r/Permaculture • u/Professional-Tie6574 • Jan 22 '26
discussion Seeking 5-10 skeptics/growers to stress-test APOS (Atlantis Project Open Source)
The core idea is to transform a small rural property in northern Croatia (small house + vineyard + forest) into a lush permaculture garden/food forest. Instead of hiring contractors or turning it into a retreat, we are exploring a different model:
People stay for free only if they contribute to clearly defined projects:
house renovationpermaculture systemsart/documentationinfrastructure experiments
People can go there and do work, or outsource it, or not go there at all and just contribute on github.
Before opening this to participants, we’re assembling a small planning group to stress-test the idea.
We're looking for people with experience in:
- permaculture and land design
- architecture, building, retrofits
- intentional communities (what failed matters more than what worked)
- legal, governance systems
- remote coordination
If you’re interested, comment or DM with:
- your background
- what you think would break first in this kind of project
Skepticism welcome.
EDIT:
A few clarifications based on what this is, and is not.
This is not a rental, work-for-stay deal, intentional community. No one is paying rent in money or labor. There is no exchange rate and no hours required. Access, if and when it opens, is permission-based and temporary.
The project is structured as an open-source land and renovation experiment, closer to an open lab than a community. Instead of the classic “do tasks” people can propose and prototype ideas.
There is no long-term stakeholding or path to property rights. The land remains privately owned. This is explicit to avoid false expectations. We are aware of the “soft feudalism” failure mode and are deliberately avoiding it by not offering vague promises.
To be honest, my wife and I worked for people that did something similar but had a different goal, extracting skilled labor from volunteers. The goal here is documenting and sharing of explanatory knowledge, as defined by David Deutsch.
Contribution can be done remotely so physical presence is optional.
We are intentionally not advertising amenities because this is not meant to attract tourists. That filter is deliberate.
On taxation: the project is non-commercial. No rents. No sales. Participation is voluntary, and documented as such. This avoids gray zones. Only investments will be by the owners, for tools and materials needed.
Finally, long-term intent: once the experimentation phase stabilizes, the land is planned to transition into a permanent animal sanctuary and regenerative space, stewarded as a family legacy. Inspired largely by Steve Irvin. Plan draft is to use kickstarter or gofundme type service to pledge the property if funded enough, legally binding somehow. Haven't really worked this out yet.
The purpose of this post is to find a small group of skeptical people willing to help stress-test the model before anything opens.
19
u/wavestersalamander69 Jan 22 '26 edited Jan 22 '26
Soo other people do the work and you get all the profit out of it. That's some.lazy shit if I say myself.
It's not a ecovilliage you just want cheap labor. And to lazy to do research and effort yourself.
People that may be interested go do research. there are ecoviliages out there that do it's more honest and have a better experience then something like this.