Introduction to Tamera

Learn about the core areas of our research and what keeps us together, while experiencing community and learning how we build trust as the foundation for community.

Overview

We’ll introduce you to the Healing Biotopes Plan, as well as some of our community leaders and members. You’ll hear about our history and our main research areas, as we explore together the different places and areas of our community– from the stone circle to our Water Retention Landscape, the Children’s Place to the Solar Test Field.

You’ll get a taste of how we build trust and intimacy in a group, with social technologies like sharing circles, Council and/or Forum.

Introduction week with focus on love and sexuality

This program, led by our Love School team, will be offered from August 26 to September 1. In addition to our regular introductory program, we will delve into key questions related to the healing of love:

• What makes love last?
• What conditions are needed for people to live with an open heart?
• How is healing in sexuality and love related to peace work?

LGBTQ+ introduction week

Led by a queer team, from June 9-15, this week is for people identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and nonbinary, and cisgender and heterosexual allies. As well as the regular program, it includes:

• Creating a safe space to get to know each other and build community
• Listening to each other’s stories, questions and experiences
• Sharing with the Tamera community

Gift Economy Experiment

As a step toward a more relational, trust-based economic paradigm, the Introduction Week in April 21-27 will be a gift economy experiment. We won’t charge you for room and board, nor a seminar fee. Instead, toward the end of this seminar, we’ll invite you to assess your experience and decide on a financial contribution that reflects both your financial capacity and the value you’ve found in this seminar.

Otherwise this Introduction Week won’t be different from other courses. It is not a full seminar about gift economy, but through the experiment we will touch on it throughout the course.

Who is the course for?

• Community curious people
• Prospective community founders
• Community researchers
• Peace workers
• Group leaders and facilitators

What you’ll learn

• Our vision: “Healing Biotopes” as catalysts for system change towards a regenerative peace culture
• Our key research and  learnings: what keeps a community together – what creates trust and healing in sexuality and love, how children can grow up in trust, on a communal economy, and a culture of spirituality, art and healing
• Our long history: the keys to our longevity and our  evolution over the last 45 years
• Our current questions and challenges: like  intergenerational dynamics, decision-making etc
• Our political impact: how we’re working for peace and system change in the world
• Our relation with the more-than-human world: restoring water cycles and ecosystems, communication with plants, animals and elements and work towards regenerative autonomy

“This is an emerging Healing Biotope where we work to reconnect and restore the wholeness of life. Courses are focused on topics, but all of our research exists in an interconnected web, so your learning will likely expand on other areas.

As a learner, you can join our morning offers, which can include things like Yoga and Qi Gong. You’ll also be able to join in whole community events, like our Sunday matinee, the Ring of Power and Political Cafes.”

Course content

• Presentations and Q&A sessions with different leaders from the community on:
  • Project history
  • Healing Biotopes
  • Community building
  • Love and sexuality
  • Raising free children
  • Communal economy
  • Ecological regeneration
• Guided tours, e.g.:
  • Stone Circle
  • Children’s Place
  • Water Retention Landscape
• Sharing circles, Council and/or other trust-building group practices
• Creative and spiritual exercises

Teachers

Introduction weeks are held by three to four members of our community. We’ll let you know closer to the time who your teachers will be.

Testimonials

“I did this course some years ago, and am still in touch with some of my fellow students. Even in such a short time, we developed a deep sense of connection in the container of community that Tamera provided.”
– Anke

“My expectation for Tamera’s intro week was to get a glimpse of the community’s essence, values, and daily practices. The experience exceeded my expectations. I felt consistently safe, held, and supported. The week left my senses, thoughts, and ideas continuously stimulated, offering profound food for thought that lingered months after. A few months later, I participated in the community course, and having completed the intro week proved invaluable. It served as a solid foundation, allowing me to fully engage in the transformative experience of the course. Despite its intensity, I left with a heart full of gratitude. Thank you for the wonderful and enriching experience.”
– Rossana

“The intro week was so transformative for me I could hardly wait to come back a second time to try to understand what had happened! Tamera is very special.”
– Anouchka