Work through a question
Bring a small group together for a research sprint, a think tank or a systems-mapping session.
01 / Active hub · TuscanyA place to stay, work and meet
A growing network of places
A home for
system thinkers
and doers.
Villa Gaia is a place in Tuscany where people can stay, work on their projects and spend time with others doing the same. We are exploring how to open more places like it.
Explore the Tuscany hubVILLA GAIA / FIELD NOTES 001
01 · The idea
PHYSICAL COORDINATION / FIG. 01
Good work
takes time
together.
A video call is useful. A few days in the same place gives people more time to get to know one another and work through a question properly.
We started Villa Gaia in the Tuscan hills about two years ago. Since then, people from different fields have come to work, run sessions, share meals and see what they might do together.
Some visit for a few days; others stay for months. They arrive with companies, research questions, unfinished ideas or simply work they need to get done. The house gives those encounters room to continue beyond one meeting.
See how the hub works
~200people hosted
and involved
and involved
12+services and initiatives
launched or incubated
launched or incubated
5larger gatherings
hosted
hosted
1permanent experimental
hub in Tuscany
hub in Tuscany
02 · The first hub
TUSCANY / ACTIVE SINCE 2024
Seggiano · Montalcino area · Italy
Stay, work
and meet here.
The first hub is a house in the hills near Seggiano, in the Montalcino area. People use it for residencies, small retreats, workshops and ordinary working days.
There are places to work and meet, rooms to stay in, shared equipment and plenty of space outside. Residents and visitors include founders, researchers, technologists, investors and creative practitioners.
01
Workrooms
Space for desk work, meetings and small group sessions.
02
Equipment
Shared tools for recording, research and technical work.
03
People
Residents and visitors working in different fields.
04
Outside
Gardens, views and time away from the desk.
03 · Life at Villa Gaia
NOT AN OCCASIONAL EVENT / A CONTINUOUS PLACE
Work, meals
and time outside.
A day here can include time at a desk, a group session and dinner with people who were working on something entirely different. We have also hosted research sprints, hackathons and strategy sessions.
Residents and visitors at an outdoor table.
The main room set up for a gathering.
Some of the team and community at sunset.
An evening around the table.
What happens here
WORKSHOPS / RESEARCH / EVERYDAY WORK
What people
use the house for.
We have hosted workshops, research sprints, hackathons and planning sessions. Residents also use the house for ordinary working days. Having everyone in one place makes it easier to set aside time and talk properly.
Test an idea
Use the time and shared tools to develop a prototype, run a hackathon or get feedback on a project.
Meet in person
Hold a workshop, retreat or planning session with people who need more than another call.
Record and write
Record conversations, work on a paper or make a piece of media while collaborators are in the same place.
Sometimes the useful result is a plan.
Sometimes it is a person you met.
Media from the hubs
PODCAST / VIDEO / FIELD NOTES
A voice from
each hub.
Some of the most useful material at Villa Gaia starts as a conversation around a table or a question raised during a workshop.
We want every hub to have the basic tools and people to record interviews, podcasts, short films and working notes. Each place can be a small lighthouse for the network: close to local work, but able to share it further.
That does not mean filming every conversation. Guests decide what is public. The aim is to make useful ideas easier to find and build on, while keeping private work private.
01 / Record
A quiet room and shared equipment for good conversations, not just polished presentations.
02 / Edit
Time to shape audio, video and written notes, with consent and context checked before release.
03 / Share
Local stories and practical learning that can reach people across the wider ecosystem.
After the visit
Keep working
together.
People leave Villa Gaia, but their work together does not have to stop there.
Someone who met a collaborator in Tuscany can stay in touch, share research and plan the next piece of work through Symviosis. The house is one place to meet; the online tools help people work together between visits.
01 / Research
Read and share conversations, working papers and research from the network.
02 / People
Find someone with relevant experience or a similar question.
03 / Projects
Keep notes, contacts and project work in one place.
04 · Digital commons
WAYS TO WORK BETWEEN VISITS
Powered by Symviosis
Work with us
from anywhere.
You do not need to live at Villa Gaia to take part. Symviosis provides online tools for people, projects and research. There is also a membership for those who want regular help from the team.
From $49
Use the platform
Keep track of people, project information and work you are doing with others in the network. Ask us what is included at the current access level.
Explore SymviosisFrom $200/ month
Get regular support
For people and organisations who need more hands-on help: introductions, a liaison, a weekly call, mapping needs and contacts, and support with organisational or systems-change strategy.
Ask about membership
A working session at the house.
Work in progressStorage, AI
Storage, AI
and compute.
01 / Data
Private storage
We are working on storage options that give members clearer control over where their data sits and who can access it.
02 / AI
Open models
The plan includes open-source models and no-retention options, with privacy requirements set before tools are offered to members.
03 / Compute
Community ownership
We are testing a small green data-centre model. The funding and ownership proposal is explained below.
These plans are connected to The Coordination Layer’s work on a more open internet. The tools and their terms will develop as the network grows.
Read The New Internet Project Getting help with a question
PEOPLE / RESEARCH / PROJECTS
What do you
need to find out?
A member might need an introduction, help understanding a sector or a fresh view of a stalled project. We can look through the people and research in the network, and decide whether the question needs a conversation, a piece of research or a longer project.
Who is already working on this problem?
Which companies, researchers or suppliers should we speak with?
Why is this project stuck?
What research exists in this field?
Where could capital make a difference?
What could we actually try next?
