Shared practice
Chart
Keep what you do, decide and learn together within reach.
Record activities, proposals and decisions, with the reasons and considerations behind them. Help others understand how the work develops.
Working together · Become a LabFederation of Living Labs
§ For initiatives and cooperatives15 min read
Move forward together
as a Lab.
Are you building a practice around living together, restoring nature and shared learning? Let’s explore how your initiative and the federation could strengthen one another.
§ For whom
Your own place.
A shared direction.
This route is for groups with a shared practice: a cooperative on land, a community in a building or a neighbourhood initiative. Don’t yet have a place or an organisation? Get in touch anyway. Together we can explore what preparation is needed.
Syntrociety is building a federation of independent . Each carries its own legal, financial and practical responsibilities. The describes the shared principles; the sets out how we work with them.
The intended cooperation connects everyday practice, shared agreements and knowledge exchange. A Lab becomes a member by signing the Charter. Read more in the FAQ →
This page explains what cooperation could bring, what participation involves and how to begin. The federation and its support are still developing.
Becoming a Lab is something specific. It differs from being a like-minded organisation, being part of The Ring, or running a sympathising project. What makes a Lab a Lab is that it operates in the federation as what we call a cell: autonomous in its own reality, fractal-part of the shared ground, co-formative in what the federation as a whole means.
For the working-out of that principle, read /cell-principle. For the practical questions that follow below, that working-out gives meaning, because it shows what we ask of a Lab. Not as candidacy-criteria, but as what cell-being actually entails.
§ What binding asks of you
Record, share and learn from it.
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. Cooperation, record-keeping and learning start with practice. Choose the instrument that helps; access, features and sharing agreements differ between instruments.
Contact and involvement
People
Stay in touch on terms people choose for themselves.
Keep relationships, contact preferences and follow-up together. People can manage their own details and preferences; being a contact does not automatically mean consenting to a newsletter.
Funding and accountability
Ledger
From funding opportunity to a report you can substantiate.
Explore funding opportunities, record your shared assessment and develop an application with traceable reporting. A promising opportunity still needs its own assessment and decision.
Shared self-reflection
Compass
See what sustains your cooperation and what needs attention.
Discuss your own practice through sixteen conditions and follow changes from your own starting point. The reflection guides learning and does not award certification.
Shared organisational memory
Lens
Find what your organisation knows and understand its sources.
Organise, translate and search documents in a shared archive. Ask questions with the sources alongside, so you can check answers and translations.
The funding angle
Good records help explain what you do and why. They can also provide material for research, cooperation and funding applications. The documents required depend on the programme. The frameworks named here are starting points for researching opportunities, not confirmed funding routes.
EU Mission SoilHorizon Europe Cluster 6New European BauhausPortugal 2030ENEI 2030Algarve 2030CLLD/LEADEREAFRDEIT Food
How Labs are supported, in detail§ Your governance
Consent: using objections to make better decisions.
Under the Charter, consent applies within Labs and at federation level. A decision can proceed once fundamental objections have been heard and integrated. You do not need to want the same thing; you need to be able to support a workable decision together.
How a Lab organises this may differ. The Charter names sociocracy, Quaker sense-of-the-meeting and dynamic governance among the approaches, provided fundamental objections are addressed systematically. Agreements must make clear who participates in decisions and how objections are handled.
We want to keep investigating how this works in different groups and at different scales. Signing the Charter is a commitment to the principle. Experience and regular reflection help improve its application.
See Consent in The Lens for the background to this approach.
§ What stays · what it costs
What you decide,
what you share.
Stays yours
The Lab’s independence
- Your land. Ownership stays with the Lab; under the Charter, the federation has no claim to it.
- Your members. The Lab determines its own membership.
- Your finances. The Lab carries its own budget and obligations.
- Your governance. The Lab chooses how to apply the consent principle within the shared agreements.
- Your name and identity. The federation adds a framework; you retain your own identity.
