An EcoVillage Recipe: The Permaculture Commons Hub

An EcoVillage Recipe: The Permaculture Commons Hub

Goal:

Create a shared, regenerative “village nucleus” that models resilient living, connects neighbors, and demonstrates the permaculture ethics of People Care, Land Care, Fair Share.

Summary:

A Commons Hub serves as the physical heart of a Resilient Communities Network (RCN) village — a place combining food, water, energy, and social space under one cooperative management plan. Think of it as the “barn and hearth” for a modern permaculture eco-hamlet.
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Ingredients:

• 1 acre (or more) available for community use
• 6–12 committed households or volunteers
• Access to water and sun (south or southeast exposure preferred)
• Seed fund of $10,000–$25,000 (grants, co-op capital, or community investment)
• Building tools and local materials (adobe, timber, cob, recycled wood)
• Design team: permaculturist, local builder, community facilitator
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Steps:

1. Map the Land
Mark contours, shade patterns, and access routes. Identify ideal zones for a food forest, gathering area, and water catchment.

2. Form the Commons Council
Draft a cooperative agreement stating how decisions, maintenance, and benefits are shared. (Templates can follow the “Fair Share Co-op Charter.”)

3. Build the Core Structures
Construct a simple community kitchen, tool shed, and covered meeting space using natural building practices. Solarize the roof for off-grid power.

4. Plant the Food Web
Establish a guild-based perma-garden: tree layer (fruit & nut), understory berries, nitrogen fixers, and groundcovers. Incorporate pollinator patches and edible perennials.

. Harvest Water and Energy
Add rainwater tanks, swales, and a small bioswale pond. Install a micro-PV array or pedal-power generator for shared use.

6. Launch the Village Exchange
Host monthly “skill-share Saturdays” — workshops on tool repair, seed saving, and eco-construction. Encourage local barter instead of cash where possible.

7. Monitor, Adapt, Share
Keep records: yields, participation, energy inputs, lessons learned. Post progress logs and short videos on permies.com or RCN’s community forum.
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Timeframe:

6 months – establish basic infrastructure & landscape.
2 years – mature productive guilds and active member governance.
5 years – replicable village nucleus model for nearby communities.
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Key Outcomes:

• Functional commons governed by permaculture principles.
• Local food and skill autonomy.
• Embodied expression of RCN values through practice, not rhetoric.
• A replicable “proof-of-concept” for the wider regenerative network.

You can read about Resilient Communities Network here: https://resilientcommunities.network/

An EcoVillage Recipe: The Permaculture Commons Hub - photo

hi William!
I browsed the site in your link and wondered if those are photos of an actual community farm? It is beautiful and well developed...barns and homes and greenhouses.

Can you tell us about exsisting communities there?

This has been on my mind lately as long lived successful intentional communities are rare.

I would love to hear more success stories!

and in the photo above, are those yurts? festival tents?
Is that where Resilient Communities is located?

Hi Judith -

RCN is building a system to construct and populate resilient villages. We have no villages yet! The photos are stock images... success stories are coming. Thanks for your patience.

William

What country is it in?

We are based in Eugene, OR

Please fill-out the contact form at the end of the RCN website for more information.

https://resilientcommunities.network/

Yours, William

William George Paul wrote:We are based in Eugene, OR

Please fill-out the contact form at the end of the RCN website for more information.

https://resilientcommunities.network/

Yours, William

no thanks!

Thanks for your interest and questions. Best wishes, WP

Here's another photo...

So is that last photo 'real' or just another stock photo?

I'm so confused by the whole thing. So many threads that somehow don't really say anything...

Burra Maluca wrote:So is that last photo 'real' or just another stock photo?

I'm so confused by the whole thing. So many threads that somehow don't really say anything...

Both photos are borrowed from wiki.  First is a community in germany (not the one mentioned here) and the other is a long standing image from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permaculture and https://www.appropedia.org/Permaculture_Guide

Resilient Communities Network is a work in progress with permaculture. Thank you for mentioning the wiki photos...

I believe the idea is good, yet the website itself seems sketchy, the lack of information outside of you asking us to "sign up to find out more", it just screams scam to me.

(I don't mean for that statement to be rude, just my observation.)

I will say I attempted to fill out the form, using a fake name and email address, what concerned me was, after the email was sent the webpage informed me to follow the link that was sent to my email to activate a subscription...

As optimistic as I am, I know better than to not follow links in my email.


Stock photos are beautiful and all, but ANYONE can go to Wikipedia, save a few photos, create a website etc.

I am relatively new to Permies, so I don't believe its my place to investigate, just a couple things I found suspicious.


Thanks again, and I hope you're having a wonderful day!