The Lifeboat Academy at Highgrove Farm and Commons

A proposal to develop the properties at 5440-5444 Highgrove Rd. as a model of resilience and regeneration and a permanent community asset

Problem statement / needs assessment 

• Things are already bumpy, and they’re going to get bumpier.
• Climate change and the authoritarian threat are symptoms of societal collapse (not the cause of it). 
  • The cause lies in our collective delusion – the false beliefs at the heart of the extractive / colonial mindset that gives rise to all the crises we currently face. 
  • Our social structures are and will be incapable of responding adequately to the climate emergency, so we’re going to have to do things ourselves.
  • Our current “economic” system is the primary tool used to maintain these destructive systems, therefore we need to transition as quickly as possible to the Gift or Circular Economy (or at least to create spaces that are protected from these market weapons).
• Collaboration is our secret human superpower, but our ability to collaborate effectively has been damaged by the trauma of colonialism / predatory capitalism. 
• We urgently need to find innovative, non-institutionally-dependent ways of responding – in other words, we need to rebuild from the ground up. Highgrove Farm and Commons is our proposal for how we do that.

Social Challenges Engaged

• Modeling regenerative agricultural practices
• Providing a (literally) grounded model of “fair share footprint” living
• Increasing local food security
• Providing structured affordable housing for workers
• Training in practical “resilient” life skills
• Reconciliation with Indigenous communities and ways of knowing
• Returning land to Commons ownership and management.
• Modeling high-functioning collaboration practices (Sociocracy 3.0) 

Goals and Objectives

• Our mission is to maximize the quality of life within a sustainable footprint. 
  • We define a “sustainable footprint” as a “Fair Share Footprint” to make “sustainability” real, grounded, and workable.
    • We estimate that the properties at 5440-5444 Highgrove Rd. represent 16 “fair share footprints”
    • (1 Footprint + Labour) * Infrastructure = Material Needs for 1 person
    • ∴ Highgrove Farm’s material goal is to produce the equivalent of food, water, shelter, and energy for 16 people in a way that enhances the health of the ecosystem of the farm.. 
  • We define “quality of life” as those experiences that make us feel like we are living a life well-lived. We refer to this as the Happiness Project. 
• Our goal is to create a model of resilience and regeneration at the person, place, and community level that can be easily replicated by nearly anyone in their home community.
  • Resilience is to regeneration as surviving is to thriving. 
  • Personal resilience = social-emotional ability to manage eco-grief and anxiety related to climate chaos and social disruption. 
  • Place-based resilience = the practical skills and materials necessary for providing sustenance regardless of shocks to the larger economic / productive system.
  • Community resilience = collaboration and communication skills that allow us “to weave together our strengths in such a way that our weaknesses become irrelevant” and effectively manage conflict / tensions.
• As such, we also serve as a transformative, experiential place-based education centre for those who want to start building their own Lifeboat using similar processes – a.k.a. the Lifeboat Academy
• It’s a transition mechanism from extractive capitalism to a sustainable economic foundation (circular or gift economy). 
  • We recognize that we must function within the current economic system.
  • We avoid “market” entanglements as much as possible, leaning into self-reliance, barter, and mutual-aid networks as much as possible. 
  • Set up as a social enterprise.
  • Profits are initially re–invested into farm infrastructure.
  • Eventually, profits fund the “Golem Trust” which seeks to return more “real estate” to the commons and establish other local “resilience hubs.” 

