The International Permaculture Community (IPC)
Living Questionnaire
Print or fill on-line or 'save as' copy, fill and email it back to us at your convenience!

The goal of this questionnaire is too engage prospective long term visitors and future participants of the IPC to concretely think about their needs, their boundaries, their desires and how they would fit in to our community.

We take all applicants seriously and applications will be dealt with in a professional confidential manner and the information here-in will not be used for any other purpose other than the application process. We are open to the diverse needs that future participants may have and would like to find ways of accomadating them, be it financial obligations, physical and mental health conditions, age, parenthood, etc.).

If you are filling out this questionnaire, please take your time, have fun and be truthful with yourself. If you can't decide on an answer skip the question and come back to it before submitting the form. A participant of the IPC will get back to you shortly confirming we have received the application. Please give us up to two weeks to process it before contacting us again. Thank you.


Contact Information
Given name(s):         

Family name(s):       

Gender:                      

What is your age?  10-17     18-22     23-30     31-45     45-60     61+   


E-mail:                                                         Telephone:              



Mailing Address:               City:     

Province or State:              Country:            Postal or Zip Code:      
Other contact information you wish to supply us:

IPC Questions
1. What does living ecologically mean to you?
    
2. Where did you hear about the IPC and why are you interested in our community? Please explain in as much detail as possible.
    
3. What are the "universal principles & philosophies" that you live your life by?
    
4. Do you have any spiritual practices and explain about your spiritual outlook (if any)?
    
5. If you could go back in time to live amongst other peoples, when and where would you choose and why?
    
6. What do you envision the world to be like 100 years into the future?
    
7. What would an ideal future look like to you?
    
8. What is your experience in visiting or living in the tropics?
    
9. The following might be some of the realities that participants will encounter while living in this community. Note this is a Panama specific question and not a chosen land specific question. Please rate your level of comfort from 1 to 10 (1 being not comfortable at all to 10 being giddy about the situation.) Note any additional information you would like to share about it.

Tolerance of Possible Situation 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Tropical climate - hot temperatures year round,
rainy seasons and some dry seasons:
Two hour distance by vehicle to a large city center:
Dirt roads, 1/2 hour from the ocean
Mountainous terrain:
Communal off grid power system(s):
Very few neighbors near community:
Insects, snakes, scorpions:
The presence of animals (farm, pets, wild)::
The presence of weapons for hunting::
Participating in the sharing circle::
An international interfaith environment:
The presence of children::
Eventual 100 to 200 plus participants:
An activity rich environment with lots of shared
communal spaces:
Stewardship not ownership model:
900 square meters of stewarded private space
for each adult participant:
Non speculative transfer of participation and home:
Sharing the wealth & sharing the burden
(work cooperatives):

10. Please explain how much solitary time you are hoping for and what it means to you.
    
11. Please explain how much communal time you are hoping for and what it means to you.
    
12. What is a supportive community environment for you?
    
13. How many kids or dependents do you already have that would be staying with you and tell us a bit about them?
    
14. Are you interested in having children and if so how many?            
15. What kind of schooling options (or nonschooling options) work best for you and your child or children?
    
16. What kind of relationship do you want with the greater community (those living outside and around the community, the locals of the area)?
    
17. Are you willing to share a home with other people for a while and if so for how long?
     Yes       No       Other            Please explain in more detail below
    
18. Please mark the following options that interest you and then number the following in order of preference, with #1 being your first choice.
     Building your own home
     Hiring others to build your home
     Buying your home already constructed
19. What general styles of housing are you comfortable or desire living in?
    
20. Are there any other spaces, buildings or services that you want or require?
    
21. What things would you not want on the property, in the community and/or on your stewarded lot? Please specify. (example: electric lines, animals, etc...)
    
22. What is your relationship to having animals on the land such as pets, farming animals and the natural fauna?
    
23. Do you look after any animals? If so, which ones?
    


24. Do you have any food preferences?
    
25. Do you have allergies, intolerances or addictions? If so, which ones and how serious?
    
26. Do you use any drugs, alcohol or mind altering substances and what is your tolerance of such use by others? Please describe.
    
27. Do you have health conditions that could prevent you from doing certain kinds of work or that you feel the community should be aware of?
    
