What they wanted to do

Founding text · August 2011 · Christian, to the members of the Donjon

The worm that turns into a butterfly

The worm that turns into a butterfly reaches the point of having to take off in order to continue!

I am now weaving a cell with whom the decisions of the new AGORA will be shared.

Ideally, 20 people each chipping in $50 a month would make it possible to keep offering you access to the buildings and facilities and various art-chitectures. Those dollars will also make it possible for investments in renovations to be made for everyone's comfort.

Le Donjon remains Amandine's trademark, and after consulting a few people: L'Agora is the one!

So don't be surprised if I get in touch with you to find out whether the idea interests you. With this contribution, everyone involved will have an equal say, and I will try to keep only the same power you have.

So, for the community of art in all its forms of expression. The place would be suited to people who want to use the tools and materials in exchange for compensation for the materials already bought by the collective.

I'm going to open an Agora group and there will be 2 levels. One (this one) is open to the public for ideas, announcements of all kinds. Second level: it will be that of the collective and of the people who will be able to contribute professionally, with transparency for whoever wants to see the charter, the collective's ethics, the finances and the projects under study.

Slowly but surely I will dissociate myself from the group until the image emanates not only from me but truly from the collective, which will become the entity that supports the whole of the work in progress, because yes, I know myself and I could not be the figurehead of a collective so beneficial to our culture and to the image of the foundation.

I would also like to inform you hereby of my conviction to keep the place accessible at all times of the year, so a ploughed road and firewood close at hand. The hydro and telecom bills will be posted on the group's page so that everyone concerned can consult them, for sound management.

Excellent news! I've just spoken to the owner of the land, and he thinks it's a very good idea to set up the collective here with the work where it stands, everything is a go to make it happen!

This text is only a spontaneous draft, so it will need to be made clearer where appropriate. Thank you all, now back to one ♥

Presentation of the L'AgorA group · 2011

Multi-arts place of Saint-Fortunat

Welcome to the group for L'Agora, multi-arts place of St-Fortunat! A place where dreams can become reality through manifested art-chitecture and the various stages, buildings, workshops, studio and dance floors. Indoor camping if needed for your stays, with kitchen and shower. A place where technology and knowledge converge, thus opening the door to possibilities and to creative advancement allied with simple natural forces (wind, gravity, hydraulic power). Almost a Laboratory of Being, a plugged-in and natural experience in good company ♥

You are at home, at our home, because in the work of art it is together that we will rise towards the new paradigm that is coming! With all the love and consciousness I can provide to help you better reveal yourselves before the evidence that we are not on this earth to line the pockets of the rich, I give everything I have, because it is the one and only mission in life that brings back light, and WHAT LIGHT!!!! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking part and sharing!! ♥♥♥

An Agora is: in ancient Greece, the gathering place, the city's market. The agora of Athens was not only a lively market; it was also the square of the democratic institutions. The agora was the centre of social life. It was a good place to stroll, to philosophize among friends.

Project description · 2012 · presentation file

A place of renewal in nature

In the spirit of fostering the journey, personal and spiritual evolution, L'Agora offers a place of renewal in nature with its many facilities. It is a platform of cultural and spiritual diversity available to everyone, at all times.

At the Agora, we live in accordance with principles of respect for the environment and for individuality. By embodying a way of life different from the one our society proposes, which is problematic in many respects, we respect values of freedom, we encourage the sharing of knowledge and we commit ourselves to the path of voluntary simplicity. Our installations and constructions are made mostly of recycled materials, love and devotion!

We can offer lodging to organizations or various groups for seminars, workshops, retreats, ceremonies, shows or any other event requiring a serene and enchanting place, wishing to share this magnificent land for a unique experience, outside of time.

L'Agora concretely wishes to form a community to create an alternative way of life to today's society, based on eco-responsible principles while recognizing the dignity and the intellectual, artistic, ethical and spiritual potential of every individual.

The components

• Environment: conservation of biodiversity and natural resources; research and development in the sector of clean energy and energy efficiency; popular education in the natural sciences; self-sufficiency techniques; sustainable agriculture, whose products may be made available to the community to encourage local buying.
• Culture: promote and facilitate cultural and artistic events; serve as a platform for independent artists in Quebec, and more particularly in the regions; a permanent activity centre focused on audiovisual techniques; a space to create in various ways.
• Education: lodging for various groups during seminars, retreats, courses; conferences; activities focused on learning and development, from an introduction to meditation to yoga.
• Lodging: outdoor camping, treehouses and other facilities, indoor lodging with amenities.

