From November 12th to November 14th, in partnership with Reflorestar Portugal and Gone West, Primal is hosting yet another reforestation gathering in the unique, regenerative village-in-the-making, Traditional Dream Factory (TDF). In this Gathering, we aim to plant 1000 trees in the increasingly eroded landscape of Alentejo, Portugal, in an effort to not only restore this land’s forests and ecosystem, but also restore people and communities while doing so. To leave beings and places better than how we found them, is our motto.

Amidst preparations for our gathering, I had the chance to speak to Samuel Delesque, one of the co-founders of TDF, as to get to know the project a little better – to hear about its genesis, vision, dreams, as well as action plans to arrive to these. Most importantly, however, to understand how their intentions align to Primal’s regenerative mission. Here’s what I found…

Traditional Dream Factory: A Dream Come Reality

Established last year, TDF is being imagined on an old poultry factory built in 1972, located in Abela, a small Portuguese village with 400 inhabitants. In some way, it is an offspring of Oasa – a community platform started around four years ago, for building and researching regenerative ways of living and traveling together. It is envisioned to become a network of co-owned regenerative villages, whose active and participating inhabitants can hop in between at different times.

Sam, one of the brains behind this initiative, had lived as a nomad for several years when he had this idea. He was living in New York at the time and started feeling he needed to be more in contact with the natural world. As he told me: “I was looking for a bit more nature connection. And, through a lot of travels and meeting a lot of other nomadic people who were living the same kind of lifestyle, I started realising I also wanted to be a bit more grounded, to build roots. That’s when I decided I wanted to build a network of spaces around the world that I could call home, and that other nomads could call home, as well.”

 After careful scouting, first through New York, then South Africa, last year he and his partner Ani, finally decided that Portugal was going to be the place. “We just really loved the vibe,” Sam explained. “It’s a really nice culture – the people are very welcoming. There’s a nice sense of solidarity. Also, there’re a lot of projects going.” The property they’re in, in particular, “just resonated. As soon as we saw it we could just project our dreams onto it. Besides, it was a very accessible price point to get started. We didn’t need to bring in outside capital within it, to raise funds from people we didn’t know before getting started. So, that means we have complete sovereignty as a project. So, yeah, then we just got started.”

 Oasa, and TDF as its first living manifestation, is meant to represent a new way of living. Their intention is to create beautiful, regenerative villages with a focus on communal living and personal growth. Their buildings are designed to accommodate the modern citizen, while preserving their surrounding environment. Their locations are carefully chosen to balance remoteness with accessibility to major cities and amenities, giving people plenty of space to grow and re-imagine how we can inhabit this planet. Their vision is of a future where traveling and living become one. Where people can have roots in multiple geographies and where love and community are present wherever you go.

A Regenerative Living & Creation Collective

Most important to this project, however, is its focus on creating a model of how we want to live together, that puts human and planetary well-being first. It is an evolutive experience for researching regenerative ways of living that can be replicated by larger population groups.

When I asked about what exactly is regenerative within the initiative, Sam humorously, yet resolutely stated, “I mean, everything about it is! We can see this in our use of natural constructing materials. For example, with our use of hemp and straw to create installations. Just the fact that we are reusing old abandoned buildings, which means we don’t have to go and use massive amounts of concrete bricks to build things… In this way, we have a really low impact in terms of construction. Then, we’re looking to regenerate the land surrounding us. Our business model is based on creating spaces that have a positive impact on the nature around it. For example, we’re looking to put the land into something similar to a land trust – which is a concept that still doesn’t exist in Portugal, unfortunately. We’re looking to set up a legal structure that kind of emulates how a land trust functions. So, where land is going to be taken out of the markets to be protected for future generations.”

Their mission and vision are very much to create a business model that works in harmony with and for nature: “It's this whole idea of moving from ownership to stewardship. We're not meant to own land and extract value from it, but rather we're meant to help make the land more beautiful and bring diversity and bring, yeah. Bring more life basically. So, that's kind of our mission. The big vision is to protect a hundred thousand hectares around the world, that would be supported by these kind of spaces where you can have digital nomads, artists, creators, and so on, that can come, use the facilities and can get access to an amazing community, amazing spaces to work from, to create from, and they get access to amazing nature.”

