Who We’re Looking For

Is this for you? The People-Care aspect of this initiative is unique. We need to learn new ways (or rescue some really old ways) of living and working together sustainably and respectfully. And, we’re interested in hearing from people who are more excited about this than they are about our beautiful tropical location. That’s why it’s a requirement that prospective members have taken at least this first module of the Integral Permaculture course and be committed to studying and learning about Integral Permaculture through the Integral Permaculture Academy.

As you will see, we’re looking for people with certain qualities, and for the success of our project we have to be very selective about who we welcome. That’s why right now at this early pioneer stage the application procedure is quite long.

Pioneers

This is a very ambitious project, starting from zero – so it needs pioneering spirits, people who want to co-create and are able to 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 Eco-village viable.

We’re looking for people who realize that creating more Eco-villages 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 strictly 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 beautiful places.

If you are not a ‘pioneering spirit’ we encourage you to stay at Casa Ubuntu where there’s more amenities, or look into a more established Eco-village.  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 Eco-village, designing and implementing the electric and water systems, building houses and other structures, planting food forests and preparing to introduce animals basically – being pioneers!

We have the advantage of counting on Casa Ubuntu as our home base while we create the right conditions for a shared life experience on the Finca, so as a pioneer member you won’t be missing many ‘creature comforts’, except perhaps when staying at Rainbow Camp on the Finca, which is a bit rustic.

And don’t forget what we said about the people-care aspect — 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 ourselves, so a sincere commitment to personal transformation has to accompany a group & societal transformation. Integral Permaculture studies how these are completely interrelated, and as Eco-village Members 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 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 basic resources 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.

Our friends in La Palma spotted a pattern which clearly distinguishes the kinds of ‘mature’ people who do well in this adventure. They are those who don’t tend to passively blame others or outside circumstances for their difficulties and discomforts, but rather look to what they can change, and do so – 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.

The pessimist complains about the wind;
the optimist hopes it will change;
the realist adjusts the sails.
Designers sail & build ships!

Highly skilled Integral Permaculture Designers

For this project we need (and train) highly skilled Integral Permaculture Designers because Integral Permaculture is the most advanced design science we currently have to guide us for this kind of project.