Land ownership transferred to the cooperative
We have completed the important step of becoming the owners of the land!
It has been a long journey of negotiations with the previous owners and lots of legal and admin work to prepare for the transfer of the deed to the Cooperative.
We reached our fundraising goal in June after Catia, my partner of one year who I met on the land via the previous owners, joined the project and made a joining investment :)
This brought us to the agreed amount to pay the owners and in return transfer the ownership to the Cooperative with the lawyer and notary. Now we still need to raise the remainder of the purchase price, aiming for the end of 2024.
It feels good to get past this step, as it has been difficult to navigate with the lawyer and notary and has been causing anxiety. I feel a bit more secure, but still have the next part of the challenge to raise the remaining funds. It’s good to know that the bureaucratic part has been done though!
There are several families planning to come to the next gathering in September, and more people getting in contact since the Summer started. This gives confidence that we will find the right people to join, though it is likely they will only feel ready to commit to the project and pay their joining investments going into 2025, past our target date to finish the payments.
We are reaching out to potential investors who want to support social and ecological projects. We are welcoming loans of 1-4 years, which we will pay back when new residents join the project and pay their joining investments. We can offer lenders interest on these loans, from 4% annual.
Fundraising Update
Now that we have met our target in June, and completed the deed transfer, our next target is €65,000 in December this year.
We are grateful to have received a donation of €2,000 already, and will continue to look for investors!
Podcast interview video
with Somesh from ‘Eco Village and Communities in Portugal Podcast’
I was invited to record a podcast with Somesh who runs a facebook group called 'Ecovillages and Communities with Kids Portugal'. I regularly make posts there to promote Guarda Rios Ecovillage, and often connect to people posting there looking for an eco community to join. I also became a moderator to help run the group. I was nice to chat with Somesh and talk about my journey of starting the Ecovillage project and share reflections together about the challenges and what is needed for a successful Ecovillage project.
See the post from Somesh and the video below:
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