The possibilities are vast and the potential to create a unique place, where creativity and know-how are put to the benefit of the community, is all the greater. Constant innovation, the alternative character of the Agora and the values promoted there make it an institution in matters of autonomy and of fostering everyone's creativity and well-being.

Marilyn's text · 2013 · for the website and the brochure

A dream, a vision

L'Agora is a collective bringing together individuals who, having a better world at heart, work on creating it and sharing it. We have a dream, a vision, which wants this wonderful corner of paradise in nature to host a world where we can truly act and live for our own good and for the Earth's. How many of us feel more and more the senselessness of the directions our societies are taking, on the human as well as the environmental level? How many feel that flame inside them burning with a desire for change, for inner and outer evolution?

L'Agora is that place where everyone can come to discover themselves outside the limits imposed on us in society. Where we try to improve our relationships with ourselves, with others, and with nature. We wish the Agora to become that alternative world, without pre-established ideologies, where each individuality can find its place for the common good, where we unite all our strengths in the desire to reach a way of life where the absurdities of our societies no longer have a place.

To ensure the permanence of this vision, we wish, once we have made sure that several families can live there, to turn the Agora's land into a land trust, so that its vocation is preserved. A land trust is a non-profit organization whose primary mission is the conservation of natural territories for the benefit of future generations. To achieve this, we must acquire this land. To do so, the Agora is engaging in sustainable agritourism, in the form of a retreat centre with lodging, offering different kinds of activities, in addition to an agricultural component.

What does a stay at the Agora look like? An enchanting forest, agriculture, treehouses, art, creativity, wonder…! Everyone is welcome to create, contemplate, venture out! There are treehouses, a big tipi, a yurt, trails, stages in the forest, a lookout tower, and much more! During your stay you have access to an outdoor communal kitchen, a shower, wireless internet over more than 40 acres…! One thing is certain, we never come out of it empty-handed, with a luggage of experiences, emotions and self-knowledge.

Brochure · June 2013 · Our values and principles

In recognition of the Earth and of every form of life

L'Agora and its members:

• Recognize the dignity proper to each person and the intellectual, artistic, ethical and spiritual potential of every human being.
• Affirm that freedom, knowledge and power entail the responsibility to act for the common good.
• Adopt, at every level, planning and regulation in matters of sustainable development.
• Recognize that the privilege of managing and using natural resources entails an environmental responsibility.
• Reduce, reuse and recycle materials in production and consumption systems.
• Exclude and eliminate genetically modified or exogenous organisms harmful to native species and to the environment.
• Prevent tourism development from being a source of nuisance to the environment and to the local community.
• Pass on to future generations the values, traditions and institutions that encourage the long-term prosperity of the Earth's human and ecological communities.

"Quebec has very few producers of gourmet mushrooms. The Agora is undertaking to establish in St-Fortunat one of Quebec's rare mushroom farms, producing oyster mushrooms and shiitakes. And the Agora is not only mushrooms! We will also produce a variety of fruits and vegetables based on farming techniques without tilling or weeding, without fertilizer or pesticides. The philosophy of permaculture consists in working with nature and not against it."

"The young people of the region and their involvement in their community are close to our hearts, which is why they will always be welcome to come and gather peacefully, and also to come and get involved and thus acquire good knowledge at various levels!"

The 2013 brochure, as a PDF (in French).

ag0ra.org · 2013 · Who are we?

A laboratory of being

L'Agora is a collective bringing together a few individuals who, having a better world at heart, work on creating it and sharing it. This group tends towards the path of self-sufficiency, without however holding to pre-established ideologies of change, in order to leave room for progress and innovation, and taking into account the importance of human and community relationships. We wish these actions we take to enjoy visibility, and to be shared with and accessible to as many people as possible.

L'Agora is engaging in sustainable agritourism, specializing in mushroom growing, offering different kinds of activities, in addition to a lodging component, for a complete experience as an example of alternative, creative, self-managed and ecologically responsible ways of life. Everyone is welcome to come and visit us and experience this laboratory of being!