§ Frequently asked
What would you like to know?
Short answers about participation, research, cooperation and the current stage. Follow the links for more background.
Why are you here
Category 1 · 8 questions
For Lab members.
For those who work in a Lab, practice SYFERS, sit in Council.
The Charter calls for openness about the work and limits the publication of personal data and sensitive information. An internal record is therefore not automatically a public publication.
What is recorded, who has access and what can be shared must be clear in advance. Using roles rather than names does not guarantee that a person cannot be identified. Discuss your questions before contributing.
That depends on the work, the tools chosen and the group’s agreements. We do not give a general number of minutes per day here.
Begin with the information you need to work together and learn. Review the record-keeping burden and keep it useful to the people working with it.
Individual membership and departure are governed by your Lab, its statutes and the agreements you have made. Ask your Lab what applies to your situation.
The Charter’s thirty-day provision concerns a Lab leaving the federation. It does not automatically govern the departure of an individual resident or member.
That depends on the data, the reason for storing it, and the applicable agreements and legal obligations. No general retention period for all Lab data is stated here.
Ask which information about you is retained and whom you can contact with a request. Open record-keeping does not replace careful handling of personal data.
This must be clear for each tool and working process. Not every participant needs to see every internal record.
The Charter limits publication of personal data and sensitive information. Contact the Lab or responsible organisation about specific access rights and publication agreements.
Contact the person preparing the publication or the Lab. Describe which information concerns you and why.
The Charter requires fundamental objections to be heard and integrated. Privacy questions also need their own assessment; they are not treated solely as a governance matter.
Syntrociety is building a federation of independent Labs. The Charter and Practice describe shared principles and approaches. Each Lab carries its own responsibilities.
The intention is to share experience and make decisions affecting the Labs together with care. We develop and evaluate how this works in practice with the groups involved.
At federation level, each Lab arranges representation. Those involved agree who does this and what commitment is needed.
The Charter establishes consent as a principle within Labs and at federation level. A Lab chooses its own application, provided fundamental objections are systematically heard and integrated.
Category 2 · 10 questions
For prospective Labs.
Cooperatives, communities, intentional projects considering joining.
This is an open question. Sulitânia’s experience began on one site. A neighbourhood initiative or group across several places may need a different form.
We are keen to explore how your practice, cooperation and responsibilities are organised. A conversation is not yet confirmation that your initiative can join as a Lab.
We agree the pace together. First we get acquainted; then your group discusses the Charter and Practice.
When cooperation fits and is practically possible, we record agreements before you sign. The preparation needed depends on your group and the questions still to be investigated.
Financial contributions, available support and costs must be clear in advance. The federation is taking shape; no fixed participation fee is stated here.
Participation also takes time for preparation, records and shared governance. Discuss the commitment your group can sustain.
Your Lab remains responsible for its land, members, finances, name and relationships. Participation does not transfer that responsibility to the federation.
You commit to the Charter and agree how cooperation, consent, record-keeping and knowledge exchange are organised. The shared framework requires practical agreements.
The Charter provides for departure with thirty days’ notice and data portability. The Lab retains its own identity and data.
Obligations entered into during membership do not disappear. Read the exit arrangements in the Charter and any separate agreements.
No. Under the Charter, the Lab retains its identity.
The description member Lab of Syntrociety can describe the cooperation. It does not replace your own name.
Existing agreements remain your Lab’s responsibility. Joining the federation does not change them automatically.
New cooperation may develop, but requires separate agreements. Membership does not give automatic access to a funder or research network.
No fixed minimum or maximum size is stated here. More important is how you can sustain the shared practice and responsibility.
In the first conversation, tell us who is involved, what you do and which organisational form fits. Scale is a question to investigate.
The Charter describes each Lab as its own legal entity. Sulitânia is a Portuguese Cooperativa Integral, CRL. That is the first Lab’s form.
The form suitable and possible for you depends on the location, activities and responsibilities. Discuss legal questions with a qualified adviser before entering a commitment.
Send a message about your initiative: what do you do, where are you now and what do you want to learn or contribute?
We discuss an initial conversation and decide together what a useful next step would be. A message is not yet an application for membership.
Category 3 · 6 questions
For researchers.
Universities, policy researchers, evaluators, journalists.
Use the document’s title, author or organisation, date or version, and location. State when you accessed it.