28. What is your approach to health and healing?
    
29. How easy or challenging is it for you to express your boundaries?
    
30. What is your comfort level with nudity?
    
31. What are your thoughts, concerns or beliefs regarding boundaries around sexuality in the community?
    
32. How do you deal with conflict?
    
33. How familiar are you with various methods of resolving conflicts?
    
34. What are some of your challenging patterns and how do you you deal with them?
    
35. What does activism mean to you and how tolerant are you of people who consider themselves activists?
    
36. What type of decisions would you want to discuss and vote upon in the community? Mark as many as you wish
   Where common money be spent    Attitude problems between members
   Who the community purchases goods and services from    Which clothing we wear
   What color the walls should be painted    New projects taken on by members
   Requirements for new members    What we should eat
   Problems with outside neighbors    The direction of the community
37. Please describe any other types of decisions you feel are relevant to discuss and vote upon as a community and any other types you feel are trivial, not in the scope of the community nor to decide upon collectively.
    
38. If you were a part of a group that decides together on certain issues what would your idea of a fair majority be. Please indicate a percentage between 50 and 100.    
39. If at a community meeting it is brought up that one of the members was not doing their work hours (as already agreed upon) what would be your feelings and the decision you would likely take on what should be done?
    
40. Are you interested in:
     Working outside of the land/property to earn a living
     Working on the land/property to earn a living
     A mixture of both
     Other - please describe below
    
41. Describe a bit about your work style and ethics.
    
42. What is the most conducive work environment for you?
    
43. What are some of your strengths or gifts?
    
44. What do you consider to be your weaknesses?
    
45. Languages that you are comfortable...
Speaking :  
Writing :    
Reading :   
46. What are some of your passions, hobbies or interests?
    
47. List any skills / trades that you have that you feel could help our community thrive :
    


48. The following are broad areas of interests, activities, cooperative businesses or projects which you may be interested or not to participate or initiate. You can get more precise about your answer in the text space provided. If there is something you do not see here please add it too the following question.

Special Project Ideas Not
interested		 2 3 4 Willing to
participate		 6 7 8 9 Ready to
initiate
Animal Husbandry (Horses, Goats, Chickens etc...)
Organic Food Farming (Orchards, Food Forest, Vegetables etc...)
Insect Farming (Insectarium, Butterfly House, Beekeeping etc...)
Food Transformation (Fermentations, Oils, Baked Goods, Canning, etc.)
Gardens (Landscaping, Floral, Medicinal, Rock, Water, Playgrounds etc...)
Healing Arts (Breath & Body Work, Tantra, Yoga, Qi Gong, etc... & )
Health Services (Osteopath, Chiropractic, Reflexology, Dentistry, Sound Healing, Midwifery etc... )
Entertainment Arts (Music, Circus, Theater, Video, Obstacle Course etc...)
Communications (Radio, Web Design, Databases, Newsletters, Translations etc...)
Facilitating (Events, Workshops, Schooling Activities, Counseling etc..)
Administration Arts (Marketing, Accounting, Managers, etc..)
Maintenance & Construction (Repairs, Libraries(tools, books, games), Mechanics, Carpentry, Forging, etc...
Hospitality (Tours, Bed & Breakfast, Hostel, Camping, Restaurant, etc...)
Appropriate Technologies (Energy (eg. BioDigestors, Bicycle Powered Tools, Mini Hydro, Solar etc...) &
Equipment (eg. to make BioChar, Filters, Vehicles, Tools etc...), etc...)

49. For any other special projects in mind please describe them here...
    
50. What assets can you contribute to any of the aforementioned projects?
    
51. Please let us know of any financial restrictions or commitments you have.
    
52. Which time periods during the year, if any, do you envision yourself spending elsewhere? Please indicate the amount of time and the reasons for it.
    
53. When do you foresee yourself being ready to visit and/or live in the International Permaculture Community?
    
54. Please state any fears or apprehensions about visiting or joining the community.

    
55. Any other thoughts, notes or questions you have please write them here:
    


Thank you for your interest in our International Permaculture Community in Panama. Please send completed forms to us so we can communicate further and in order to arrange an interview to complete the Application Process. We treat all applications with utmost privacy and will never share this information with anyone outside the application process. We will contact you soon. If a few weeks go by without word from us please contact us via another method.

If you have chosen to print instead of send on-line or email please contact us so we can give you details to send via snail mail otherwise e-mail us the saved pages at tribe@communityearth.org