Economy
Many ecovillages or communities have failed due to poor economic organization, sometimes following extremely utopian or imprudent ideas.
In fact, many projects immediately focus on agriculture and renewable energies, ignoring the fact that the costs to achieve these objectives are very high. The time needed to bring the land to an optimal harvest is very long and the required work is underestimated, often coming from office jobs or sedentary lifestyle, deficient in physical prowess and experience.
The aim of the project is to touch on every ethical objective but only after having already created a solid foundation on which to build such profound ideologies.
Furthermore, one of our most important objectives is to allow everyone to fill the desired role in order to promote the passion and meticulousness of the worker.
Resident's savings
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Crowdfunding and other donations
European funding
With crowdfunding sites we are carrying out an advertising campaign in search of the funds necessary for the realization of the project and the livelihood of the start-up.
As far as European funding is concerned, however, we already have a group of experts who are dedicating themselves to presenting the requests.
Assuming that not all residents have sums to invest and since there is a great need for balance on the part of each member, the money invested by everyone will be repaid by a percentage of the proceeds of the village itself as soon as the first revenues arrive.
STARTING CAPITAL
Initial capital has three sources:
Arcadia is a holistic village: many of the professionals who reside there are holistic operators, yoga teachers, martial arts and masters of other disciplines, all with many years of experience. They represent both a social sustenance for the entire community based on inner balance and harmony and an important slice of income for the Arcadia economy.​
These experts of various disciplines hold individual and group lessons, courses, conferences and seminars and fill the site with curious people and practitioners.
Although there is a doctor of general medicine within the village, he only deals with the well-being of the residents and the occasional prompt intervention of visitors.
The village will be inhabited almost exclusively by "active" residents, i.e. those who are able to carry out tasks, but we have decided to give the possibility also to a category that is often overlooked. Those who belong to the elderly, who do not need special care and feel in line with the project will be able to be part of this community using the scheme already implemented by the rest homes, by depositing the monthly annuity entirely in the coffers of the village. This category will receive daily home assistance from the village doctor and support from all residents both in social life and in food and drug purchases. Those who take advantage of this opportunity are considered working units and will receive a participation contribution from the village like any other member.
When it comes to ecovillages or communities, most of the proceeds generally come from the sale of products grown within the community itself. This is ethically correct on the one hand, on the other it becomes difficult to sustain since by subtracting the daily needs of the community there are few products left to sell in the markets and to increase the proceeds more manpower and greater effort in the fields is needed. Furthermore, having a single form of income is highly risky as unexpected environmental changes can ruin the crop.​
We therefore believe it is correct to have multiple sources of income to support a community project.
The Arcadia Project will have different forms of income that will largely support the foundation of the community.
FINANCIAL SELF-SUFFICIENCY
It is possible to access the village through different ways: being residents or being part of the community permanently; obtaining an invitation as special guests (for conferences, seminars etc.); being hired for structural work inside the village; being occasional visitors, or by purchasing a daily entrance ticket and using the services only for twelve hours from the check-in date; booking a holiday from three to thirty days and thus obtaining the title of temporary resident.
​Of the aforementioned categories, only the temporary resident and the occasional visitor will contribute to replenish the coffers of the village through the entrance ticket, the participation in the holistic activities and the use of catering services.
​Inside the village there is a market and handicraft area where all visitors can buy local products.
​In the center of the village there is a restaurant and a cafeteria which, using only high quality food products, contribute at the same time to the daily needs of visitors and residents and to the economy of the project.
Prominent personalities from around the world are invited from time to time, representing various holistic disciplines or village ethic topics and lectures or workshops will be organized.
Each resident of the village is required to help the other vacationers without compensation. The only compensation will be that of having helped another villager to solve a problem and find serenity again. It follows that every inhabitant can make free use of every service that the village offers.
INTERNAL ECONOMY
DIVISION OF PROFITS
We believe that everyone has the right to decide how their money is spent; for this reason we have studied an innovative method of sharing profits which will allow everyone to enjoy the same income and never worry about reaching the end of the month without money. To know the details of this innovative method you need to be part of the community.
One of the basic principles of this project is to convey an ideological vision to its members and to those who will visit the village temporarily. Our vision is that of a world where there is no money or material exchange. A world of equality, of freedom where work serves exclusively the well-being of every other individual and the harmony of the village itself.
Inside the Arcadia village there is no economic exchange between the residents and the sense of ownership is limited to household appliances and personal textile goods. The furniture and any other object not belonging to this category will be the property of the village.
The villas will have temporary ownership limited to the use of each individual who lives there for a specific period of time. In this way we preserve privacy while eliminating the sense of possession. The absence of property needs not to be feared as no resident will be forced to leave a home for another unless the family unit changes drastically. In this case, a larger or smaller house may be necessary, giving one's own to those who are in line with those dimensions. This concept is very important since respect for life is achieved by reducing attachment to material goods and the resulting equality.