, but they are #confidential until further noticeš„²
What makes me a āvillage designer/researcherā?
I stand on the fact that Iāve been researching this for 6 years through self-study, getting certified in ecovillage design through the Global Ecovillage Network, and traveling, living in, and consulting different ecovillages and intentional community settings.
About 3 years ago, I was able to turn my obsession into a career, and Iāve gone from one-off matchmaking people to communities to working with the regenerative neighborhood startup
and being headhunted by a modern ecovillage to work for them.Iāve come quite a way, mostly because Iāve had absolute tunnel vision when it comes to pursuing mastery in this field.
Really, 6 years is not enough.
This is just the beginning of a lifetime dedicated to understanding these topics of harmonious coexistence, radically regenerative design, and alternative society building.
However, here are some projects that Iāve been able to initiate after working on village research and design concepts for said time.
Not sharing these things to solely self-promote, each has an opportunity to collaborate attached to it. I also hope to stimulate discussion and see if anyone is working on similar things.
The Sardinia Project
Known as EternitĆ , this is a project where I am designing the concept and orchestrating the partnerships for a 200-hectare piece of land on the Sardinian coast. Smart village meets longevity wellness and lab-standard research center.
You can read more about it in the first Village Builder Insider.
The invitation to participate at the moment is to a) join the consortium of investors we have already started bringing together, b) navigate diplomacy in local partnerships to form the SEZ, and/or c) organize community engagement strategies to understand local needs and wants.
The VMM
The Village Mastermind is an accelerator for village builders that combines all the knowledge and resources that weāve compiled about village design into a comprehensive curriculum.
Design work has already gone on for 9 months with re:build, BIOM, Regen Tribe, and Dua Copa.
The idea is that to help create more regenerative villages, we need to focus on the ones that already show promising potential, but they could fail if they donāt avoid common mistakes.
The accelerator connects them with mentorship and best practices to help bolster their likelihood of success.
Have an exciting project in initial stages? Fill out the typeform and co-create the curriculum according to your needs. We also are calling in a project manager who is passionate and knowledgeable about what weāre building
Marketing Director at La Ecovilla San Mateo
Since February, Iāve been living and working at this modern ecovillage.
The community itself is easy to market, since the first one was started by Norman Brooks and this new location 7 minutes down the road has been endorsed by people like
, who plans to live there.
If you want to participate, come live here. The project has high integrity and my neighbors are the kind of people organizing the Network State Camp.
Research with Blue Dot
Iām in the middle of creating a proposal to fund a research endeavor into what makes regenerative communities successful and what are the corresponding metrics for success.
This directly correlates with being able to get more regenerative villages funded.
The project will involve in-depth case studies, data analysis, and building a rubric to predict success.
If you would like to join a working group and have serious research experience, email me at hello@terrenity.org
The Bot
Low-key on the side building a bot with friends like
and training it on village design resources. Every book, video transcript, and design framework we can feed it, we are organizing the media and comparison testing platforms.If you want to build an open source AGI with us and you know what youāre doing, we have one dev and two resource collectors. Join our next jam session to collect and process data.
(For the rest of you, the AGI will be creative commons available for use).
Terrenity Publication (This Substack)
Then somehow, I make time for my favorite project of all, this publication.
I started this substack when I was having an amazing time being a recluse in my private apartment in Puerto Escondido and able to incubate 30 drafts for key article ideas.
Now, even though itās late Saturday night, I am dutifully finishing this article to be ready for tomorrow. Why? Because this publication makes me come alive.
However, it is clear to me that I have too much on my plate.
Itās pretty obvious that I have been disproportionately focusing on my work. While my tunnel vision has produced great results, it has also created asymmetry in where my life is flourishing, and I want to bring it back to a more holistic joy.
I want to free up my time and offload whatever does not need my specific expertise.
So Iām looking for more collaborators who could infuse these projects with forward momentum and get rewarded in the process.
What projects are you working on? Letās build a community here
One of my affiliated partners, Community Finders, run by Cynthia Tina, offers services for people seeking ecovillages or building ecovillages. I highly recommend you join one of her courses to uplevel your ecovillage journey.
Use the code TERRENITY for $100 off your ecovillage tour.
In awe of you!
Nicole, I hear you. You are doing amazing work. You are on my permanent "rolodex" of contacts as things get moving here.