For a dataset, also ask about the method, context and conditions of use. Not every record is available as public research data.
Check the licence with the document or dataset concerned. Public access does not automatically mean every use is permitted.
Is the licence or provenance unclear? Contact us before republishing material or using it commercially.
Contact us first and explain your research question. We discuss whether the research fits and what the people involved can sustain.
A public publication does not grant permission to approach or interview participants, or process data about them. Participation and use of contributions require separate agreements.
Which records are available and what period they cover must be assessed for each research question. No complete series of daily or weekly measurements is announced here.
We welcome a discussion about the sources available, what is missing and whether cooperation could produce a useful research design.
SYFERS is an open framework for working and learning in regenerative communities and cooperatives. It connects shared decisions, people's involvement, records of practice, economic continuity and learning from change.
Formal research requires an appropriate research question, method, data quality and ethical assessment. Using SYFERS does not certify that quality.
Syntrociety is building its own federation around living together, restoration and learning. We welcome exchange with other initiatives and networks.
Mentioning ENoLL, for example, does not imply membership or recognition. Existing partner relationships are on the partners page; new relationships require separate agreements.
Category 4 · 6 questions
For funders and authorities.
Funders, regulators, visiting officials, EU programme managers.
The federation is being developed as a separate organisation. The first Lab, Cooperativa Integral Sulitânia, CRL, is the existing Portuguese cooperative.
Formal cooperation must make clear which legal entity signs, which obligations apply and whether a later transfer is agreed. Contact us about the concrete situation.
Programmes for soil health, research, the social economy and area development can provide starting points for exploring opportunities. The Support page gives examples.
Relevant themes do not create a right to a grant. Check the current call, eligible applicants, legal conditions, partners and co-financing.
We begin with the situation and the change an initiative wants to achieve. For example: soil and water care, accessible shared living, local cooperation or better shared decision-making.
This needs suitable observations, a measurement plan and attention to unwanted effects. SYFERS can help connect sources and experiences. An aim or record is not yet a demonstrated result.
The Charter describes shared principles and consent. Decisions affecting the federation belong in shared governance; each Lab retains its own responsibility.
We also seek cooperation between people working on the ground, researchers, entrepreneurs and public authorities. This is the idea behind the quadruple helix. It is not a list of already confirmed partners.
Legal form, land use, housing and activities each require their own assessment. Registering a cooperative does not automatically permit all those activities.
An initiative must establish with the competent authorities and advisers what is possible in that particular place. Policy goals and local permission are different questions.
We aim to record facts, agreements and questions carefully and remain in dialogue with the competent authority.
Where rights or permits are involved, appropriate legal or technical assessment is needed. Syntrociety can share practical experience; this website does not decide an individual case.
Category 5 · 5 questions
For visitors and general public.
For those who encounter the federation without a specific position.
A Lab is a place or shared practice where people live together, restore their surroundings and learn from it. In everyday life, they investigate how these three can strengthen one another.
Syntrociety aims to connect independent Labs so experiences and useful methods can travel further. The first work began in 2023 at Sulitânia.
Live together. Restore. Learn. We want to connect personal freedom with shared responsibility for one another and our surroundings.
The Charter provides shared principles. SYFERS supports cooperation, recording and reflection. A healthy economy must sustain the work over the long term.
Because practical experience can help us understand larger questions, and knowledge or resources from elsewhere can strengthen everyday work.
We want to make the substance understandable to different participants without overstating results. Social and ecological value are central, alongside financial care.
Sulitânia is winding down work at the previous site and seeking a new place. Contact us if you would like to meet; we can discuss the options currently available.
A Sulitânia page is in preparation that describes the options for visiting in detail. Until then, write to Sulitânia or become a Friend of the federation.
With knowledge, time, resources or concrete cooperation. The Ring is being developed to connect this involvement.
There is not yet an active offer of fixed participation or visiting benefits. In an initial conversation, we explain what is possible and what agreements are involved.
Yes. The Charter describes a revision process through consent. Each Lab signs the version it can commit to.
The annual review asks whether the principles and their application still fit the practice. Read the precise arrangements in the Charter.
What if your question is not here?
Write to the federation. We answer within a week. Good questions, when they matter to others, are eventually added to this page.
→ Write to the federationIs your question missing? Write to us and we will help you think it through.