A Lifeboat Anchoring a Network of Lifeboats

A Lifeboat Anchoring a Network of Lifeboats

Imagine if there were a living model of resilience right in the heart of your community – a physical space where we could demonstrate ways to sustainably feed ourselves, heal the local ecosystem, and work in harmony with nature and each other – would you want to be a part of it? Now imagine an interconnected network of these local models scattered around the globe, sharing information and resources to get through, and even thrive in, whatever might be coming.

That’s the vision behind the Lifeboat Academy – to develop a model of resilience and regeneration at the person, place and community level, and to support Lifeboat Builders around the world to do the same in their home community.

Curious?

The Lifeboat Ecosystem

The Lifeboat Ecosystem is the whole living structure behind the work — the land, the people, the practices, and the economics that hold them together. Each piece is useful on its own, but they were built to reinforce each other.

The Farmastery at Spalding Valley Farm

The Farmastery is the land base — a working demonstration of regenerative land use, food production, and land-based education. It’s where the ideas get tested against soil, weather, and season.

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The Lifeboat Network

The Network is the web of people, organizations, and initiatives connected to this work — sharing knowledge, resources, and support across places. It’s how the Farmastery’s lessons travel beyond one piece of land.

Learn more

Transition
Economics

This is the financial and legal scaffolding — land trusts, cooperative ownership, alternative currencies and exchange — that lets land and resources shift out of purely extractive, market logic and into something more durable and shared.

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“Food sovereignty and resilience are critical concerns for residents of the Gulf Islands. As remote, rural areas separated by water from the rest of Canada, the Gulf Islands stand to be among the first impacted by disruptions in the food supply chain due to the worsening climate crisis.

As the Member of Parliament for Saanich-Gulf Islands, I fully support the work of the Lifeboat Academy to connect individuals and communities to mutual aid networks and to explore regenerative agriculture as strategies to increase food sovereignty and individual resilience on the Gulf Islands.”

– Elizabeth May, O.C.
Member of Parliament
(read full letter of support)

“Who couldn’t use a Lifeboat in these crazy times? How about one filled with community members who all want to see the best for each other? Ben Kadel and collaborators are bringing years of experience and a lot of heart to this project. I’m excited to see how this evolves.“

– Benji Ross, Founder of the Bioregional Catalysts and Weavers Guild

“I’m excited to be creating a human scaled, humane environment where we can do our best, based on effective thinking and social research, building human resilience.”

– April Struthers, Social Change Consultant / Owner Wit Works Ltd.

“This work fundamentally rethinks the structure of our food systems and communities, building resilience and adaptation at local human and ecological scales. This comes at a time when we need new models and new leaders to elevate and emulate new ways of thinking and acting to address embedded social and ecological issues that allow growth and healing at all scales.“

– Brooke Hayes, Phd Student in Environmental Studies, University of Victoria

“I have been a friend and colleague of Ben’s since the mid 1990s when we met in graduate school in Wisconsin. I have worked as a farmer, a social scientist, a community organizer, a group process consultant, a leadership coach, a philanthropist, and a writer. In many of these roles I have benefited from Ben’s ability to synthesize and make accessible ideas and practices from many disciplines and walks of life. The Lifeboat Academy project particularly appeals to me because in the coming changes, we are going to need more of what Margaret Wheatley calls islands of sanity: Places where we can reconnect with ourselves, each other, and the more-than-human world; where we can learn and practice resilience, restoration, regeneration, and re-indigenization. I am looking forward to the journey.“

– Rebecca S. Krantz, PhD

Support the Lifeboat Academy

We are committed to transition economics and attempt to avoid capitalist market entanglements as much as possible, preferring self-reliance, barter, and mutual aid networks. As part of this commitment, all our work is freely offered, and we ask that folks consider paying it forward – that if you feel you’ve benefited benefit from our lifeboat building support, and you have the means, you donate an amount that feels appropriate to our Pay-It-Forward Fund.

This helps us pay our bills and continue to offer support and resources.

Thanks for your reciprocity!

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© 2026