FAQ
What does joining this cooperative mean?
In general, joining Copia is about becoming part of a community dedicated to creating a more equitable and regenerative economy. At a minimum, it involves joining our Discord server, which serves as our digital co-op hub. From there, members can engage as much or as little as they like, from simply staying informed to actively collaborating on projects, at some point there will be an opportunity to become a capital M Member should people choose to formalize things but we're not there yet. Would you like to join our Discord?
What kind of participation, collaboration, are you looking for?
In terms of what we're looking for, it's multi-faceted. We're always seeking mission-aligned individuals to join our movement – whether as advisors, collaborators, evangelists, or simply passionate supporters. We're also building a network of subject-matter experts to help guide the technical aspects of transitioning to a regenerative economy. Are you interested in having work in your specialty referred to you?
Of course, as a young co-op, we're also seeking values-aligned clients and partners to help sustain and grow our initiatives. Our services span from ecological restoration and regenerative real estate to sustainability consulting and product development. Do you know of anyone who might benefit from our services?
While our focus is currently US-based, we absolutely see the value in global collaboration, especially with those working in key institutions. If there was one person in your network you think we would benefit from talking to who might that be?
How much does it cost to join?
Currently there is no cost to join. In this early stage joining just means joining our Discord server which is our virtual hub for the project. In the future there may be a cost to join the co-op just like REI charges an initial Membership fee. Unlike REI the way we would most likely do it would be that Membership fee would go into your capital account and you could recover it should you ever decide to leave the co-op.
Copia’s goals are laudable, however seem very high level. What concretely would you build or produce?
At Copia, we are actively working on several tangible projects that embody our commitment to regenerative practices and cooperative economics. One of our primary focus areas is regenerative agriculture. We have invested in Landscape Function Management (LFM), a subsidiary of Perennial Pastures Ranch, a local San Diego enterprise. While not a cooperative itself, LFM is currently developing regenerative agriculture practices, such as silvopasture and rotational grazing, on over 16,000 acres of land. This project demonstrates our dedication to promoting sustainable land management and growing nutrient-dense, organic food.
In the renewable energy sector, we have completed the conceptual design for a photovoltaic and battery energy storage facility in San Diego. Although we have not yet secured site control or progressed beyond the conceptual stage, this design showcases our commitment to developing community-owned clean energy projects.
We also have plans to create affordable, sustainable housing through a cooperative housing group that would focus on building green homes using natural and earthen materials, as well as exploring co-housing models. While this project is still in the planning stages, it reflects our aspirations to provide accessible, eco-friendly housing solutions.
Additionally, we are keenly interested in developing circular economy products and establishing a regenerative finance institution. While these initiatives are not yet active, they remain an important part of our long-term vision for fostering a more sustainable and equitable economy.
As Copia continues to grow and evolve, we remain committed to translating our high-level goals into concrete actions. By focusing on agriculture, renewable energy, manufacturing, and housing, we aim to create tangible examples of regenerative, cooperative systems in action.
What’s Copia’s mission and vision?
Check out our purpose, mission, vision, and values here! https://copia.life/mission
What is Copia’s business model
Renewable Energy: We’re exploring the possibility of developing renewable energy projects (e.g., solar or wind) and either selling them off after achieving key milestones like securing a notice to proceed or operating them ourselves through power purchase agreements (PPAs). This approach would help us create long-term, stable revenue streams while contributing to the clean energy transition.
Housing: Our vision is to decommodify housing by establishing housing cooperatives where the residents themselves are co-owners. These co-ops would generate revenue through affordable monthly rents from residents while removing housing from the speculative market to ensure long-term affordability.
Manufacturing: We aim to develop local manufacturing operations that could produce and sell essential goods. We’re interested in leveraging open-source technologies and innovations like automation, robotics, and AI to lower production costs and create regenerative, local supply chains.
Can you describe the market opportunity?
Renewable Energy: The renewable energy sector is rapidly growing, driven by falling costs of technologies like solar and wind, and boosted by federal and state incentives. Community-owned energy projects also have the potential to empower local economies and create socio-economic value by fostering local job creation and energy literacy. This aligns well with the growth in demand for decentralized energy solutions (https://www.cooperative.com/remagazine/articles/Pages/technology-tends-how-electric-co-ops-will-change-next-25-years.aspx)
Housing: Affordable housing remains a critical issue. Cooperatives offer a unique opportunity to address this by aligning incentives with residents and ensuring housing remains affordable in the long run. Given the continued housing crisis, particularly in urban areas, there’s strong demand for non-speculative, community-owned housing models
Manufacturing: The resurgence of local manufacturing is expected to be a major trend in the next decade, particularly as renewable energy systems and supply chains are increasingly localized. The use of open-source and automation technologies could help lower the cost of production for essential goods, addressing poverty while fostering economic resilience.
What is the current status of the project?
We’re still in the early stages, exploring which sector (renewable energy, housing, or manufacturing) will provide the best market entry point. We’ve recently signed a partnership with Green Street Global to offer cost-saving energy efficiency solutions with no upfront costs to clients, which is opening up new opportunities for us.
What are the current next steps and needs of the project?
Right now, we’re seeking strategic partnerships and market insights to help us refine our direction. We’re also looking for introductions to potential collaborators and clients in the renewable energy, housing, or manufacturing sectors.
What’s the number 1 thing I can do to make a difference in the world?
Call your elected officials. Or better yet go to their office and talk with them or a staffer. Or even better, get a group of your friends to go with you and be like “hey elected official, we got some stuff we want you to do!”. Or even better do that and also take kids and video journalists and share it with others. Demand that they support legislation for ecosystem accounting and allocate funding to setup/outfit stakeholder cooperatives*
The next best thing would be to join this co-op ;)
*Technically this is just our opinion of the number 1 biggest individual impact but scientific studies seem to say the winner is having fewer children, which blows every other individual action out of the water (although I’ve never seen a study that looked at policy advocacy as one of the options). If you couple this with adoption none of the standard things like going vegan or biking to work can come close as far as individual impact, even combined they aren’t close. On the other hand, we tend ti think it is morally bankrupt to put the impetus on the individual to do any of these things, we are largely not the ones to blame. If we don’t band together to shift the rules of the entire game, human civilization as we know it is doomed, it seems to be as simple as that. Recycling is garbage. Vegan food produced at industrial scale still kills unimaginable numbers of creatures, and is not that much less horrible for the planet overall than industrial animal agriculture. Electric cars have metals mined by child slaves. Solar is not clean energy it is just clean-er. None of these things will be sufficient to avoid systemic ecological collapse without widespread system change and a significant shift in our value system.
Any other questions?
Let us know and we’ll work to answer it here!