Structure

• We operate as a commons incorporating the insights of Elinor Ostrom’s rules for the commons in our structural design and governance systems. We use Sociocracy 3.0 as our operating system as elaborated in our Charter Agreements. 
  • We aren’t simply an experiment in regenerative food production. Experimenting to optimize our ability to work together effectively is equally important to resilience and regeneration. 
• We seek 16 “fair share holders” to act as stewards of the pooled common resources.
  • Each share is valued at $150,000 CDN.
  • Shares can be purchased or earned.
  • Shares can be held by individuals, organizations, or groups of individuals. 
  • Shares bring both rights and responsibilities.
    • Fair shares are backed by the real estate value and assets of the Farm. 
    • Fair share holders have access to their fair share of resources and obligations to care for those resources. 
    • The “Insurance Policy” – Fair share holders (ultimately) have the right to live on and be fed by the property if it becomes critical. 
• Stewardship Council 
  • 6 shares are reserved for resident farmers.
  • 2 shares are reserved for interns / students.
  • 8 shares are available for the broader community.
• We are seeking 10-year “social performance bond holders” who are willing to invest in the vision of the enterprise and support the caregivers
  • Performance bonds are backed by the real estate value of the property in case of non-performance.
  • Social bond holders have access to the equity in the project while they are bondholders. 

Strategy / Guiding Principles 

• We treat all projects as a series of experiments designed to maximize learning, agility and adaptability in the face of uncertainty – a dynamic system not a fixed set of rules or policies. 
• We see the farm as a living organism composed of interconnected and interdependent functions. 
  • We attempt to honour and incorporate indigenous ways of knowing and working which foremost sees us as enmeshed in relationships with “all our relations.”
  • We prioritize biomimicry and observation as ways of recognizing the supreme intelligence of nature.  
• We “feed the farm first.” 
  • We develop our food production infrastructure to first meet the majority of farm needs, selling any excess to increase farm income as it becomes available. 
• We offer our educational, transformational and learning experiences as part of the Gift Economy, creating channels where the value we create for others can be returned to support the farm’s needs – including both money, resources, and skills. 

Methods / Approach

• Our current food production model is based on blending insights from permaculture, regenerative agriculture, and traditional, non-industrial systems of agriculture and food production. 
  • Practically, this looks like a mixed-use farm with chickens for eggs (and supplemental meat), goats and cows for dairy (and supplemental meat), pigs for meat, gardens with a heavy emphasis on beans and pulses, small-scale grain production, bees for honey (and pollination), and mushrooms. 
  • At full production, we expect to produce
• Housing on the property will use a co-housing model, with the current barn acting as the common house. We envision constructing four off-grid cottages (demonstrating a variety of green building techniques) and four “bunkies” – or small off-grid bedrooms for farm guests. 
  • This will provide permanent housing for 6 farmers and 2 interns plus up to 8 guests. 
  • Construction will start with the bunkies as a way of providing accommodation for 6 farmers and/or interns. 
  • Construction of cottages will happen in phase 2 (see below). Cottages will conform to the zoning standards to preserve the real estate potential of developing the sites for larger, conventionally grid-tied homes if the enterprise needs to be liquidated. 
• We anticipate that 6 farmers, with supplemental help from interns and guest / learners can produce enough for 16 people – thereby feeding themselves and any farm guests, with extra food going to feed Pender folks.

Implementation Plan / Phases

• Phase 1 – Immediate – 
  • Build 5 bunkies and augment kitchen / shared space to provide space for 6 farmers (or interns).
  • Begin recruiting fellow farmers
  • Begin recruiting “Interim Stewardship Council”
  • Work with CoHo BC and Foodlands Cooperative of BC to develop purchase agreement
  • Seek “Bond holders”
  • Continue to build online educational offering – aka The Lifeboat Network
• Phase 2 – Foundation Building
  • With farmers in place, build on initial food production potential
    • Pigs with feed
    • Consolidate garden production
    • Add dairy goats
    • Build on chicken flock
  • Begin recruiting “Fair share holders”
  • Produce additional “bunkies” for guests
  • Host Permaculture Design course and other “big picture” engagement events.
  • Begin hosting guest / learners
  • Plan cottages
• Phase 3 – 
  • Build farmer cottages
  • Continue to augment food production while reducing overall footprint. 
  • Continue to support the development of the Lifeboat Network and the establishment of 100 new Lifeboats. 

Qualifications

• Ben and Roland have 9 years experience developing the model on three different farms including experience with:
  • Chickens, pigs, sheep, goats, and cows
  • Gardens and soil web health
• Ben has a PhD in sociology and social psychology with 25 years experience working with the emotional dynamics of teams and effective collaboration. 
• Roland has Masters in art history with experience creating transformative experiences in “non-ordinary reality”
• Ronnie has 10 years experience working with student affairs and community organizing, along with deep experience living and working in community. 
• Our current project partners include: .

