A personal reflection on the project so far
In 2017, I lived in Lisbon working on a project called “Urbangay”, with the aim of fostering a sustainable gay culture, grounded in social connections, collaboration, community and body- and sex-positivity. The original idea edged ever closer to looking at sustainability in a holistic way: bring nature and conscious development into the mix.
Out of this, the idea to build a “community center” on a farm far, far away from the city was born. The search for a property started the next year. Together with some friends, I found a farm: Deep in the Alentejo, totally private though at the same time close to a small city. The perfect place. Only one problem: there were issues with the permits of the buildings on site. Nothing that seemed too unusual, and so started a roller coaster ride of bureaucracy. After 18 months came the sad end: the sale couldn’t go ahead. A few months later, Corona followed – and so the Quinta Project had to be completely rethought.
So I started to gather a few of the key people from the farm project and started to think about how a queer community, that spans environmental and social impact. After hours of (socially distanced) speaking with everyone, a new platform emerged: A hybrid concept consisting of the original farm idea – and an online queer community. And like that “Quinta 2.0” was born – a combination of an Online Community and a linked Land Project.
The vision remains to create a community center and “home” for queer folk who are interested in sustainable development. In practice this means an active online community, sharing tools, resources and inspiration amongst our members. In future, the plan is to also bring the concept to real life: again creating a community center (on a farm!) which can bring community members together.
You are warmly invited to join us to create this space.
Connect, share and inspire.
Much Love
Stephan