Membership FAQ

From EcoReality

This is an interpretive work.

The information on this page is interpreted from EcoReality's official bylaws, as filed with our incorporation as a British Columbia Cooperative Association, or from agreements we have formally made by consensus among ourselves, as recorded in meeting minutes.

In case of a conflict, the official bylaws and/or meeting minutes take precedence.

Authors who provide interpretive works should include {{disclaimer}} at the top, and strive to include links to the appropriate bylaw or meeting minutes.

What criteria determine membership in EcoReality?
Answer: Above all else, the person(s) seeking membership will need to demonstrate shared Values with the existing membership of the cooperative. As part of the Application procedure, a prospective member will be required to sign all existing ratified values, vision and mission documents of EcoReality. EcoReality has agreed to re-visit, and perhaps to revise, its Values periodically. In order to avoid confusion or dilution of this principally important document, this will occur only when the membership determines that there has been a significant lapse of time, change in membership, and/or other significant change to the cooperative association.
What will it cost me to be a member of EcoReality?
Answer: The minimum cost per adult member is a single member share (cost: $1000CDN) and per household an additional approximately 100,000 Class A Investment Shares (cost: $100,000CDN) are required for the cost of bare land and some common infrastructure. Additional funds will be required for building, or for rights to use existing buildings. At this time, we are seeking members who can also contribute beyond this amount in Investment Shares if possible to help EcoReality pay the loan for purchase of the new property.
- In the near future, once the loan is paid, EcoReality will be in a position to accept prospective members who require financing to help them to purchase the full Investment Share amount, yet who might possibly take an internal loan from EcoReality.
How do I apply for membership?
Answer: First, it is important to meet the existing members of EcoReality and to determine if it might be a "fit" for you. If possible, this is best done in person at one of our monthly Meetings. Secondly, go to Application procedure and copy the questions from that page into a new document on your computer. Take your time to fill in all sections of the application, and please ask any current member if you need to seek clarification or wish to see an example application filled out by an existing member. Some of the questions require that you sign our existing ratified agreements about Values and Vision etc. Please do this carefully, and we welcome conversation to bring this alive for you. Other questions require you to fill out personality tests online, and copy and paste your results into your Application procedure document. The purpose of this portion of the application is to help all members and prospective members get to know one another a bit better, and to help us become aware of patterns and tendencies and working styles that we each may have. The last section asks for personal information, it is up to you to decide how to answer.
What happens after I submit my Application procedure?
Answer: The application will be circulated to the existing members of EcoReality. Then, one or more existing members will arrange to meet face to face with you to discuss your answers. While we are very committed to welcoming diversity of all forms in our membership, the existing members reserve the right to make the final judgment about who may qualify as prospective members. This is an important step for EcoReality. It is the stage where we have determined we want to discover any "red flags" that might suggest your membership is not in the best interests of the EcoReality Co-op based on our shared Values, Vision and Mission, or if there seems to be some aspect/reality that you bring that is not likely to work in our community, such as a particular need for housing or business that is not workable given EcoReality's development process.
What happens after my Application procedure is accepted?
Answer: Once your application is accepted and you pay for one member share ($1,000), you shall become a Provisional member and for a period of six months you enter into an "engagement" process with the EcoReality community. This time allows for all parties to explore areas of strength and areas that might need attention in terms of relationship between individuals, and between the provisional member and the community as a whole.
Where will I live?
Answer: This is not a straightforward answer. EcoReality is in a process of land use planning that involves other parties and takes an indeterminate amount of time. The current housing situation on site is subject to fluctuation depending on the commitment of rooms to part time residents (provisional members who do not yet reside permanently on site), the need/ability for full time residents to rent out rooms, and other factors related to the subdivision of land and re-zoning process. Please send us your questions and suggestion about your living space needs.
I'm interested in participating without applying for Membership just yet. What can I do?
Answer:
- The first step is to sign up on the Advisory Council to receive monthly newsletters and have access to our Wiki website where you can add comments and edit pages to get to know our values and policies as they change over time. EcoReality uses this website as the place where its Members, Advisors, and the public have access, all the time, to the ever-evolving agreements, ideas and history of the community. We highly recommend that you spend time to learn your way around this site, and please ask questions and/or seek a tutorial if you need help to understand how to interact with this medium in order to access the information contained herein.
- The next step is to attend a monthly Members meeting as an observer. Ask lots of questions! If you intend to participate, EcoReality welcomes your participation, and it is most effective to discuss with existing member(s) to determine how your skills and time might best match what EcoReality needs. EcoReality recognizes that its needs change sometimes daily, and that the situation for each interested potential member is unique depending on ability to participate in person/from a distance, time and existing skills. Some examples include: coming to volunteer at a work party, doing research/outreach from a distance, offering a workshop at EcoReality, etc.