Land tenure ....continuing the conversation

[Regenesis2020]

Please review and comment

" The tenure discussion has been proposed to move into the admin circle. ( In the Permaculture Flower it falls under Governance and Land Tenure) Does the Admin circle accept this?? "

Dani🔔: I concur that Tenure within the DBC membership structure affects all Circles and is most effectively placed in the Funding & Administration Circle (FAC).

In my view, Contributors to the DBC in a role that may or may not directly benefit a specific Circle or Land Node are creating value and acquiring Tenure that ideally can be applied to another Circle role or Stewardship right.

[Emily]

To clarify, what all encompasses the “tenure” discussion? From my perspective, this conversation and any drafts and official guidelines would, at a minimum, be informed by the Land Stewardship circle (meaning I see this as the middle intersection between these two circles). Does this most appropriately fall into the “DBC Membership Working Group”?

[Danibelle]

Thanks for kicking off the conversation Travis, and welcome to the forum Emily!

Great call on DBC Membership being the working group to reactivate and further work on defining tenure as a membership benefit.

The path to tenure has been discussed a lot so far and many of us have been walking the avenue as we build it, but nothing has been formally drafted, let alone proposed and approved. Potential members arrive or request to join us in many ways and the first step is always advised as simply showing up in service to the vision and mission.

Of course the vision and mission is the long game, the world where we have all earned our tenure with a community or network that recognizes our contributions and our rights as fully vested members enjoying a life where our needs are met through the embodiment of an eco responsible and regenerative lifestyle

With that said, we would be well advised to approach this from beginning to end, instead of coming backwards from the finish line. By crafting the overall road to membership we can demonstrate how someone who may be requesting tenure got there, and made a path for those who will follow. This draft below summarizes at a high level what we have been experimenting with to date (by being the experimental trailblazers):

Ecotourist Phase (visitors, guests, family, friends, those just passing through to “check us out”)
This is better known as the dating period. Short term visitors and guests who come to lend a hand and get to know the people, projects and processes. These folks require the time and energy of a coordinator to provide information on where and how to show up, a guide to give a tour and educational overview, in many cases people coming through in this phase consume more energy than they are able to give back through funding, materials, service or other intangible offering.

Often family or friends of members or those with loose member network affiliations, to date presence and participation is often not fully tracked or credited and this period can be of widely varying length depending on the past experience, current intention, and emotional intelligence of the individual. This has long been an area of contention and a lesson we have learned to respect is “quality over quantity”. While some ecotourists can and occasionally will be converted to members or even residents that move on to tenureship, the value of ecotourism lies in the message they carry with them out into the world and their own networks.

A subcategory of the ecotourist is the digital nomad, a growing population that is now legally recognized in Costa Rica and other nation-states with it’s own Travel Visa (and requirements/benefit package).
Sidenote, many of the people I meet of high calibre and capacity to carry us all toward shared vision/missions are nomading between Costa Rica and Portugal, and are of a … greater age and experience - see “Slowmads ”: os novos nómadas digitais querem calma e também viajam por Portugal. Devagarinho | Teletrabalho | PÚBLICO

A positive experience that has fond memories and clear connections, combined with an understanding of the vision/mission and capacity to convey it warmly and wisely is our goal here. Spreading ourselves too thin, and not being able to meet the expectations of an ecotourist can leave a bad taste that goes into the world so we do need to be somewhat methodical in accepting requests from ecotourists.

Orientation Phase (Month 1)
Contributors who have demonstrated interest in a long term relationship, and are showing up in service to the community through the following avenues:

• Participate in DBC work parties or action days on a land node (Hands on the Land/HotL)
• Attend scheduled DBC circle meetings and/or working group sessions
• Volunteer to provide a needed service to a circle or land node in the DBC

Credit for the service must be claimed by reporting it to the circle administrator in a timely manner
Completion of an Orientation period must be verified by requesting it be added to a circle meeting agenda, and getting no objection to whether the contributor is fully oriented

Apprenticeship Phase (Months 2-3)
The first three months of consistent contribution are best applied by working directly with a member or team such as a working group, land node, or active project within the DBC.

