GAIA VILLAGE BUILDERS -- A Showcase of the New Green World
The following synopsis outlines an open-ended series of interactive media broadcasts from sustainable ecovillage community projects, a global network of novel ‘Gaia Villages’. The objective of this undertaking is to connect the inspiring work and wisdom of new alternative community models to the attentions of a large and supportive audience.
PREMISE -- Unmet Needs, Creative Solutions
We perceive a strong and growing demand for visible, viable models of regenerative communal lifestyles which can bridge the gap between holistic, healthful, values and complex modern social and economic realities, in an adaptable and inviting fashion. We have developed a compelling new approach to implementation of these evolutionary models on a large scale, through emerging agile collaborative networks and communication tools. We recognize the appeal and convenience of a low threshold for trial engagement within such programs, and have accordingly designed several levels of fulfilling ‘role play’ to this real-life co-operative adventure.
PLAYERS -- How to Take Part, and Learn to Give Your Best
Audience. This is an open category for anyone drawn to the program content in a more passive and vicarious role, via broadcast feed streams. Casual curiosity and consumption at this level will provide entertainment and educational value. The invitation is then open to dive deeper for inspiration and more enriching participation...
Members. Once a small monetary (or other symbolic) commitment has been made, members are granted greater access and influence on the development of selected projects within the network.
Clientele. These are ‘customers’ of various real-world goods and services produced by the Cooperative to generate revenue, e.g. healthy foods, art and craft items, green tech appliances, design and consulting work, special events, etc.
Partners. Aligned organizations and enterprises may wish to assist phases of the project or initiate ‘joint ventures’ of special benefit. Some promotional value and publicity may be compensated in this way, although transparent accounting and documentation practices will maintain high levels of integrity with regard to any such liaison.
Guests/VIP. There may be occasional invitation to Members to visit the project site for special events, tours, or catered stays as an appreciation or fee offering.
Cast/Crew. These are the live-work community of ‘bio-neers’ who will be planning, executing, and improvising daily activities on site, and enjoying (literally!) the fruits of their labors. Recruiting and trials will select for a lively and effective blend of skill, character, passion, forbearing, and perceptiveness, to foster extraordinary collaboration and creativity at work and play. While representative diversity is important and some turnover is expected, the team will anchor itself to strong service-orientation, personal authenticity, group accountability--and compassionate communication as the ‘golden thread’ throughout. Individual and planetary healing are seen as complementary; teams will be encouraged to orchestrate a conducive balance of energies to sustain tangible output.
Organizers. Founding members and certain managerial roles will comprise a core team and legal entity for the purposes of project formulation and trajectory, securing critical contracts and provisions, and supervising financial activities.
Landlord. The legal title holder of the project land base. This person/group is attracted to a mutual-benefit agreement for sustainable development of the property, and commits to a ‘commons’ easement of a portion of the land once development goals are achieved.
SET/SETTING -- Physical, Digital, and Personal Venues of Realization
The selection and negotiation for appropriate siting is crucial and intricate. Our ultimate goal is to restore healthy renewable productivity streams and public access to a diverse collection of shared-by-all Common Lands. By establishing partnerships between mobile worker-coops and willing property stewards in a contingent mid-term lease agreement, we open a flexible, low-risk, fast-acting, affordable option to meet this goal while rewarding all stakeholders abundantly from the get-go. The catalyst site and team must both be carefully vetted and well-matched however, and this is not a prescriptive process. Several factors must be dynamically balanced as vision, strategy, and capital coalesce.
A key component of any broad engagement paradigm today will be via multi-faceted online presence, and indeed the Gaia Villages program at full scope calls for an exceptionally powerful and elegant web portal, tightly coupled to existing social media networks. We aim to produce a map to exciting new cultural territory through a growing collection of multimedia story items, evaluated and semantically linked by a large virtual community into convenient geographic and topical interfaces. Audiences may adhere to a simple chronological sequence for particular sites or themes as well, following along in realtime to the daily minutiae or checking in for major weekly production releases (the familiar television serial).
On a personal level, the intent of this program is to open new inner and outer horizons for all participants to discover and pursue the individual transition toward harmonious creative free Being--in the context of larger collective trends and realities. It is therefore essential to cultivate and contemplate archetypal inquiries via myth and mysticism, somatics, and the many Muses. ‘Life is Art--and Economy’ could be a founding credo.
PROGRAMMING -- Plot and Style of Broadcast Presentations
The Gaia Village concept incorporates vast opportunities for creative storytelling, bringing together entertainment and education in a compelling narrative of the future here-and-now. We recognize the value of wise Story as the fundamental currency of culture, and seek to amplify the saner signals which our new planetary humanity demands. Thankfully, that includes everything from romance to action sports, cook-offs to camp-outs, architecture and accounting, celebration and ceremony, humor, health care, spirituality, family...a deep well, when we gather together to fathom it all. This is the material for steady documentation in semi-formal ‘show’ segments, averaging perhaps 5-10 minutes of polished video per week, backed up by more detailed and multi-dimensional supplements where appropriate. This is all a liquid asset in the digital field of attention economics today, and converts to popular support for initiatives and offerings with cash equivalency. Each Village instance is free to improvise and innovate around this understanding.
STATUS/SEQUENCE -- Getting Thither from Hither!!
Present. Currently, we are focused on sharing and refining proposal documents for partnership on a ‘flagship’ undertaking, with hopes of launching in spring ‘12. An ideal site is under negotiations near Ashland, OR and core team players are enrolled.
Staging. Preparatory works include organizing the team, resource assessment and market analysis, contracting for use of the land base, fundraising for start-up costs, securing partners, advisers, and production professionals, recruiting cast and crew, and a lot of visioning, planning, branding, bonding, exercising, entertaining, surrendering...
Launch. All systems go! Important to get off the ground running, with crew on board and site prepped for efficient installation and early production. A little ceremonial acknowledgement could be appropriate, and careful assessment of the project's initial conditions for later reference.
Production. Main phase of development activity, lasting a few years per lease terms. Project work proceeds according to design goals, sustained by balance of revenues from cooperative product outputs. Special events, sponsorship and crowdfunding in supplement, with a steady stream of media offerings to validate audience/community support.
Advance. Pursue evolution and distribution, with a strengthening weave of common wealth and wisdom.
Disseminate. Ultimately, this program is about spreading catalytic centers, skills, resources, and inspiration, for others to take up the model themselves as an agile open-source ecological enterprise. Let's pull (and play!) together to lever planetary civilization out of the starting gates as a bold, beautiful, naturalized, Gaian whole. //