Is this for you?

As you can see below, we’re looking for people with certain qualities that will help ensure the success of our project. That’s why we have an application and mutual evaluation process.

We – all of us – need to learn new ways (or rescue some really old ways) of living and working together sustainably and respectfully. And here at 8th Life Panama we’re interested in hearing from people who are excited about doing this. That’s why it’s a requirement that prospective members participate in an on-site Permaculture course (PDC) and be committed to using Permaculture and other sciences that support the ethics of Care for the Earth, Care for People, and Limits to Growth & Consumption as the basis for healing ourselves and our earth and living sustainably.

To us, it’s about a mindset – not about a bunch of techniques.

Pioneers

This is a very ambitious project, so it needs pioneering spirits – people who want to co-create and can put up with some discomfort and risk for the joy of making something new together. It needs people suited to the options for autonomous employment that will help ensure a solid base of EcoEnterprises that will make our EcoVillage viable.

We’re looking for people who realize that creating more EcoVillages and other transition communities is an urgent & vital necessity, and who feel a genuine calling to apply their talents, knowledge, passion, creativity & all resources they can muster toward helping to create those communities, people who see this as a labor of love for future generations.

Please note that maybe in ten years or so we will be able to offer a much smoother transition, but right now, this is a project for pioneering spirits. Pioneers are people who LOVE transforming places, they are those who enjoy making a place beautiful, & aren’t so much interested in looking for a place that already is.

If you are not a pioneering spirit, we encourage you to look into a more established EcoVillage.  One place to find them is here.

If you are a creative, values-driven, innovative and “roll-up-your-sleeves and get down to work” type of person you will probably have a great time here, as there is so much to do.  There’s always plenty of good times, and we also have our share of discomfort.  That’s because this is a creative birthing process. Creating community, designing the statutes and the master design for the EcoVillage, designing and implementing the electric and water systems, building houses and other structures, planting food forests and introducing and tending animals — basically, being pioneers!

Even there, we’ve set up Rainbow Camp with basic amenities to make a shared life experience on the Finca easier. So as a pioneer member you won’t be starting from scratch. And we’re constantly improving our surroundings.

Don’t forget what we said about people care – we have a lot to re-learn about living in community.  Many of the toxic systems that need dismantling in society are also embedded within us, so a sincere commitment to personal transformation must accompany a group & societal transformation. Integral Permaculture studies how these are completely interrelated, and as EcoVillage residents we get to explore in detail the mechanics of these interconnections.

To explore this within ourselves & with each other requires courage & dedication.  We need to accept that we can be changed to the core in this process. We look forward to finding enormous joy & excitement in growing through the cutting edges of human evolution with people who choose to commit to the adventure of using transformational models & tools in our everyday lives.

Emotional Maturity

The basic requirements while we’re forming the core group (~8-10 people) are a high level of emotional maturity (or flexibility & high determination to grow some quickly), a willingness to work hard physically as well as emotionally and a willingness to be very honest and to welcome change.

We look forward to eventually being able to provide a more inclusive and healing place for more people, at whatever stage they are, once we have the ability to do so: a core group of stable mature and knowledgeable people who can hold a healthy & stable base for the powerful inner transformations that often spontaneously start to happen for people when they move into a very different, more hopeful & rational way of living.

We learned from the experiences of our friends in La Palma that the kind of people who do well in this adventure are those who don’t passively blame others or outside circumstances for their difficulties and discomforts. Rather, they look for what they can change, and change it – creatively and pro-actively, openly and with intelligence – instead of creating drama and gossip.

Pro-active and cooperative people think of how to benefit the whole group, not just themselves.  They propose original solutions (or re-designs), ask others honestly and clearly to change anything they think isn’t working well, and are willing to dialogue to find the best solutions within the integral permaculture framework.

System and Design Thinkers and Doers

For this project we need people who think integrally in terms of systems and designs and who roll up their sleeves and get down to work. We need people who know (or are willing to learn quickly) how to cooperate, collaborate, and communicate well. People who are willing to learn and apply Integral Permaculture and eventually help us teach it to others, following the Permaculture principles of working with not against and integration over segregation.

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We envision three member types at the EcoVillage.

Founders

Founders are members who arrive during the project stage. They help write the community’s by-laws and statutes and they’re the first to build their houses and design and run projects on the land. Our target is 8 co-founders.

The rights and responsibilities of founders include:

• Responsibility to participate and fully engage in an on-site Permaculture Course
• Right to use of common areas for recreation, consumption of produce, etc (to be specified in agreements)
• Responsibility to comply with resource exchange agreements – financial contribution of $10/day and labor contribution of 4 hours/day, 5 days/week
• Right to one-on-one support for your transition plan including eco-business planning
• Responsibility to develop a transition plan (life design) showing a clear path forward
• Right to use of common areas for a productive project (Eco-Businesses) with prior approval from the community council and well described in a design
• Responsibility to pay a share
• Opportunity to develop the initial agreements (by-laws and statutes) and participate in deciding the legal structure (foundation, association, cooperative or ?)
• Use of a parcel of land to build your home and the responsibility to begin building within a period determined by the group
• Voice and vote in general assemblies and community council meetings

Members

As with founders, members pay for a share in the community. They have the same rights and responsibilities as Founders except developing the initial agreements and deciding about the legal structure since these things will already be decided.

