We came to the Vale da Gema from different places, drawn by different threads — a film about water restoration, a friend who visited Tamera, a growing ache for a life more connected to land and community. None of us expected to find what we found: not just a beautiful valley, but a movement. People who are actually doing it. Holding water in the ground. Growing food cooperatively. Building a culture of peace, one swale and one conversation at a time.

We want to be part of this movement. Not as tourists passing through, not as remote supporters watching from afar — but as neighbors. As residents. As people who put our hands in the same soil and our children in the same learning community.

What we'll do, over 18 months:

Fund education for community building and water retention — scholarships for newcomers to join the Tamera Community Course on building community as a key to peace work, the Community Service work-and-study program, and Tamera's Water Retention Landscape course. We do not just want to live here — we want to become competent stewards of this watershed and this community.
Establish a relocation fund — direct financial support for new residents to recover moving costs, get their feet on the ground, and cover the first months of resettlement so they can begin contributing to consortium work immediately rather than burning savings just to arrive.
Run participatory design workshops — a series of facilitated gatherings answering the question "How do we live and work together as humane humans in right relation with this land?" These workshops bring newcomers and existing consortium members together to codesign living arrangements, work patterns, shared resources, and decision-making structures — before we build anything physical.

In two years, we will no longer be newcomers. We will be neighbors — rooted, contributing, and indistinguishable from the community we came to join. The workshops will have produced a living agreement for how we live and work together. The relocation fund will have supported the first wave of arrivals. And we will be active participants in the Vale da Gema Headwaters Consortium, with skills, relationships, and land under our care.

Funding Goals (all values in €)

First €15,000 — Education and training (Tamera Community Course and Community Service scholarships, WRL course, regenerative skills)
Next €25,000 — Relocation fund for the first wave of new residents (moving costs, initial resettlement support)
Next €12,000 — Participatory design workshops (facilitation, venue, travel for remote newcomers to attend)
All above €52,000 — Second round of relocation support and expanded workshop program

Budget

Education and Training

Community building and facilitation training — €3,500
Regenerative skills workshops (water retention, soil building, cooperative governance) — €4,000
Tamera Community Course scholarships — ~€1,200 per newcomer
Community Service program support — ~€3,000

Relocation Fund

Moving and transport costs — ~€3,000 per person
Initial resettlement buffer (first 3 months of living costs) — ~€2,000 per person
Target: support 5 people — ~€25,000

Participatory Design Workshops (4 workshops over 18 months)

Facilitator honorariums (2 facilitators × 4 workshops) — €6,000
Venue, materials, and catering — €3,000
Travel support for remote participants to attend in person — €3,000

Funding Goals (all values in €)

Budget

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