Story.

In May 2023, the work began at Quinta da Fornalha in Castro Marim. People wanted to live together, grow food, care for their surroundings and decide together how to organise the work. These questions came together in everyday life.

This takes more than a shared ideal. Who does which work? How do we divide time, costs and responsibility? How do we make room for personal freedom? And how do we sustain care for the place when circumstances change?

Cooperativa Integral Sulitânia was founded in June 2025, giving the experience of the preceding period a formal basis. It also brought questions to light about cooperation, income, decision-making and the rules that apply to a place.

Living together can offer connection and space. It also calls for attention to different expectations, boundaries and interests. A shared purpose does not remove those differences.

Making decisions by consent can take time, especially when interests conflict. The task is to take objections seriously, reach a workable decision and later review whether it still fits.

Recording agreements helps us revisit what was decided and why. Sharing experience makes learning possible. This includes careful choices about what can be public and what needs protection.

The economy needs attention too. Food, education, hospitality and services can provide income, but each requires people, resources and paying demand. A healthy economy must sustain the work, the people and long-term care.

A credible account shows where the work gets difficult.

People come and go. Expectations change, as do personal circumstances. Clear agreements about participation, responsibility and departure therefore matter. The Charter describes the shared foundations and the agreement on leaving.

Conflicts do not resolve themselves. Sometimes a difference calls for better listening, sometimes for different agreements and sometimes for parting ways. A useful approach helps people express an objection and decide the next step.

Money and time are limited. Caring for a place must go hand in hand with work that can sustain people. This means choosing what is feasible, who carries which burdens and how to prevent the same people from repeatedly taking on too much.

Rules and procedures help determine what is possible. We investigate where policy ambitions and local implementation diverge. The Implementation Gap explores this question in more depth. Which route is workable must be established for each place.

Sulitânia’s experience led to a wish to connect other places. A federation can help independent Labs share knowledge, explore questions together and support one another.

Share lessons.People starting a similar initiative can build on experience elsewhere. This requires agreements, methods and results to be recorded accessibly and clearly.

Research together.Several places can explore comparable questions. Their differences are valuable: they help us understand what works under which conditions.

Build cooperation with partners.Researchers, entrepreneurs, funders and public authorities have different questions. Shared foundations and clear dossiers can support those conversations.

Make room for each place.Each Lab has its own people, surroundings and possibilities. The Charter connects the Labs; the local approach grows from the work in the place itself.

Syntrociety brings shared foundations and tools together. The Charter describes five principles. The Practice describes how Labs can work with them. The Helix explores cooperation between communities, research, enterprise and public authorities.

SYFERS brings together a method, a framework and digital tools for people and organisations. They can record their work, look back and learn. Technology helps identify patterns and reflect on experience.

Cooperation, nature restoration and shared learning connect everyday work in a place with wider policy ambitions.

The value of this approach must emerge from practice. We therefore want to make choices and results understandable, keep uncertainty visible and share what prompts us to adjust.

Sulitânia is winding down work at the previous site and seeking a new location. The cooperative exists; the federation’s separate legal entity is in preparation. The Charter, Practice and SYFERS framework provide a foundation to build on. Status describes the current stage.

We want more independent Labs to share knowledge and support one another. Experience in living together, nature restoration and a sustainable economy can then become useful to other initiatives. This ambition still needs to take shape.

The next step needs people, a suitable place, resources and cooperation. We seek participants and partners who want to connect social and ecological value with a financially healthy practice, with patience and clear agreements.

Living together, restoration and learning call for continued care.

It is messy. It rubs. It asks for maturity.

The aim is a practice in which people share responsibility, care for their surroundings and keep learning. We want to make visible what succeeds and what needs adjusting.