• process
• qualifications
• outcomes

Mutual Mentorship Phase (Months 4-12)
This phase is marked by starting at the celebration of completion for previous phases in some form. They will not all look alike, the transition from ecotourist through apprenticeship to mentorship. An individual entering into a Mutual Mentorship with the DBC will have the following characteristics:

• A both demonstrated and stated desire for membership in the DBC
• An understanding of the DBC vision and mission as well as the constitution of the APDC
• Healthy relationships with multiple members, and a mutually established desire to continue working with one or more for the remainder of the year commitment to share skills for collective growth
• Some degree of self-sustainability, regenerativity, or skill bundle that meets a proposed and prioritized need within the DBC and affiliated land nodes

Mutual Mentorships at this time are primarily known as “Stewardship Roles”, usually they have a stipend associated which means there is probably an approved role within a circle, and therefore an approved proposal. Some Stewardship Roles come with other benefits such as housing, support with a project listing on Giveth and social media to attract scholarship donations.

A Mutual Mentorship requires a documented commitment between participants, which may or may not need require a fully vetted and approved proposal through a DBC Circle in whose domain the mentorship lies.
Mentorships so far have been largely experimental and it will behoove us to look at past and current mentorships to harvest learnings and further refine the process for applying, accepting, monitoring and completion of a Mutual Mentorship.

Land Steward Residency Phase (1-5 years)
Years 1-5 of service can be carried out at various locations that may or may not already be registered member land nodes within the DBC. Mainly because we don’t have any Land Node members yet, only honorary status that can be granted to Diamante Luz for providing the hub and home base for DBC and to HOME Farm for cultivating excellent community leadership and a residency program for aspiring land stewards.

Residency term can be shortened through contribution of valued assets to the Collective, including time / money / skills / materials.

Tenured Resident of a Trusted Land Node
This comes after no less than 3 years of recorded and recognized service.
It requires a formal application process as well as approval by both the Land Stewards in Residence and the Trustees of the Land Node.

Trustee of an existing or newly acquired land node
Some people may come in immediately at this level by procuring land and putting it into a Land Trust that fits within guidelines yet to be established by the DBC or other aligned partner entity yet to be defined… Others may earn their way into this responsibility over time and through participation.

OK this is about as far as I can take it right now… comment away and let’s see if we can use this as an outline for drafting an actual Membership Protocol document?

Much Love! Dani

[DJ-Ayote]

Now we’re cooking with fire!! thank u, thank u, thank u Travis Em & Dani for getting this ball rolling… it was inevitable that we’d get here and the timing is perfect!

so in my humble experience i feel that having a collectively understood definition of “tenure” (AND this goes for Ecotourist, Membership, Stewardship, Residency, etc…) is a huge must! and in the beginning its also essential / beneficial to have varying ideas (Collective Wisdom) of what these definitions look like to each of us. and equally important is that eventually it funnels down into the highest and best distilled definition; a collectively understood meaning

Ecotourist Phase ~ my opinion is that most Ecotourists who are frequency specific enough to have found there way to the DBC, more times then not, have a common intent with most of us who have been engaged for some time now. So in the name of efficiency and the honoring of self (our time and energy) and honoring of others, we have available a 1 page doc. that clearly expresses & shares with the “tourist” who and what DBC is; a vision and mission handout. In turn we have a Form that we offer, which they don’t necessarily have to accept and fill out. This then becomes which is our 1st indication that maybe, possibly they ARE a tourist? Which is great! as Dani said, the value of ecotourists lies in the message they carry out to the world of how they experienced and thriving, well organized, mindful and reverent group of humanoids! AND if they do fill out the form now the leads / orchestrators of any given circle have a much clearer picture of whats possible relative to this individuals gifts and aspirations.

the next 2 phases that follow; Orientation & Apprenticeship, (relative to the way Dani wrote it) it doesn’t seem to offer much or any reciprocity to the participants, and i don’t have any issue with that in my humble opinion. However, i do feel that, in the name of Honoring others and the Collective Vision, we’d do well (for the DBC & the participants/tourists) to provide a detailed document written and spelled out (like the one Dani has drafted here! ) that illustrates the potential and benefits at the end of the Jungle Brick Road. This way one knows whats possible relative to their efforts and commitments to the DBC or any given land node (the last 3 phases of this process)

at the Mutual Mentorship Phase as Dani has stated, there definitely needs to be a much clearer and detailed process of what ones involvement might look like. This could come in the form of a clearly crafted Private Membership Agreement (PMA, & more on that below) which would spell out the roles and responsibilities that are being agreed to by both parties, and this would include whatever Value Exchange (VE) is possible between the individual and a circle, the DBC or land node.