- Your relationships. The Lab remains responsible for agreements with funders, partners and neighbours.
- Your departure. The Charter provides for leaving with thirty days’ notice. Obligations already entered into do not disappear.
What it costs
Shared responsibility
- Commit to the Charter. Discuss the five principles together before you sign.
- Record and share with care. Make work and decisions understandable. The Charter protects personal data and sensitive internal information; not every record is public.
- Time for shared governance. Arrange representation in decisions affecting the Labs. We agree the commitment required.
- Financial agreements. Contributions, support and costs must be clear in advance. No fixed participation fee is stated here.
- Preparation. Set up working agreements and records at a pace the group can sustain.
- Apply consent. Hear objections, examine the reasons and work together towards a decision people can support.
§ Not for you if
Does this
fit your group?
Living and deciding together can create friction. Participation takes time, care and a willingness to learn from differences. Discuss these points within your group.
- 01You want to share long-term responsibility for a place or a shared practice. An initial idea can be the starting point for an exploratory conversation.
- 02You can work independently while making agreements about what affects others.
- 03You want to document the work carefully, respecting privacy and the limits of openness.
- 04You are building your own practice. The shared framework needs applying and adapting to the place.
- 05You can work with consent: hearing and integrating fundamental objections.
- 06You can work with uncertainty. The federation is being built and a financial return is not guaranteed in advance.
§ An open question
A neighbourhood Lab or a Lab across several places?
Sulitânia’s experience began on a single site. Other initiatives may be organised around a neighbourhood, a building or several nearby places.
Which forms can support a Syntropic remains an open question. We want to understand how you work together, share responsibility and learn from practice.
Bring your experience. Together we can explore what already works, what is missing and whether the shared framework fits.
Since 2023, Sulitânia has gained experience in living together, caring for land and making shared decisions. It is winding down work at the previous site and seeking a new home. The lessons, including those from difficult experiences, form the foundation of Syntrociety.Sulitânia · Southern Portugal · in transition
§ Before you write
Where are you now?
Compass helps you reflect on the SYFERS conditions. Use it to start a conversation about your practice, opportunities and questions. Self-reflection is neither an admission decision nor independent evidence of results.
§ How it begins
How we begin.
We agree the pace together. First we understand each other’s practice; then you decide whether the commitment fits.
01
Step 01
Get to know one another.
Describe your initiative and your questions. We discuss an online conversation or a meeting somewhere suitable. This helps us understand what you do and what cooperation could add.
02
Step 02
Discuss together.
Read the Charter and Practice. Discuss within your group which principles fit, what agreements are needed and what participation involves in practice. Ask further questions wherever something is unclear.
03
Step 03
Record the agreements.
When joining is a good fit and practically possible, we record the terms. The Lab signs the version of the Charter it can commit to. We then set up cooperation and record-keeping together.
Tell us what you do, where you are now and what you want to learn or contribute. We will reply and discuss a suitable next step.
You are not signing anything by writing. You first explore whether cooperation is a good fit. An initial conversation is not a commitment to membership.
§ Within the broader methodology
What forms can a Lab take?
The boundary work page explores, among other things, the difference between a Lab on one site and an initiative across several places. This is a research question, not an established form of admission.
Read boundary work →§ Frequently asked questions for this page
Frequently asked questions.
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.
→ See this answer on the central FAQ pageWe 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.
→ See this answer on the central FAQ pageFinancial 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.
→ See this answer on the central FAQ pageYour 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.
Read more at /become-a-lab, or /charter
→ See this answer on the central FAQ pageThe 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.
→ See this answer on the central FAQ pageThe 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.
Read more at /implementation-gap
→ See this answer on the central FAQ pageIndividual 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.
→ See this answer on the central FAQ pageSend 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.
→ See this answer on the central FAQ pageLive 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.
Read more at /story, or /research/two-cultures
→ See this answer on the central FAQ page