Besides these more business-oriented regenerative goals, like the one mentioned above of acquiring land to be added to a Land Regeneration and Conservation trust, they also mean to catalyse change through culturally regenerative practices. From integration of an inclusive community environment – “in which all members, regardless of their abilities or non-abilities are treated fairly and respectfully, have equal access to opportunities and resources, and can contribute fully to the creation and nourishment of a thriving community (including the unvoiced, such as Nature and the future generations)” – to fostering a sense of responsibility to the community, society and all of life, in general.

“We’re all about living.” Sam tells me. “We are a living provider, not a venture firm. We're just wanting to do something good for the planet and for the people who are going to be basically doing good for the planet by participating in these projects.”

They’re approach to regeneration is undoubtedly interdisciplinary in essence. They’re thinking about it all: the economic, cultural, social and, evidently, the environmental. As Sam explains, “the three pillars that we take into consideration with everything we do is making a model that works 1) for nature, 2) works for economics, and 3) that works for humans. So, you gotta have those three nailed. We believe that when you really take those three into consideration, that means you can create a space that can be sustainable in the long run. If I get only one of them, it's not going to work. If you make the most amazing regenerative space where people are having a good time, but it doesn't work economically, then, after a few years, when the funds run out, then you're going to have to shut down the place and whoever comes next can decide what to do with it. And maybe they'll just chop down on your trees and your plants to do something else.”

TDF & Primal: Sharing a Regenerative Mission

 Although we have only scratched the surface, we can start seeing how TDF has potential to be a pioneering model for regenerative co-living. This is visible in their aim to create positive loops in all interactions between stakeholders including nature, all life and future generations, as well as in their idea to prove we can optimize resources while nurturing a creative and thriving community and at the same time leave a positive trace on the environment.  

A way in which they are trying to already leave this positive impact is through reforestation actions. This is where Primal comes in. When I asked Sam if he thought TDF’s and Primal’s mission was aligned, his answer was a cheerful “I mean, yeah, I think it’s totally aligned! When I spoke to Nicole [Nicole Bosky, Primal’s founder] this summer, it just felt like a great match. I mean, first of all, re:build [a gathering for building regenerative futures that was thought of and hosted by TDF in September this year] comes from a very similar place: it’s an event that is regenerative in nature, that’s bringing regenerative people together, and it’s really about celebrating regeneration. Because that’s really all it is. If you make regeneration joyful and fun, then it can actually happen. If it’s a chore, a cost… we’re not going to make it there. So yes, Primal’s reforestation mission as well as celebratory mission completely resonate.”

Relevant to Sam is also how Primal’s vision of reforestation is not only a matter of offsetting carbon, but also an educational activity with potential to make us more self-sufficient and, most importantly, connected. “Some people would just pay some money to get someone to plant some trees somewhere in the world and not really have any connection with it. But here it’s building a sort of relationship with the land and having a connection with the space. It’s about having a story of it. Which, I think, is what we aim to do in general: to tell the story of regeneration.”

Come live and learn more about what living regeneratively means with us in this beautiful and innovative community space, alongside active transformation-seekers this upcoming Primal Gathering 2021 at Traditional Dream Factory. We’ll be with the land and with each other, remembering who we are, where we come from and where we need to go. Find more info on the 2021 Primal Reforestation Gathering here, and have a little sneak peek into what awaits you here.

Article by Helena Leonardo

Helena is a freelance educator and writer, trained in the fields of sociology and cultural studies. Her current mission is to take part in the advancement of the regenerative development paradigm through theoretical, empirical and active investigation on the transformational potential of intersectional ecofeminism, cooperativism, community-building and the ecovillage movement.

Primal Gathering is an environmentally, socially, and psychologically regenerative gathering empowering people with skills to be self-sustainable in their day-to-day lives. Our mission is to restore people, forests, and ecosystems all over the world. Leaving both people and places better than how we find them. Join us at the next Reforestation Gathering here or sign up and receive more content like this in a monthly newsletter here