**Land Steward Residency Phase (1-5 yrs) Tenured Resident of a Trusted Land Node and Trustee of an existing or newly acquired land node ~ yes we don’t have any “official” land nodes yet… and most of the time, for an individual to participate with any given land node in a committed and vested way (for multiple years) they will want to know what will become of their commitment and contribution.
this means we have the task of creating a container that will hold these lands in perpetuity. AND ideally this “container” holds the land in a way where the idea of an individual(s) “owner” no longer exists. so as some of u know i’ve been working on something that might facilitate this coming into fruition.

The APDC (ASOCIACIÓN PUENTE DIAMANTE COLECTIVA) is a “Public Entity” meaning its registered with the CR government. my personal opinion right now (based on current global affairs over the last 3 years and prior) is that we distance ourselves from the public sector as much as possible! for me this means holding the lands in Private Irrevocable Trusts (PIT) along with all other assets (buildings, vehicles, tools etc) that exist on any given land. A PIT is just that, its Private and the government has no jurisdiction in the Private Realm. Alternatively, if we make a land node “a member” of the APDC it will then be subject to the governance, limitations, possible seizure etc. of the public realm. What i have not yet learned (but fully intend to do so) is how does a PIT interface with the APDC while still remaining sovereign and Private from the public realm?

in conclusion, i’ll share that within this game of Private and public realms there are a few other chess pieces (as Brad likes to call them) that come into play (PMA’s, Churches, Private Membership Associations etc) and i won’t get into them here at this time for 1 big reason; i have yet to straighten out the learning curve enough (more research and speaking with CR lawyers, Brad & others) to speak intelligently about these pieces and how they best serve the objectives of the collective and the greater good that we’re all aiming for.

i’m super stoked that were in motion relative to clearly creating and defining the foundation thats necessary for us to build genuine Trust in one another which will then facilitate us taking our rightful place in the Natural World which evolves and revolves around Thriv-ability!

Pura Vida!

[Danibelle]

@DJ-Ayote

the next 2 phases that follow; Orientation & Apprenticeship, (relative to the way Dani wrote it) it doesn’t seem to offer much or any reciprocity to the participants, and i don’t have any issue with that in my humble opinion. However, i do feel that, in the name of Honoring others and the Collective Vision, we’d do well (for the DBC & the participants/tourists) to provide a detailed document written and spelled out (like the one Dani has drafted here! ) that illustrates the potential and benefits at the end of the Jungle Brick Road. This way one knows whats possible relative to their efforts and commitments to the DBC or any given land node (the last 3 phases of this process)

We have conducted an experiment on this phase with 3 individuals and have plenty of documentation and learnings to debrief - please see the ReVillaging Mutual Mentorship project being tracked on Giveth to see how we manage reciprocity for Nikola, Krista and Lala for the first cohort.

One big lesson we can observe is how each of these three mentoring program participants came in at a different level of experience with the DBC, and in their areas of skill that they offered in reciprocity for receiving mentorship from me.

Nikola and Lala both fulfilled a commitment to produce a summary of their experience AND post it on Giveth for transparent accountability on their end of the deal. Krista did not post her summary there, however. She worked with Nikola on producing the Proposal Process documentation, then followed it to walk creating a new Circle (Wellbeing) through that process to successful implementation.

[DJ-Ayote]

Thanks for this response Dani

i made a pdf of the ReVillaging Mutual… link for my files so that i can utilize it to further the process i’m working on; A Foundational Container (Private Trust or Association) and Structure (Private Membership Agreements) that clearly depicts (written guidelines & protocol) how we humanoids can effectively engage with one another on a day to day basis and experience the abundance and fulfillment thats our birth right. more specifically stated; spelling out whats possible with any given land node relative to a Value Exchange (VE) between the person and the lands which will include existing Primary Steward and other individuals on any given node.

This whole thread above, (starting 11d’s ago with Travis post) in my experience, is an epic draft of the preliminary stages of people “getting a feel for one another”…building Trust. This ideally leads to the development of a deep and genuine level of Trust which happens with time spent living and working together on our Inner work and our outer work. generally speaking this amounts to our individual levels of integrity and WCC… basically walking our talk at all times with exceptions here and there relative to life circumstances.

my hope is that in the coming months to have clear structure in regards to all the above that will be an open source template for the DBC & its land nodes. As well i have visions of a “no expectation” sharing of this template with Ecomaste, B Home, Shala Sol & Living Library in Fuente, Awake in Uvita, Zen Village in Chirripo, Shelby, Holos etc…

keep the energy building at ground zero (our local home & valley) and let it ripple out organically as it Will… Thy Will which is the umbrella of Y-our Will.

