REVILLAGING
WELCOME TO
A MOVEMENT OF LOCAL & HEARTFELT SOLUTIONS TO GLOBAL PROBLEMS
Revillaging is a practical framework to help us transition from a fast-paced, high-consumption society into a new paradigm — one that reclaims the beauty of simple living, retools our society toward cooperation and community empowerment, and balances consumption within ecological limits.
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This page introduces the concept and practice of Revillaging and links you to deeper dives across several subtopics — from the design of sharing-based local systems to the soft-skills we can start building at home. We feature case studies of Revillaging across the world and give you practical next steps to take today.
ABOUT
REVILLAGING
THE
REVILLAGING
VISION​​​
In two generations, we will have shifted society: uniting divided people, balancing our consumption within planetary limits, and forging a humane, pleasurable economy for all. But how?​​​​
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INDIVIDUALS STARTED SHIFTING CULTURAL NORMS
We began collaborating to meet some of our basic needs - for entertainment, exercise, and connection - locally, simply, and joyfully. We were addressing the primal roots of mistrust, greed and violence through simple, connective experiences with our neighbors - transforming emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually. We began to use our cars less and we made the music instead of streaming it. ​​​
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STRONGER COMMUNITIES BECAME MORE SELF SUFFICIENT
Local systems for food, childcare, and exchange began to spring up from the trust we built with our neighbors. We became happier and healthier because we walked more and connected more in meaningful ways close to home. We started choosing local thriving over rat-race surviving. People knew "there was enough to go around" because they were giving and receiving in practical ways everyday. We used fewer resources, the air became cleaner, used the financial system less, and - slowly but surely - learned to depend on each other again like a village​
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GLOBAL SLOWED, LOCAL GROWED, AND THE EARTH THANKED US
Big, global, polluting systems shrank because demand plummeted. The human footprint shrank and nature could regenerate itself once again. Governments reshaped to serve people and the planet, not profit. Guided by a collective mindset of non-violent cooperation, resource hoarding ended and people became stewards of whatever land they lived on. People had more than enough, because, after millennia of squabbling, they finally realized they had each other.
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THE
REVILLAGING
ROADMAP​​​
The Revillaging Roadmap gives you a 3-phase process to transform your home, street, and community into a thriving village. It's based in experiences - not philosophy - so people can feel the deep sense of satisfaction that arises from community connection, which paves the ways for big shifts in our world. Individuals or communities can kick-start a Revillaging process, wherever they are.
The 3-phase Roadmap helps Revillagers:
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CELEBRATE: Build trust with the people who live around you
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CO-CREATE: Find joy in supporting each other with the basics of living
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CIRCULATE: Learn to build alternative systems to meet our human needs
CELEBRATE
Neighbors practice the skills that keep us feeling a sense of connection and unity, despite our personal differences. We share experiences like dinner parties, game-nights, music making, exercise, and more to feed and strengthen the human spirit. We invest time in learning conflict resolution skills - an foundation for successful collaboration and emotional safety. This phase builds capacity for mutual understanding and the desire to help each other ... even when we're not at our best!
CO-CREATE
Neighbors start small, co-creating a shared meal, a street-side art project, or a shared garden plot. We keep finding opportunities to support each other with the basic responsibilities of life, slowly finding ways to save money and time together, while getting the deep satisfaction of close-knit support groups. We are practicing conflict resolution, compassionate communication, and the joy of thriving together in safe doses, gaining more trust in depending on others.
CIRCULATE
Neighbors begin to build systems together. Culturally, we mix work & play because 'doing mundane life together' feeds the human spirit and there's no reason to rush. Cooperatives for childcare, food buying, tool sharing, and ride shares emerge. Community infrastructure springs up on street corners, in front yards, or in empty storefronts. Investments like a community tent, a lending library, a multi-yard community garden all emerge from the basic needs that people are meeting together. They drive less, buy less, share more, and are more active.
THE
REVILLAGING
SKILLSET​​​
The Skillset teaches you the hard and soft skills to start Revillaging. It's based on experience gleaned from successful eco-communities, where villagers are in high-collaboration environments. The Skillset includes techniques for better understanding human behavior, collaborating successfully, and building community systems - all necessary elements to start shifting our culture.
HUMAN NEEDS & CONFLICT RESOLUTION
These skills help us understand human behavior better - through the lens of 'how we meet our basic needs'. By creating a common language around 'needs', we can see where we are nourished... and where we're famished in our culture.
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These skills also include learning compassionate ways to speak up in moments of tension or conflict so that healthy collaboration behaviors can take root in our lives, communities, and institutions.
community fire starting & fire tending
These skills help us feel connected to each other on a deep level, regardless of our points of view.
These skills include methods to co-create with your neighbors and host 'circling' activities that can help you unite and empower people with experiences that leave them with a the feeling that they belong, they are secure, that they are motivated to invest in the health and wellbeing of their community beyond the home.
