How Pop-Up Villages Will Help Build Real Ones

the role of temporary villages in the creation of permanent ecovillages and network societies

Definitions come first:

pop-up village

A temporary residency where infrastructure, resources, and people swarm around a location. Participants live together and practice community.

This is not an authoritative definition, but sets the context for why I am so interested in pop-up villages.

Building fully regenerative villages is a complex task. It involves unpacking, reimagining, and boldly designing ourselves out of our destructive systems.

Following the Cynefin framework, the appropriate way to deal with this complexity is to probe, sense, and respond.

A pop-up village is just that. An experimental way for the regenerative ecosystem to evolution-test community.

The physical infrastructure required to build a regen village is essentially just a recipe that requires experts (complicated). The social infrastructure required for us to live in a modern village with regenerative systems is largely unprecedented and constrained by systemic absurdities (complex).

The village movement is actually all about us figuring out how to live in harmony and collectively manage resources in a responsible way. This is why I like that the ecovillage Tamera refers to itself as “a research center for peace”.

And research requires experiments.

The Importance of Experimentation

Pop-up villages offer a unique opportunity to experiment with different community models, governance structures, and sustainable practices in a low-risk environment.

By allowing participants to engage in short-term, intensive experiments, we can gather valuable data and insights that inform the development of more permanent regenerative villages.

I’m a huge fan of learning by doing, but regenerative villages are “long-game”. The fact that the average project takes about 10 years to establish as a thriving community doesn’t allow us for quicker feedback to avoid mistakes.

Take for example Regen Tribe’s Community Lab X. The tribe uses what was previously a retreat center in Tulum to test community best practices. They bring together permaculturalists, holistic wellbeing specialists, blockchain experts, and community builders to create an ongoing regenerative neighborhood experiment.

Regen Tribe’s Community Lab X lunch time was always an awesome, energy-packed swarm. You can spot me standing up in the middle photo

There were many learnings that are now incorporated into Regen Tribe’s already well-developed professional consulting strategy for creating more regenerative neighborhoods. You can still join in on the experiment.

We need to create spaces where people can come together, test ideas, and learn from their experiences. Pop-up villages provide the perfect setting for this kind of experimentation.

Gathering of Tribes: A Case Study

The Gathering of Tribes (GoT) in Portugal September 11-15th is a prime example of this movement in action.

GoT is neither a festival nor a conference. I consider it a pop-up village, hosted inside of a permanent community called The Garden.

The Gathering is bringing together multiple agents of the regenerative ecosystem to “connect for action”. The idea is that there is only so much we can do virtually. When we gather, we water the garden of our relationships and our collaborations.

The Garden community in Portugal

I’m participating in the Gathering by creating The Village Builders District. Participants are mostly village builders (surprise), who will exchange and mastermind best practices to create community.

Co-camp organizers include SmartHoods, TDF, and Under One Sky.

We have some awesome pop-up infrastructure with companies like HypeDome and Ecobuilt. We’ll be conducting some regen tech experiments, host immersive sensory experiences, and display climate data visualizations.

I’m very inspired by science fairs and Tomorrowland-style expositions, so it’s a lot about showcasing what’s happening in the space.

The focus is not on networking, but co-creating and innovating onsite. The programming is simple since the Gathering will also have other activities:

1. Village Builders Guild — a Socratic tent where people building physical communities get to receive feedback and share learnings about their journey

2. Village Tech Exhibition — a series of presentations and installations to showcase service providers and regenerative solutions

3. Village Pitch Presentations — a chance to share about your project

We are also building a regen media hub with

ReFi DAO

so we can collaborate on content for the regenerative movement.

I always joke that all my friends are village builders. Not all, but most. Let’s be friends there. You can directly get tickets here.

Network Societies and Pop-up Villages

Network Societies (previously network states) are being built entirely in this decentralized, probe-and-experiment way.

Network societies are distributed and resilient communities and parallel governments, bound not by territory but by shared values. These societies rely on a network of interconnected nodes, each experimenting and innovating in their own way.

Pop-up villages are the prototypes of network societies. Each one is an experiment that adds to our collective understanding.

Last month I bought my ticket to the Network Society Camp in Austin, Texas in October. Hosted by Cabin DAO, Coordinape, Vibecamp, and Converge, this one is going to be cool.

It’s 3 days hosted at a literal summer camp, and focused on bringing together innovators for network societies — spanning governance to community design to decentralized economy.

I find that the tech mindset of quick-and-dirty prototype is useful in the context of building complex new communities in a volatile world. That said, we might waste a lot of resources if we simply experiment without purpose.

That’s why pop-up villages should have the purpose to enrich the venue and local area that they take place. For me, the ideal setting of a pop-up village is an existing/emerging community space where an activation can have long-term benefits for the node as well as the whole network.

Pop-Up Villages and Community Skills

We can also use pop-up villages as an opportunity to decondition ourselves.

Michelle Manjarrez’s workshop at Regen Week on transforming trauma and using vulnerability to experience a real sense of community (her work is amazing)

You probably grew up in an individualistic culture. With that, you most likely need more exposure to conscious community dynamics to understand how to navigate them. The immersive experience of living in a pop-up village allows you to experience firsthand the challenges and rewards of organizing collectively.

I spent years in theory about intentional communities. Even with experience living in different art collectives and conscious coliving houses, until I lived in an ecovillage I didn’t get it.

What’s “it”? The oceans-deep intimacy that you experience when you share life with others. This intimacy scares many people, because it triggers a host of insecurities and fears.

As a fan of Brene Brown’s work on vulnerability as the foundation of true intimacy, I believe that community is best done authentically. If you’re not ready for all that, you may just want to dip your toes, and a pop-up village is a perfect opportunity.

Reminder: we are iterating towards the society we want, and that includes experimenting with who we are as individuals.

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.