[Danibelle]

@DJ-Ayote

my hope is that in the coming months to have clear structure in regards to all the above that will be an open source template for the DBC & its land nodes. As well i have visions of a “no expectation” sharing of this template with Ecomaste, B Home, Shala Sol & Living Library in Fuente, Awake in Uvita, Zen Village in Chirripo, Shelby, Holos etc…

I would add to that hope - that we are already actively in conversation with these “NeighborNodes” in most cases, and how can we take more steps now to engage representatives from them in the process of developing the structure?

If there is anything we can share now to help them start the learning process and be ahead of the learning curve when the structure is drafted for sharing, I know Govinda at Awake for example has requested information for his own edification.

[Regenesis2020]

…and the Earthwaking crew as well are ready for more connection with us.

@Phoenix444 and @Tien and myself are soon connecting to link with these 2 projects.

[Regenesis2020]

@Danibelle

Mutual Mentorship Phase (Months 4-12)

Thank you fo crafting this @Danibelle …and the groundwork to base it upon.

i’d like to (with friends) review participants with the DBC, one by one, and get a sense of where they are on this roadmap… obviously its a case by case thing, thank goddess.

i feel that by plugging our existing team members into this road map NOW , the journey forward will be more fruitful and enjoyable.

would this be a peer review of all participants…or perhaps a self-submitted report?

[DJ-Ayote]

so my “status update” regarding this Thousand-armed Avalokiteshvara project is that i’m coming down the home stretch of painstakingly reviewing and “commenting” on a 37 page Trust Indenture document that Brad and Brittney created. its a bit of a template type doc and this is why i’m going through it so carefully so that it will apply more specifically to what we have all been yammering about for many months now. once i’ve been through the whole doc. i will set an appointment with B&B and clarify things and get responses to my various questions.

my thoughts relative to your statement; how can we take more steps now to engage representatives from them in the process of developing the structure?
If there is anything we can share now to help them start the learning process and be ahead of the learning curve when the structure is drafted for sharing

i’d like to get complete the process i’ve presented above as a rough draft and then it’ll be in a much more “applicable” status relative to what we’ve all been focussed on. ya see thats the best part! i’m pretty clear at this point (having spent as much time as we have sharing and discussing what this alternative game looks like) on what we are wanting to have in place. AND i’m also aware that there will still be other edits, questions and clarifications needed. at this early stage i feel its going to be easier to establish a point person / team (me & B&B) to move this thing forward. however, as al-ways, if there are objections to this thought process lets put them on the table and go from there…

lastly, relative to your july 31st post above Dani, i want to point out that this first step (The Private Trust) that i’m working on is predominantly focussed on the 5th and 6th phase of the 6 phase process that you laid out. as a reminder, that 6 phase process spells out how people, on their very 1st day of coming into the valley, can engage with the DBC (1st phase) and potentially move on to phase 2, 3 and 4 to potentially move into the phase 5 & 6 as Trustees and or Stewards of any given farm… assuming this is their desire these protocols and systems will facilitate this.

hopefully this lands well and clearly…

PS additional update; i’m pretty sure i’ll b connecting with another highly motivated Orchestrator who is generating a Trust for another farm here in the valley and we plan on cross pollinating the Trust she’s working on with the one i’m working on. and thats not the most exciting part of this potential! its the actual farm that is looking to go into trust that is the most exciting! Stay Tuned and lets all keep up the good work! that will soon be experienced as play

[DJ-Ayote]

this is a spectacular idea!
i would suggest actually taking the phase 1 through 4 that Dani laid out and create a very specific and applicable form (which i’m sure there already exists some physical doc’s that apply & could be fine tuned / adjusted) that we can use moving forward with new peeps and also use it to go retro with the various individuals who have been here for weeks / months / yrs and “officially” identify where they are in this process of potentially becoming genuine member (or Steward) of DBC, D Luz, HF etc… this will have a very accelerating affect on the individuals and the overall container! knowing where one stands relative to where they are applying their gifts is a very empowering and motivating thing! AND this is a contagious thing and it will generate more committed participation amongst the regulars and newbies.

[Danibelle]

Sidenote to this - the Mutual Mentorships program as developed through that project on Giveth is very likely going to become a DAO of it’s own, where donors can give to it specifically to cover various training courses, materials, mentor stipends and costs for individuals moving through those phases 2-4.

