The Design Commons
A shared, slow-burning space to design the village of the future.
Inspired by how programmers around the world collaborate to build free software — we asked: why not apply the same approach to designing the One Planet Agrahood?
time to collaborate
The OPA Design Commons
The OPA Design Commons is a collaborative project for bringing together practical experience, experiments, and ideas to design a new model of human settlement. The first OPA design is rooted in the Willamette Valley bioregion and is intended to become a living laboratory for exploring how housing, food, water, energy, land stewardship, and community life can meet basic human needs within ecological limits and with little or no reliance on petroleum. By combining the knowledge of many people, the Commons aims to create a practical blueprint that can be tested, refined, and brought to life.
If you’re a grower, builder, maker, citizen scientist, permaculture practitioner, researcher, community organizer, ecological practitioner, or hands-on experimenter, we invite you to bring your knowledge, experience, and curiosity to the challenge of figuring out how the OPA could actually work.
Common questions
Things people often ask
How is the OPA Design Commons hosted?
The OPA Design Commons is hosted on Discourse, an open-source online community platform designed for thoughtful, organized discussion. It gives participants a simple place to share ideas, ask questions, post photos and resources, respond to one another, and develop concepts over time. We use Discourse as the meeting place for the Commons—the technology simply provides the structure while the knowledge and direction come from the people who participate.
I'm not tech savvy and I feel intimidated by the learning curve. What should I do?
You're far from alone. Discourse is designed to be one of the gentler online tools — like email threads with structure. We'll point you to short walkthroughs and offer one-on-one orientation calls when needed. If you can write an email, you can contribute to the commons.
What is the long-term vision of the OPA Design Commons?
Over time, the commons becomes a living blueprint — an open, well-documented set of patterns, designs, and lessons that any community could draw on to build a One Planet Agrahood in their own bioregion. Think of it as the village equivalent of an open-source operating system.
How to join
Joining the Online Design Commons
People express interest in becoming an online commoner by filling out a short questionnaire. We are looking for individuals who bring meaningful knowledge gained through hands-on experience with regenerative and sustainable practices — people who have developed insight through consistent observation of natural processes, whether in social or physical landscapes.
Designing a complete village system requires many different skill sets. In the application form, you’ll be asked to identify which part of the project resonates most with you. Our team will reach out to make a personal connection, either online or in person.
All participants agree to a set of shared agreements that help maintain a healthy and productive community.