There is one distinction among members, which also applies to founders:

• Resident Members: live in the community permanently and have voice and vote in general assemblies and community council meetings. Some resident members may live here part-time. If a resident is away from the community for a month or more, they retain voice at general assemblies and community council meetings, however must be in residence for a month before re-gaining vote.
• Collaborative Members: don’t live permanently in the Community but come occasionally for short visits. They have voice but not voting rights at general assemblies and community councils.

Villagers

People who have lived in the community for at least three months (the trial period) but haven’t paid a share are villagers. This way, they can participate more fully in community life. This category of member applies to people who want to:

1. Become Members and are paying their share over time
2. Become Members but lack the funds to pay their share and have key essential skills and will work for their share

Since we are counting on member shares to help build the community, we will only consider the 2nd option under extraordinary circumstances for people with essential skills and/or extremely high motivation to learn and work towards creating community. In this case, the time requirement for each project or task will be agreed in advance and hours will be tracked toward the Villager’s share.

While the initial share value hasn’t been completed, the Villager has the following rights and responsibilities:

• Responsibility to participate and fully engage in an on-site Permaculture Course
• Right to use of common areas for recreation, consumption of produce, etc (to be specified in agreements)
• Voice and/or vote in community matters commensurate with villager’s commitment and as defined by the community council
• Responsibility to comply with resource exchange agreements – financial contribution of $10/day and labor contribution of 4 hours/day, 5 days/week
• Right to one-on-one support for your transition plan including eco-business planning
• Responsibility to develop a transition plan (life design) showing a clear path forward
• Right to use of common areas for a productive project (Eco-Businesses) with prior approval from the community council and well described in a design

Once the initial share value is paid, the Villager becomes and Member and gains use of a parcel of land to build their home and voice and vote in all community matters.

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One of the most important ways to change paradigms is to ‘liberate’ land. The idea of humans ‘owning’ land is incomprehensible to native peoples and one of the roots of our collective psychosis in the west. With this shares structure (shares correspond to living rights / stewardship duties but not ‘ownership’ of land) what we are doing is putting the land in trust with a Foundation (or other legal structure to be determined) which ensures it will be safeguarded by permaculture ethics, principles & objectives in perpetuity. We think this change of mindset regarding ownership is essential to having saner relationships in the future.

This is also a way of enjoying a whole farm for a fraction of the price it would cost you to buy one on your own, while multiplying many times its quality & fertility. You can withdraw your investment if you wish to move on, always provided you have contributed positively to the project and there is someone else willing to purchase it. Your investment should increase with time (in real value if not cash value) as an increasingly productive EcoVillage.  The return of your investment will, especially during the early stage of the project, be contingent upon there being another applicant who is ready to invest. This will be clearly defined in the initial agreements (statutes and by-laws) by the founding members.

The SRI Article is a good introduction to the importance of Socially Responsible Investing, & explains why this kind of project is of particular importance.

Shares in 8^th Life Panama

As mentioned, a share provides a member the right to use a parcel of land to build a home, and to sell that share to a prospective member if they choose to leave. A member also has the right to sell the home to a prospective member or back to the community. The land itself will remain the property of the legal entity that is established. The initial share value is currently $20,000 per adult. Over time, the value of the initial share will increase.

Shares in the project are not stocks or securities, they are loans to the project which can be withdrawn as described above. Or if you like, it can be a donation. The increase in your share value over time will be proportional to the increase in productive value of the site, which is something you contribute to directly as a member.

Share Options

Full share

Your investment is a share in the community. The initial share value is $20,000. This gives you access to a lot on which to build your house in one of the healthiest possible living environments, access to productive land for other projects, and a supportive living and working environment plus some interesting business opportunities, in case, like most of us, you’re not financially independent. Of course, your home and business can be sold if you ever wish to move on. Exceptionally, we offer the opportunity to work for your share, especially for someone with high motivation and/or experience and only on a need-basis.

Mini share

This works like a time-share. $2,000 for each mini-share (a mini-share equals one month per year) – if you buy one share, you can live at the Ecovillage for one month per year at the reduced volunteer and member rate without any work requirements. The mini share is not transferable and cannot be accumulated from year to year.

Angel share

The angel share is a way to invest in the project without living here. You simply “keep your money in the project” as you would keep money in a bank but knowing that ‘the bank’ in this case is the earth, quite directly. Here we are putting your investment to work on improving the fertility and economic viability of a specific piece of land and project, as described in this website and in strict accordance with permaculture design principles, ethics, and directives.

