OASA - Open Autonomic Settlement Association

= "a land trust that acquires or receives land and places it into a protected commons for regenerative projects".

URL = https://oasa.earth/

Description

Samuel Delesque:

"OASA (which stands for the Open Autonomic Settlement Association) is our attempt to build an operating system for a regenerative civilization – one village, one forest, one watershed at a time. It is not a theoretical framework; it is a functioning organization and network of projects, born from the very urgent need to transition actual pieces of land from extractive ownership to commons-based stewardship. I often describe OASA as a bridge between two worlds: the world of impact investors, blockchain and legal hacks on one side, and the world of permaculture, land trusts and bioregionalism on the other. We use novel tools (like tokens and DAOs) but we ground them in age-old principles of ecology and community.

At its core, OASA is a land trust that acquires or receives land (through purchase, lease, or donation) and places it into a protected commons for regenerative projects. Unlike traditional land trusts that might focus on wilderness conservation, OASA's focus is on human-inhabited regenerative settlements – what some call "ecovillages" or "regenerative villages." The twist is that we use blockchain-based tokens to represent membership and usage rights in these projects, which allows us to raise capital in a innovative way and manage access/governance transparently. Importantly, these tokens are non-speculative by design. The OASA constitution explicitly forbids treating them as profit-seeking instruments: "Tokens provide usage rights (nights, harvest shares, votes) and do not promise financial returns… They are not redeemable for currency."[48]. We further ensure this by using a bonding curve issuance model, where the token price increases algorithmically as more tokens are issued (reflecting the project's carrying capacity) and tokens cannot be sold back to the issuer[49]. This means early buyers can't just flip tokens for profit; the only way to exit is to sell to someone who wants to use the project (once a certain phase is reached) – thus the token's value is always tied to its use-value (e.g. the right to stay in the village or partake in its yields) rather than some speculative frenzy[50]. In short, we have engineered the system so that it's attractive to stakeholder-investors (people who care about the project and want to use it) but not attractive to speculators looking for quick gains."

(https://oasa.earth/papers/from-commons-to-commodities-and-back-regenerative-commons-manifesto/)

Funding

Catalytic Capital

Samuel Delesque:

"Aside from tokens, OASA welcomes philanthropic and impact investment as what we call Catalytic Capital. As stated in our charter, "OASA encourages philanthropic and impact investors to provide early-stage funding for land acquisition and regeneration… This capital is non-speculative; returns are measured in ecological health, community resilience, and the long-term stability of use-value tokens."[57]. In practical terms, this might mean an impact fund gives a 0% interest loan or a recoverable grant to buy a piece of land, with the understanding that as the project issues tokens, part of that revenue will pay back the fund. But again, the payback is tied to actual people joining and using the land (not rent extraction)."

(https://oasa.earth/papers/from-commons-to-commodities-and-back-regenerative-commons-manifesto/)

Transition Dividend

Samuel Delesque:

"We are exploring a mechanism called a Transition Dividend: early capital that enabled the project can be gradually reimbursed from operational surpluses once the community is up and running. This is similar to how community land trusts sometimes operate – early donors can be repaid if/when the project achieves financial sustainability, but without any compounding interest. The whole idea is to front-load the generosity (from impact investors) and allow the community to buy its own freedom over time. At scale, as more regenerative villages replicate, one could imagine a cycle of generosity: today's beneficiaries become tomorrow's benefactors for new projects, passing forward the gift."

(https://oasa.earth/papers/from-commons-to-commodities-and-back-regenerative-commons-manifesto/)

Example

The Traditional Dream Factory

Samuel Delesque:

"The Traditional Dream Factory ($TDF) token is our first real-world demonstration of this model. 1 $TDF token is pegged to 1 night's stay per year forever in the TDF village, for one person[51]. Token holders become "citizens" of the village, with governance rights and the ability to book stays in various accommodations (from camping spots to future eco-homes). The initial token sale – done via a bonding curve – provided the capital to purchase the land and start infrastructure building[52]. In essence, early supporters paid upfront for nights they will enjoy over many years, and their money was used to finance the regenerative development. This is a transition finance mechanism: the land and project are funded not by extracting resources (e.g. cutting timber to sell) nor by taking out traditional loans (which would require repayments with interest), but by preselling future regenerative use of the place. It's akin to a community-supported agriculture model, but for living and housing rights. As the village gets built and reaches its capacity (in TDF's case, ~75 residents/guests at a time, equating to 18,600 token-nights per year[53]), the token supply will be fully distributed. At that point – the "Go-Live" moment – tokens become transferable between individuals[54]. This allows newcomers who want to join in later to purchase tokens from earlier holders. Early backers who perhaps can no longer participate can exit by selling their tokens (at a value likely higher than they bought, reflecting the matured project's value, but again, that value is capped by the use rights). In this way, early risk-takers are repaid by future inhabitants, but in a controlled, mission-aligned way that doesn't compromise the community or invite speculators. All the while, the land remains in OASA's non-profit trust ownership, protected by legal covenants against sale or unsustainable use.

To date, TDF has over 280 token holders sharing a 25-hectare site[55], and the model has proven viable: we raised over €1 million which has financed reforestation, water systems, and the construction of communal infrastructure. These token holders are not absentee investors; they are actively engaged. Many have come to the land to plant trees, build soil, and celebrate at our annual gatherings. They have a collective governance process (facilitated through a DAO) to decide on budgets, elect local stewards, and approve any major changes. But here's the beauty: because the Guardians of Nature (mentioned earlier) hold veto power on ecological matters[32][36], even the token-holders' assembly cannot override the regenerative Principles. In combination, this ensures that financial contributors cannot skew decisions toward profit at the expense of ecology – a common failure mode in co-ops or HOA's. We've essentially separated use rights from governance rights: you gain governance by actually spending time on the land and contributing ("proof of presence"), not by simply holding more tokens[56]. This prevents wealthy individuals from buying up tokens to dominate votes – another guardrail against speculation."

(https://oasa.earth/papers/from-commons-to-commodities-and-back-regenerative-commons-manifesto/)

More information

* Article: From Commons to Commodities and Back: A Regenerative Commons Manifesto. Samuel Delesque. Oasa, December 27, 2025

URL = https://oasa.earth/papers/from-commons-to-commodities-and-back-regenerative-commons-manifesto/

"For centuries, Western techno-civilization has treated land and nature as objects apart – resources to extract, commodities to trade. This worldview built dazzling cities and innovations, yet it also left scars: forests felled, soils exhausted, species extinguished. Now, in an era of climate crisis and mass extinction, humanity is being forced to reconsider its relationship with nature. A new paradigm is emerging, one that marries ecological wisdom with human inventiveness, aiming to cultivate a future where we thrive because of nature, not in spite of it[1]. This manifesto-meets-thesis is a call to action and an intellectual journey, framed in the personal voice of a steward as much as a founder. It charts the path from an extractive past toward a regenerative future of commons-based stewardship. It is at once a philosophical reflection, an academic exploration, and a visionary outline of the work we undertake at OASA – an emergent protocol for land in commons."