Those who give to it (funds and skills) will govern the treasury, receiving votes to be used on deciding which applicants will be granted room/board/stipend scholarships.

It has this year been funded with a value at donation of $10,095 - less about $40 worth of exceptions, solely by me.

[Danibelle]

Landing well, clearly, and warmly with great gratitude.

[DJ-Ayote]

hey Dani
i’d like to respond to your last post with a question / suggestion;

so what we’ve done here for the last 3 or 4 days is establish an “overview” (the 6 phases) of the process necessary to become part of a Holistic Alternative Matrix (HAM)

Now lets say that the Private Trust and the PMA’s that i’m working on will become the actual Protocol and Accountability systems necessary for peeps to understand and engage (become a member, steward or trustee) with the phase 5 and 6 levels of this process. it’ll spell out everything from phase duration, to actions / participation necessary, to the Value Exchange and more…

so the question is has anyone done or doing a similar detailed document or protocol for the Mutual Mentorship program, (made notes on this doc. / link) phase 2 through 4? if so can you point me in the right direction to see that? my suggestion is if it’s not been laid out, is anyone called to draft it, or could be motivated or empowered to?

Dani i had another thought relative to this post of yours from the other day;

I would add to that hope - that we are already actively in conversation with these “NeighborNodes” in most cases, and how can we take more steps now to engage representatives from them in the process of developing the structure?

i’m as excited and stoked as anyone to ripple this idea out into the greater community AND I think the most efficient and effective evolution of this creation of all this protocol (phase 1-6) would first happen within the core DBC group of us who have been working at this the longest and of course are now called to land this solidly on the ground. reason i feel this is that we are obviously more familiar with each other and all the ideas and drafts that we’ve been organically formulating over the many months gone by and to bring in peeps that are not as versed might slow down an initial draft formation that can then be shared.

[Danibelle]

@DJ-Ayote

so the question is has anyone done or doing a similar detailed document or protocol for the Mutual Mentorship program, (made notes on this doc. / link) phase 2 through 4? if so can you point me in the right direction to see that? my sug

Short answer is no sir, there is not a similar detailed document or protocol. Only the prototype as shared. All are empowered to draft it, none have been called to do it as of yet. How to motivate further…

Regarding your last thought shared what came to me is, how could anything slow it down further at some point we must consider the core DBC group will need documentation support in order to deliver what we’re talking about here.

[DJ-Ayote]

well my short answer to ur query of how to motivate further un-fortune-ately may be (?) related to the existing flawed & F_ _ _ ked up value system known as the almighty fiat currency!?!
apparently the D-Bridge to a healthy value system is a really long Bridge!?! can anybody even define what the Healthy Holistic Value system looks like? maybe that’d be a good place to start!

so i’m here to officially take on the role of outlining what the drafts could look like for a phase 1 through 6 journey to Stewardship / Membership of the DBC and or a Land Node. My intent is to create as detailed and clear an outline of this 6 phase process and hopefully (?) others will be inspired and called to take on a phase or 2 of this process and make it their own and bring it down into fruition.

as i stated in the DBC meeting ayer, the DBC & these lands are epic *Tracks to run on" AND if we don’t identify a clear starting line and a finish line were going to continue to have peeps running around randomly, not experiencing fulfillment (completion experiences) and eventually get tired (physically & mentally) and peter out. of course, like all statements and ideas, there are exceptions! some of us haven’t petered out and we keep running despite the lack of fulfillment and lack in general… AND it doesn’t have to be this way! We can sociocratically change what we’ve been doing, (or not doing) do things that we’ve “talked” about doing, we can allow things to happen that maybe we weren’t comfortable with in the past etc.

[Emily]

Thank you for your initiatives on this Danibell and Dave! DJA- perhaps you could share a link to that draft document you pulled from this conversation for others to view, comment on, and add to. And if so willing, to dive deeper into one or more of these phases. Yay for the collective wisdom!

[Tim]

I look forward to re-energizing this thread. Dave and I have been meeting a couple times to address the merging of the nomadic community model for managing the commons on the land nodes with the capacity to hold that container, with the longer term vision of land stewardship and mutual mentorship.

[Danibelle]

I have seen a draft of this myself recently - will leave that to the doc owners ( @DJ-Ayote ) to share more widely and invite comment here when ready!

[Danibelle]

Tagging @Ticon into the thread