Citizen’s Gathering 2026: Building the Future Together at Traditional Dream Factory
From September 12 to 18, 2026, the Traditional Dream Factory (TDF) in Alentejo, Portugal, will once again open its doors for the Citizen’s Gathering 2026—a week dedicated to connection, reflection, participation, and the shared future of the TDF community.
After a year of growth, learning, experimentation, and building, the gathering offers an opportunity for the people connected to TDF to come together in person and experience what it means to be part of a regenerative village.
This is not simply a retreat or a week away from everyday life. It is an invitation to participate in the development of a living community.
Coming Together as Citizens
At the heart of the gathering is connection.
TDF is bringing together current citizens, $TDF token holders, people considering becoming citizens, potential future residents, home seekers, and those who are simply curious about the project’s model.
For a community that is partly connected through digital platforms and online conversations, meeting face-to-face creates something different. Sharing meals, walking the land, working together, and having informal conversations allow relationships to grow beyond screens.
The gathering is an opportunity to ask: What kind of community are we creating, and what does it mean to belong to it?
Seeing the Project on the Ground
One of the central elements of the week is taking time to review what has been built and where TDF is heading.
Participants will have the opportunity to walk the land and see different areas of the project, including the mushroom farm, restaurant development, and co-housing plans. This provides a chance to understand not only the progress that has been made, but also the challenges and decisions that lie ahead.
For a project built around regeneration and long-term community development, seeing the work in person makes the vision tangible.
Governance and Collective Decision-Making
Citizenship at TDF also means participation.
The gathering creates dedicated space to review proposals, reflect on decisions made during the year, and learn more about the governance model. These sessions are intended to support greater engagement and help community members understand how they can contribute to shaping the future of TDF.
Governance is not only about making decisions. It is also about learning how to make decisions together.
Creating a Shared Culture
Building an intentional community requires more than buildings and infrastructure. It requires a shared culture.
During the Citizen’s Gathering, participants will explore TDF’s values, rituals, and ways of living together through workshops, discussions, and shared experiences.
The question is not simply “What are we building?” but also “Who are we becoming together?”
Creating a healthy community means making space for different perspectives, learning how to navigate disagreement, and developing practices that allow people to feel connected and included.
Trust, Transparency and Honest Conversation
Community building is not always easy. TDF recognises that challenges, frustrations, concerns, and disagreements are part of creating something together.
The gathering therefore includes spaces for honest and vulnerable conversations between citizens, the wider community, and the TDF team. These conversations provide an opportunity to raise concerns, listen to different perspectives, and build greater trust through openness and facilitation.
This willingness to talk about difficulties is an important part of building a resilient community.
Work, Play and Regeneration
The Citizen’s Gathering also makes room for something equally important: enjoyment.
Alongside workshops, governance sessions, and community discussions, participants can swim in the biopool, spend time outdoors, enjoy the sauna, take part in collective land activities, gather around evening fires, and simply spend time together.
Regeneration is not only about the land. It is also about people.
A community needs time to work, but it also needs time to rest, celebrate, play, and reconnect.
A Community-Created Gathering
Perhaps one of the most significant aspects of the event is that it is co-created by the TDF community, with facilitation from the TDF core team and citizens.
This makes the gathering participatory by nature. Participants are not simply attending a programme prepared for them; they are contributing to the atmosphere, conversations, responsibilities, and experiences that make the week possible.
Communal cooking, shared responsibilities, workshops, skill-sharing, and evening gatherings all contribute to this sense of collective ownership.
Looking Toward the Future
The Citizen’s Gathering 2026 is ultimately about looking forward.
TDF is developing a vision in which people, land, food systems, housing, governance, and community are interconnected. The gathering provides a moment to pause, look at what has been achieved, acknowledge what remains difficult, and collectively imagine what comes next.
A regenerative village cannot be created by one person or one organisation alone. It emerges through relationships, participation, experimentation, and a willingness to learn together.
The Citizen’s Gathering is therefore more than an event on the calendar. It is a moment for the TDF community to connect, reflect, participate, and shape the future together.
As the gathering approaches, the invitation is simple:
Come to the land. Meet the people. Share the work. Ask the difficult questions. Celebrate what has been built. And help shape what comes next.
The Citizen’s Gathering 2026 takes place from September 12–18 at Traditional Dream Factory in Alentejo, Portugal. To register: click here.
