Dear friends,

This is my personal Crowdfunding campaign - and it took me a lot of courage to make it. I want to share my greatest dream with you and to invite you to support my project in any way you can. I hope that my (and maybe our) dream will serve as a source of inspiration for many others.

In short - I am going to buy a 2 hectare (5 acres) piece of land in order to start an eco-settlement in the countryside of Latvia. I intend to apply all my knowledge about permaculture, ecological building, sustainable living in order to create a well functioning eco-settlement.

Everyone supporting this campaign will have a chance to learn more about the project as it unfolds and to become a co-creator as much as he / she wants. We will have fun together!
I have also included a little hook - campaign is finishing on the 6th of May - exactly one day after my 30th birthday on 5th of May. So that my family and friends know what I am expecting as a birthday gift this year... clever, right? :) Seriously speaking, such a gift will be shaping the rest of my life in the best possible way - giving me the chance to create a solid foundation for settling down and applying all my knowledge and visions in real life.

I invite you to check out the project details below and join my dream! ;)

Warmly,
Arturs Polis

''Do all things with love.''
Og Mandino

Dream

I see a tiny eco-house hiding surrounded by mighty cedar and oak trees.The southern windows are facing a beautiful pond that invites a lot of animals and life. A bit further starts a forest. Its edge is made of conifers and nut trees protecting the vegetable garden from animal-guests. This is a kin’s domain where I will be living in 5 years. This is the time when the fruit trees will start giving the first yields and the garden will be taking shape in order to become an almost self-sufficient eco-system one day. A system that is providing the basic needs for one family from generation to generation. Besides that, it is going to be a space of love - a place where I will have invested the best of my thoughts, dreams and feelings.

Kin’s domain is a piece of land owned by a family and inheritated from generation to generation. This aspect sets the rules of sustainable life-style and management of the property - in other words it can be rather seen as the earth stewardship. A kin’s domain can be designed according to the principles of permaculture in order to make the life of a family as efficient, productive, self-sufficient and enjoyable as possible. In addition to the practical elements, a high level of environmental awareness is needed as well as a love-inspired approach to the process of design and creation of the kin’s domain. You can read more about the concept here!

It may sound simple, but for me it means everything - a real act of bravery, constant self-empowerment and a true sustainability. I believe that projects like these can make a huge difference in a global scale when more and more young people and families will change their attitude and put effort in this direction.

How will it unfold?

• 7th May 2016 - Friends and supporters are joining the Arturs' birthday outdoor-party-picnic in Latvia. Arturs will present the project in detail and answer all the questions.
  The ones who did not manage to join are receiving beautiful self-made "Thank-you" photo-cards.
• May 2016 - Arturs is finding a suitable piece of land in Vidzeme region in Latvia.
• July 2016 - The land is bought! It can be visited, camped-on and got-to-know in detail. The process of observation and designing according to the principles of permaculture starts.
• 2017 - The legal paperwork is being done in order to set the basis for an eco-settlement.
• 6th May 2017 - Friends and supporters are joining the Arturs' birthday outdoor-party-picnic on the recently bought land.
• Further in the future - guests (especially the contributors) are welcomed to visit the eco-settlement in order to learn and experience sustainable living themselves. A small guest-hut will be one of the first buildings there. ;)

What will I do on the land?

I will apply and test all the knowledge that I have collected in the last 14 years in the fields of permaculture and ecovillage design, including the social and economical aspects. And then this experience of living on the land will be shared with a much wider audience aiming to inspire the youth to follow.
To be more specific…

In the field of ecology:

• Ecological building
• Permaculture designing
• Local waste-water treatment
• Off-grid living
• Self-sufficient, organic food provision
• Integrating animals (ducks, goats, donkey, etc.) into the eco-system

In the field of economy:

• Co-operation in the community level
• High-quality food production
• Barter economy
• Affordable high-quality living
• No-loan principle
• Intellectual service provision - consultations, teaching

In the field of society:

• Community building
• Common decision-making by using Sociocracy
• Alternative primary education
• Healthy living
• Latvian culture and traditions

