Cooperative Registered
We have finished making the Cooperative for the ecovillage!Introducing 'Cooperativa Ecoaldeia Guarda Rios CRL'. (Guarda Rios Ecovillage Cooperative) The Cooperative has been set up with the objective to: 'support members in social resilience, creating community and the means to live sustainably in relation to the economy, well-being and ecology.'
This will allow us to own the land together as co-owners, each with the same decision making power. It also gives some tax benefits, such as redemption from stamp tax when buying property. And we can claim refunds on any VAT/IVA we pay on goods.
I have been having calls with a consultant, Jorge Goncalves, who is part of Minga Cooperativa Integral in Montemoor-a-Nova. mingamontemor.pt He has been very helpful to guide me through the registration process and help me write the governing documents and find suitable legal forms to fit our project.
I proposed to two Portuguese friends, Dinis and Rita, who live in the area to be the co-founders with me so the cooperative could be made and be ready to accept funds from investors and new resident members. When the first resident members join, they will take over the governing roles.
It took a lot of work and waiting between the different bureaucratic steps and it was difficult to find a commerical registry office who actually knew how to register a cooperative, even though they say on the government website that it is possible in any office. We contacted the offices in all the local towns we could, but eventually after many dead ends, we went to Coimbra and had success.
Dinis and Rita were a great help to communicate with the office and have an enthusiasm to support the project as cofounders.
The plan is that the promissory contract that I have for the land will be transferred to the Cooperative. This will allow us to finish buying the land as the cooperative and will officially recognise the investments of money and work that I have put in, which will now count as my investment in the cooperative. Investors will make loans to the cooperative and these will be paid back as new resident members join and invest into the cooperative.
New Resident Member
This comes in parallel with the news of the first resident member to join since the project started!
Introducing Julia (30) and Kali (3) who have been living on the land for a trial period since October 2023, and are now ready to join as full members and make an investment into the project!
Photo of us with Frida, who stayed with us in the Autumn
Julia and Kali first came to the project for the third founding gathering, in September 2023. They have been staying in the caravan while organising to buy a yurt to set up here.
Julia has traveled and lived in different types of Ecovillage around the world and has some training and experience of permaculture, gardening, yoga and non-violent communication.
During the joining process, she wrote:
“I'm feeling very much at home here and the vision of living here and all that can grow from it is still very clear and vivid. Especially with other people/volunteers/visitors around it already has some village feeling to it. First of all I am a single mom and living by myself feels super unnatural. I'm looking to slowly over the next years get back to a more tribal and natural life, sharing resources and tasks, everyday life and joys and worries. And also for children to have not only one or two adults to interact, play, learn, and form bonds with, but a wider range of characters, languages, energies to grow with.
I like the values etc on the website and felt very comfortable and at home during the gathering Aug/September ‘23. It seems like a good balance between groundedness and spirituality, freedom, well-being, ease and productivity. The contact with Hari always felt good. And also it's the first time I have the financial resources needed to join.”
We have been enjoying some quiet time over the Winter, and are excited to revive our inspirations for organising events and workshops in the Springtime. We are now starting to plan the next gathering to attract potential residents, and we feel the need to have more support circles and well being practice sessions in the local wider community. Julia imagines to host women's circles here and also children playgroups with craft activities. I wish to host contact improvisation and love temple workshops here.
For plans for making a livelihood, Julia also has visions to offer workshops and coaching combining nervous system work with parenting guidance, based on what she has been learning in courses on these subjects.
We are exploring how the ecovillage can approach childcare and parenting in the shared spaces and in the envisioned alternative schooling project here.
For example looking at the subjects of authentic needs vs. replacement needs, anger expression and making clear boundaries.
Funding Milestone Reached
The third piece of news is that we have been offered a loan by a friend of the project, which gets us to our second fundraising milestone!
The investor is someone who attended the founding gathering in May 2023, and has been back to help with the building work and is generally enthusiastic about ecovillages and has kindly offered to make a loan to the cooperative to support the next payment for the land!
Now we are getting the contracts and agreements made to get the money transferred to the cooperative, and then we will be able to pay the landowner and go into the next part of the land purchase agreement. (Please note, the details and image below have since changed. See our blog post of May 2024)
The agreement we are hoping to finalise is that this next payment will allow the transfer of the land ownership to the cooperative, with part of the outstanding amount to be paid by June 2024 and the remainder in monthly payments over the next few years, or sooner if we can.
We are hoping that this will strengthen our position to attract more investors and residents, as they will see that there are now three parties who have invested in the project, and the land is already owned by the coop.
I have now updated the website to reflect this progress, and added these images of our fundraising aims to the investment pages.
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