Welcome to The Phoenix Project

NEWS:Phoenix Seed Swap Day 01/04/08

For more information and a list of seeds available click here.

Phoenix is a project in learning to become self-sustainable.

It may be unique in how it is doing that, the population is not fixed and changes very frequently, there is no 'masterplan' or formal structure, no directing faith, religion or philosophy. It's a collective and personal discovery.

What it is:

a 'revolving community', people come and go (by arrangement)
somewhere to learn, practice and experiment
open to anyone
largely self-organising
a place to encounter all sorts of interesting people and ideas
a lot of fun most of the time

What it is not:

a fixed community
a holiday camp
a boot camp
a formal course, though who knows, someday we might run some courses
luxurious
a TV reality show

There are many things that Phoenix might be...
but that will be up to circumstance and those who participate.

How did it start?

As an experiment, see History

Why does it exist?

Some think humanity will be encountering serious problems soonish (economic, resource depletion, climate), see Threats (link). If so then how would we do? Phoenix is attempting to find out. Too many people know little about the infrastructure that keeps them alive and even less about how to provide their own food, water, sanitation, accommodation, heat, electricity, transport, fuel... At Phoenix you can learn about and participate in doing these things, see Projects (link)

Can I be involved?

Yes, please join in. It would be great if you can visit and perhaps stay sometime but there's plenty you can help with online, too. See Online Involvement (link), Visiting (link), Discussion forums (link)

But...

I have 5 children / have a baby / am 93 you know / am disabled / have leprosy...
It's not stopped anyone yet. I think our age range is 2 to 68 so far, children love it and we enjoy them being there.
No buts so far.

Can I just drop in for an hour or so?

Yes, visitors are welcome, nice to know you're coming in advance, keep reading...

I'm 'press', am I still welcome?

Yes, but... LOL. Advance arrangement is definitely a good idea, there may be good and bad times to visit
(bad = no one who will talk to you, too busy, etc).

Where is it?

In Scotland, near Culbokie on the 'Black Isle' - which is a peninsula
rather than an island - about 15 miles north east of Inverness,
see Location and Travel.

I'm just curious / you're funny - can I just watch?

Yes, of course, but you'll probably have more fun if you get involved.
We hope to have a blog and Discussion Forums (link) running here soon.

What about money?

Well, we are not free of money yet, it's surprisingly difficult to totally avoid money in the present world. Can't produce all the food we need, still use some external services, need to buy some seed to grow plants, things to build with, beer money (there's a nice pub up the road and we do brew our own), insurance... Currently we charge £3 (approximately 5 Euro, $6) per night for adult visitors and we do need a reserve for projects we plan to do. You can help us by Donating (link), or paying for Articles and Research (link) by us for you.