Childhood’s dream

I have been living with the dream about my kin’s domain since I am 16… Well, it is almost childhood, right? It was strongly inspired by the book’s series “Anastasia: The Ringing Cedars of Russia”. The dream has shaped my life ever since and led me to amazing places and events where I learned a lot about building communities and organizing self-sufficient living. Let me name a few of these life-changing experiences:

• Creating the portal for Anastasia readers anastasija.lv
• Ecovillage Design Course at Findhorn, Scotland
• Permaculture Design Course at Sieben Linden, Germany
• Co-founding the Latvian Permaculture Association
• Organising the Kin's Domain Forum, Forum of the Community Economics and dozens of other events in Latvia
• Joining the Global Ecovillage Network, Transition Movement and co-founding the 1st Transition Initiative in Latvia
• Living and working as a volunteer in Sieben Linden ecovillage, Germany for 2 years
• Visiting at least 15 ecovillages and eco-communities accross Europe

Most probably you have got to know me in one of these steps! ;)

The dawn of a new eco-settlement

Humans are social beings with a need for culture, communication with others, celebration and fun - I am no exception, and do not want to live in a middle of forest. Instead, I want to show that one can have a very enjoyable country-side living experience. This is more than possible when like-minded friends are living next-door forming an eco-settlement.
Therefore 4 other families-to-become-neighbours are going to buy adjacent land forming the core of a new eco-settlement that is going to expand in the future. The settlement is going to function according to the concept of kin’s domain settlement or in some circles known as the Anastasia movement (the author of the concept).
Our group has become a circle of friends by now. We believe that it will be a unprecendent case-studie helping other young people to move to the countryside in a meaningful way.
We will call our eco-settlement "The Gardens Of Light". Visit our website here!

Ancient tradition

One might wonder: “why don`t you take a loan as everyone else to buy a property?” Having a loan means that the property belongs to the bank for years until you buy it out for a double price. I believe that it is one of the core problems of today’s failing economical realm. It is also against the very principles of kin’s domain idea. I could have borroved money from the bank, but I want to believe in the power of alternative economies.

For thousands of years it was a common practice for communities to support the young people to start their individual living by giving a land, building a house etc. Unfortunately, today it is a rarety. However, I believe that this should change. Especially in the cases when youth is willing to move to the countryside. Therefore I trust in the magic of helping hands to make this project come true.

Support is needed

I aim to collect 7000 Euro within this campaign in order to start my vision. However, the scale of the project will require much more resources at all stages - so you know that every type of support is going to be needed and welcomed. May it be time that you can volunteer to plant some trees or donating some gardening tools - almost everything fits. ;)

This fundraising campaign is going to give me a strong practical support as the 1st step in the life-long project. It is obvious that the project involves a lot more investment at the end (building a tiny-house, planting the garden, digging the pond, etc.) - I will take care of that by working hard and investing a lot of money in that!

The vision of creating a kin’s domain has been the priority for me since I am 16. And I acknowledge that it might take a lifetime to make it true, because of the complexity and the magnitude of the idea. However, this fact has never seemed scary for me. This feels like an integral part of my life and being, so let it be!
In a case of obstacles the realization of the project may slow down. That is the only risk at the end.

Celebration

I invite every friendly contributor to my birthday-party-picnic which will take place on 7th of May. We are going to meet in Riga and travel either to the seaside or to some beautiful nature park (depending on the weather) to go for a nice walk and have a self-organised picnic in the nature. Details will follow. ;)
Those, who cannot join the party, will receive a self-made “Thank You!” photo-card from me. Yes - in this birthday I will be sending* instead of receiving cards! :)
* in order to receive a printed card, please donate at least 30 Euros, otherwise the sending costs will eat up a large portion of the donation… ;)

One year later in 2017 - every contributor will be invited to the birthday picnic on the land bought thanks to this campaign.

Any questions left?

I will love to talk to you! ;)
Drop me a line on Facebook, Skype (arturo-333) or e-mail: [email protected]