Angel investors are welcome to visit for up to a month at a time as often as you like. As with the mini share, your stay would be at the reduced volunteer and member rate without any work requirements. 8th Life Panama currently has one Angel Investor who doesn’t desire any publicity.  Her investment allowed us to build the bridge and the Rainbow Bunkhouse.

Mini and Angel shares can be withdrawn from the project, initially withdrawal will be subject to another person being ready to invest. Over time, the project itself aims to maintain sufficient cash reserves to cover one share turnover per year.

What do shares pay for?

Initially, half of the share quotas of the founders will go to repaying the land and half will be used for infrastructure, operational costs, and towards the cost of establishing the legal entity which will ensure the future of the Community. The project founder and steward has already purchased the land and made significant improvements to it. To maintain equality among members, once there are sufficient co-founders to reimburse the cost of the land and improvements (less the value of the founder’s share) and to establish the legal entity under which the land will be held, the land will be transferred to the legal entity. This way everyone will have an equal stake in the project. Until then, share funds will be held in a Panamanian and/or US bank account.

At some point in time we estimate there may be a cost associated with administering these funds, which may very well be the EcoBusiness of a co-founder who is dedicated to seeking new investments and donations and promoting the project. If and when this occurs, we will disclose it here.

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So, if you have read everything up to this point and it all sounds good, you’re probably asking yourself, “How do I get involved?” Awesome! And if you’re still not sure if this is for you, please come as a volunteer – this way you’ll get to know us, and you can start participating little by little.

Before we send you over to the application process, there are a few more things we’d like you to read.

Study the Project

Please take the time to study this entire website well and also read the following resources.

6 Ingredients for Forming Communities There are well-studied criteria for ensuring Eco-village projects succeed. Here is an example of some of the good work that has been  done in this area. We are following these recommendations because unfortunately, as with start-up companies, most Eco-village projects never make it.

Evolutionary Relationships Most people focus on physical structures (land, houses, etc.) when they think of an Eco-village, but in fact the most basic ‘soil’ of any project are the relationships. We are all well-trained in consumerism & that means we often know how to use people, animal, land … rather than relate. So there is much to learn & much to change inside as well as outside of us, as we work for a saner humanity.

Socially Responsible Investing This article, by Hal Brill author of Investing with your Values, is quite detailed, from a trailblazing integral permaculture colleague & describes the crucial gap we are aiming to address with this initiative. It merits much reflection, and begs the question — does it go far enough? We’d love to talk more about this!

Learn Permaculture

Learning Permaculture is a basic requirement for potential members and generally takes place during the mutual evaluation phase (1st 3 months). Permaculture will be useful no matter what you end up doing, if you are seriously interested in living a more sustainable life, anywhere. And it also will be useful for us – because we are setting up a very ambitious project and it’s important for everyone to be on the same page.

While you’re studying you can design and implement projects that are highly relevant to your transition – since you’ll become familiar with everything here. Another benefit to doing the PDC here is that, through the course and getting to know us and where we are, you might discover that there are better options for you elsewhere.  It’s best to discover that early, don’t you think?

And while it’s possible to take an online Permaculture course, or to take one elsewhere, if you haven’t already completed your PDC, we require it be taken here. If you already have a PDC, we highly recommend taking our course as well. Our focus is much different from many PDCs out there – it’s about learning profound design principles, not just about techniques. It’s about designing from day one.

Getting Started

The first 3 to 6 months is a mutual evaluation period. Prospective members start out as long-term volunteers for 3 months and take the PDC during that time. When you apply as a potential member, the core team will help you develop an integration and transition plan. After 3 months, when you re-apply for the next 3-month stay, you can request membership. Acceptance is based on following the community agreements and being an active, productive and positive participant in the daily goings-on of the community. Once accepted, your share ($20,000) is due.

Rights and responsibilities during the mutual evaluation period include:

• Responsibility to participate and fully engage in an on-site Permaculture Course
• Right to use of common areas for recreation, consumption of produce, etc (to be specified in agreements)
• Responsibility to comply with resource exchange agreements – financial contribution of $10/day and labor contribution of 4 hours/day, 5 days/week
• Right to one-on-one support for your transition plan including eco-business planning
• Responsibility to develop a transition plan (life design) showing a clear path forward
• Right to use of common areas for a productive project (Eco-Businesses) with prior approval from the community council and well described in a design

Accommodation is shared rooms in the Rainbow Bunkhouse. We use a compost toilet system. There’s an outdoor shower and an outdoor kitchen. The bunkhouse deck is covered, and people often gather there to relax. We provide sheets for the beds in the bunkhouse. There are also tents available – or you can bring your own. Unless a group holds a weekly group grocery pool and shares cooking, everyone is responsible for their own food and meals.

Now, if you’re still psyched about helping us to create an example of sustainable living in community, please review the application process and then apply here.

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