Human Intelligence Network
A place to follow people and questions, and read research, interviews and working papers from the wider group.
Explore HINUniversal Data Layer
In development: a way to bring notes and information from projects, organisations and research into a shared working space.
Universal Discovery Interface
In development: a way to search for relevant people, projects, skills, opportunities and open requests across the network.
Parts of this are available now; others are still being built. If you are interested in using them, ask us what is ready and what is planned.
05 · From one villa to a network
ONE ACTIVE / FOUR BEING EXPLORED
Where we may
go next.
Tuscany is the only active hub today. We are exploring spaces and partners in London, Brussels, Zurich and Barcelona. None of those locations has opened yet.
01
Montalcino area
Active · Tuscany02
London
Exploring spaces & partners03
Brussels
Exploring spaces & partners04
Zurich
Exploring spaces & partners05
Barcelona
Exploring spaces & partnersNo two places
need to be alike.
A hub in a city would not have the same rooms, people or programme as the house in Tuscany. We want local partners to help decide what is useful in each place.
For now, the practical work is finding suitable buildings, people willing to run them and a way to pay for them. A visitor or project could then move between hubs when there is a reason to do so.
Help build the next hub 06 · Ways to participate
STAY / VISIT / SUPPORT / BUILD
There are
several ways to join.
You can stay at the house, bring a group for a few days, work with people online or help develop a future hub. Here are the kinds of involvement we are discussing with members and partners.
Come & benefit
Resident members
Stay for a month or longer and use the house as a base for your work. Accommodation, utilities and shared spaces are included; the room and price depend on availability.
Resident fellows
Spend time at the hub on a research or practical project. A fellowship could be self-directed or tied to a question from the network; terms depend on the project and its funding.
Visiting fellows
Come for a few days or weeks to finish a paper, run a research sprint, work on a prototype or record conversations with others at the house.
Retreat & event hosts
Use the space for a small team retreat, board meeting, workshop or hackathon. We can discuss the format, dates, facilities and costs with you.
Research partners
Bring a research team or use a stay to work with people outside your institution. We are interested in projects that connect research with practice.
Founders & builders
Come with a company or an idea in progress. Use the working space and talk to others about the problem you are trying to solve.
Content creators
Use a stay to write, film or record interviews. The people who visit Villa Gaia often bring work and experiences worth discussing in depth.
Remote members
Take part through the online network, join a working group or ask for an introduction. You can visit the house when meeting in person would help.
Support & grow
Patrons & philanthropists
Fund a fellow or a specific piece of research. We can agree in advance what the work will cover and how you will hear about its progress.
Investors
Talk to us about financing a future hub or the data-centre pilot. Each proposal needs its own terms, including risks, repayment and ownership.
Property partners
If you own a building that could work as a hub, we would like to see it. Any agreement about use, investment and return would be worked out for that property.
Challenge sponsors
Bring a specific question your organisation cannot answer alone. We can discuss whether a workshop, research sprint or fellowship is the right way to work on it.
Technology & lab partners
Offer equipment or software that people at the hub could use in real projects. We would agree how it is maintained and who can access it.
Local hub stewards
Help explore a new location: find a building, meet local partners and work out what the place would be for. Each city needs people willing to take responsibility for it.
What people bring
A question, a skill, a building, funding or a project they want to work on.
What they might find
Someone to work with, a clearer plan, useful feedback or simply the time to get something finished.
Interested in staying, bringing a group or helping open a hub?
Get in touch Paying for the place
RESIDENTS / GATHERINGS / SUPPORTERS
How we hope
to pay for it.
The house has running costs. Residents pay for stays; groups contribute when they use the space; patrons may fund fellows or research. New hubs will also need property partners and long-term funding.
We are testing how these pieces can cover the costs without making every conversation a transaction. Any surplus could go back into the places and tools. Ownership arrangements would be set out for each project.
01Residents
Help cover accommodation and running costs.
02Gatherings
Contribute to the cost of hosting groups.
03Patrons
Can fund a fellow or a defined project.
04Partners
May provide property, tools or local support.
05Investors
Can finance a specific project under agreed terms.
06The network
Lets people share research and work across places.
07 · Community-owned compute
A DATA-CENTRE PILOT
GCODC / Alpha pilot
A data-centre
pilot for the community.
A small green data-centre pilot is running in alpha. We want to make it available to the network if we can raise $150,000 for the next stage.
The proposed investment starts at $10,000. The plan is for investors to receive principal and any agreed interest before the infrastructure remains with the community. Repayment is not guaranteed, and the precise terms still need to be documented.
Proposed minimumFrom $10k
Indicative starting amount per investor.
Target annual return8–12%
Illustrative target, not a guaranteed return.
Funding target$150k
Amount sought for the next stage of the pilot.
Investment structure, repayment mechanics, risks, eligibility and final terms will be documented for each opportunity. The return range is a target and may not be achieved.
Symviosis subscriptionsWhere the money
Where the money
would go.
The proposal is to put all subscription revenue toward the groups and costs listed here, with no separate founder payout.
01
Investors
02
Technology team, online tools and coordination
03
Writers, creators, editors & curators
04
Financial tools and services
05
Buildings and physical spaces
06
Activities & experiences
Percentages will be published when the allocation is finalized.
Interested in funding the data-centre pilot or discussing its terms?
Get in touch
A place for people trying to do something
Come stay.
Bring a question.
Build something.
If you want to stay, bring a group, support a fellow or explore a new hub, get in touch. Tell us what you are working on and what kind of time or space would help.
Get in touch