With Ivan Sellers, Terra Agora foundation, 2 April 2026
Summary
This session explored a fundamental shift in how we relate to land and assets: moving from the traditional model of “ownership” (focused on individual control and extraction) to “guardianship” (focused on collective responsibility, ecological health, and intergenerational legacy).
Key Learnings
- The Concept of “Wu Wei” (Doing Without Doing): A willingness to surrender—making oneself available so that the universe can work through you, rather than trying to force outcomes through sheer will.
- The Limitations of Ownership: Ownership is inherently temporary and often leads to the degradation of common goods (like clean water and soil). Guardianship, by contrast, is a perpetual commitment to the health of a system.
- The “Strategic Asset” Model: Through the Terra Agora foundation, land is taken out of the market and held in perpetuity. It can never be sold, ensuring it remains a resource for the community rather than a speculative asset.
- Five Forms of Capital: True value is measured across multiple dimensions, not just financial:
1. Natural Capital: Biodiversity, water retention, and soil fertility.
2. Social Capital: Networks of trust and community relationships.
3. Human Capital: The skills and training of the individuals involved.
4. Cultural Capital: Traditions, heritage, and local knowledge.
5. Economic Capital: Sustainable financial models that support the other four capitals.
- The 20-Year Horizon: Meaningful systemic change and ecological restoration require long-term thinking. Significant impact often takes 20+ years to manifest, requiring a “handover” mindset between generations.
Key Actions
- Identify Your Guardianship Roles: Reflect on where you already act as a guardian (e.g., as a parent or a mentor) and explore how that mindset can be applied to your work or community.
- Separate Use from Ownership: Explore legal structures (like “surface rights” or long-term leases) that allow people to steward and live on land without needing to personally “own” the underlying asset.
- Engage in Inner Work: Recognize that external guardianship requires internal “weeding.” Address personal fears around security and control to make space for radical trust and collaboration.
- Foster Collective Governance: Avoid single-person decision-making. In the Terra Agora model, a “guardian” is always a collective of at least three people to ensure balanced perspectives and continuity.
- Communicate Value Beyond Wealth: Start measuring the success of projects by the health of the pollinators, the strength of the social fabric, and the growth of local wisdom, rather than just ROI.
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References
Reading
- Pablo d’Ors: ‘Biography of Silence (referenced for the concept of surrender).
Foundations & Organizations:
- Terra Agora: A Portuguese foundation for land guardianship.
- Edith Maryon Foundation (Switzerland): model for removing land from the market.
- Triebes Foundation (Germany): model for perpetual land protection.
- Commonland: the “4 Returns” framework for landscape restoration.
Concepts:
- Surface Rights (Direito de Superfície): The legal mechanism used in Portugal to grant perpetual use of land.
- Distributed Autonomous Organizations (DAOs): potential future technology for commons-based governance.
- Ostrom’s Principles: Elinor Ostrom on governing the commons.
Knowledge Base Categories: 1) Regeneration and Universal Wellbeing 2) Decolonialisation, Equity & Inclusion