Implementing SYSTEMS OF SHARING
These skills include a catalogue of sharing-systems that you can implement in your community. These skills enable you to take the first steps, plan with your community, and execute projects that have tangible results in villager's quality of life. These systems bring people together to meet their needs simply, locally, and joyfully.
These skills enable a group of Revillagers to start making material savings, local self-sufficiency, and a unifying set of commonly held systems.
Watch These Talks on Revillaging
Entertaining keynote about Revillaging origins, examples, and impact.
Clip from the Revillaging Course for Leaders explaining the Roadmap and examples.
Examples of Revillaging
Fleet Farming
Fleet Farming is an urban agriculture program of the 501c3 nonprofit IDEAS For Us that transforms the average american lawn into a productive micro farm.
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Every One Every Day Project
Over 6 years, 350 neighborhood projects have been started with lots of local people participating, with as much or as little support as needed, including cooking beekeeping, growing, making repairing and much more.
Urban Ecovillages
Canticle Farm is an urban ecovillage that hosts social justice, mutual aid, and food soverignty programs. LA Ecovillage promotes education, cycling, and alternative economy pilots.
REVILLAGING
WHAT CAN I DO?​​​
Curious about how to bring Revillaging to your neighborhood, organization, or event?
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Start here:
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Take a workshop with the Revillaging Academy
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Invite Travis to speak or facilitate a session
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​​​This movement is already underway — in hundreds of small experiments, messy attempts, and joyful collaborations around the world. Yours may be next!
THE
REVILLAGING
ACADEMY​​​
We teach you the skills and strategies to Revillage your block or business:
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Address the psychological patterns that keep us consuming so much.
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​Learn the collaboration skills needed to enable the sharing economy.
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​Study + practice tactics to transform your street into an eco-community or business into a circular enterprise.​
What We Do
We guide individuals, coworkers, and communities in unlocking nourishing relationships, regenerative businesses, and sustainable communities by teaching strategies for deep compassion, collaboration, and the circular economy.
How We Do It
Through our workshops, leadership training, and consulting services, we offer practical solutions to ‘’Revillage’’ communities and businesses by creating sustainable systems to foster a shift in how we live on this planet and relate with each other.
The Mission
Our goal is to end the climate and equity crises in one generation by bringing people together and creating a sense of belonging so powerful, we all feel capable of addressing the root causes of our global challenges— including intergenerational trauma, economic inequality, social injustice, and chronic waste of resources.
Our Methods
Rediscovering joy: We challenge the modern emphasis on productivity and ask, "What if we based our actions on joy, simplicity, and ease instead?"
Harnessing the power of a group: Our methods bring immediate change through profound personal experiences, both within and as part of a close-knit group setting. Change happens with many hands.
Offering a holistic adventure: Our workshops blend seminars, team games, song, movement and dance, nature immersion, storytelling and silent meditation, all designed to reprogram our inner compass, boost our self-confidence and encourage deep soulful connections.
Finding strength through vulnerability: Most facilitators shy away from the emotional. But our methods invite deep emotional exploration as a pathway to unlock more happiness and love in our lives.
Reconnecting with Nature: Our workshops offer unique experiences to rekindle our connection with the Earth as a source of practical and soulful wisdom.
Understanding our authentic needs: I teach strategies to understand what we truly need and how best to meet those needs in a healthy way without defaulting to consumer culture defaults.
MEET
TRAVIS REDTAIL
Travis "Redtail" Sheehan is the founder of The Revillaging Academy. He is a sustainability expert with a global portfolio of policy and infrastructure projects, a speaker, author, and community innovator. With a double Masters from MIT, followed by years of exploring successful eco-communities, Travis incorporates principles of Community, Belonging, and Purpose into his talks to address the building blocks of human wellness and success.
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He founded the 'Revillage West Asheville' movement where, for 1 year, his local community created a simple yet profound ritual: making soup together once a month. Neighbors ranging in age from 18 to 87 years old gathered to cocreate nourishment, sing, and, learn to depend on each other again. While the individual impact of Revillage West Asheville was small - saving the equivalent of 150 gallons of gasoline across the year - Travis cared more about the ripple effect, asking, "What if 10% of America had made soup together over 1 year?" He found that over 150 million gallons of gas would be saved, the equivalent of taking 330,000 cars off of the road. And he knew, Revillaging has the power to change the world.
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He has lectured at universities (MIT, Boston University), facilitated Leadership trainings for corporates (Shell), and taught mind/body workshops at conferences and studios across the world. As an expert in sustainable cities, Travis has driven innovation in energy, mobility, and community revitalization, serving the regenerative revolution as a city official, corporate strategist, and consultant. He is the founder of Gridling Global, an Energy & Infrastructure Advisory Firm, the former Senior Infrastructure Advisor to the City of Boston, and former North American Lead for City Solutions at Shell. ​
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​Raised singing and dancing at the Cherokee Tribal Grounds, Travis’s spiritual journey has paralleled his career in sustainability. Studying with his Yoga Guru one week, he facilitated a Regional Decarbonization Workshop the next. Travis has cultivated the skills for maintaining vitality in today's extraordinary conditions. ​