Evaluation Plan

Our performance will be tracked in the following ways:

• We document all farm produce including its calorie and macronutrient content and compare against the annual dietary needs of 16 people. 
• We track energy usage on the farm including kilowatts of electricity and liters of gasoline or any other petroleum products. 
• We attempt, where possible, to document the footprint of any equipment or materials brought onto the farm. The footprint of durable goods is depreciated over the expected useful life of the item. Any used or salvaged materials are considered to have zero footprint. 
• We document the number of visitors to the farm and the number of “visitor days” as well as the number of people “on-boarded” to level 1, level 2, or level 3. 
• All participants in any educational activities will receive an invitation to complete a feedback survey. The results of these surveys will be analyzed and reported annually as part of the farm’s annual winter planning process. 
• We will document the number of new “Lifeboats” established. Lifeboat coordinators will be asked quarterly to provide a list of activities or actions their lifeboat has engaged in. Failure to provide any activities for more than three quarters will mark the Lifeboat as dormant. 
• We will conduct an annual soil survey to document the depth and living soil carbon as a measure of carbon sequestration. 
• We will conduct an annual survey of farmers, interns, and guild members to track overall happiness, quality of life, and effectiveness of collaboration systems.   

Funding Sustainability

• Our income streams include:
  • Farm production – raw materials including eggs, diary, garden vegetables, tree fruit and nuts, honey, mushrooms, pulses, and grains. 
  • Value-added food services – much of the raw materials from the farm will be converted into meals for guests and special events which will increase our income potential for food. 
  • Guest accommodations – leaning into agro-eco-edu-tourism opportunities. 
  • Onsite and online educational opportunities including webinars, support circles, and coaching offered on a “pay it forward” model.
  • Special events hosted onsite.  
  • Donations and gifts from those who value the work we are doing. 
• We estimate initial (2023) income streams to include farm production worth about $16,600, $15,000 for online educational opportunities, and $36,500 for guest accommodations and meals (roughly $68,000 / year or $5,680 / month). 
• By 2024, we expect our income to be $27,000 for farm production, $30,000 for online education, and $54,800 for guest accommodations and meals (roughly $112,000 / year or $9,320 / month). 
• By 2025, we expect income to increase to about $133,000 per year. 
• Eventually, we think our income at build-out from food production to be about $72,000, from guest stays to be about $73,000, and online activities to bring in about $30,000 for a total build-out income of about $175,000 per year. 

FAQs

Why the Salish Sea? Why Pender Island? Why Highgrove Farm?

• Our current location provides many advantages.
  • The Salish Sea (and the Canadian side of it) provide a relatively stable social democracy and robust local economy that is relatively well-insulated from potential climate shocks. 
  • Likewise, we are well-integrated into our local community on Pender Island with many well-established relationships with potential project partner. 
  • The properties at Highgrove Farm also provide unique opportunities. As a former clear-cut with a mix of arable, marginal and forest land it allows us to practice ecosystem repair while representing a relatively balanced fair share footprint. 

Do 16 “Fair Share Footprints” mean we are only feeding 16 people?

• No. The idea of the “fair share” is primarily designed to give a concrete focus to the abstract idea of “sustainable footprint.” While we hope to create the equivalent of a full-diet for 16 people, this could be shared out as, for example, 10% of 160 people’s diet or 1% of 1,600 people. 

What is a timeshare-cropper?

How does the on-site education process work?

• We offer a “choose your own adventure” framework. 
  • We hope most will come for the “Gumboot Bootcamp” – an immersive, 10-day experience that introduces our operating systems, provides direct experience doing a variety of farm chores and projects, and allows them to join any of the existing guilds as an apprentice. We’ve developed a formal “on-boarding” system to facilitate the learning process.  
  • Guests can come to enjoy and experience the farm in a less structured way,