Edge Esmeralda Community Guidelines
A shared foundation for how we live, build, and take part in shaping the village.
Overview
Edge Esmeralda is a month-long popup village designed to enable experimentation, meaningful connection, and a culture of co-creation. These guidelines are a shared reference for how we show up, take initiative, and contribute to a village built on trust.
Foundational Principles
Co-Create and Build
At Edge Esmeralda, we’re focused on building, moving beyond mere consumption of knowledge. The emphasis is on hands-on applications and experiments, with the goal of fostering new technologies, cultures, ideas, and organizations during our month together.
Healthy by Default
Our village promotes health and longevity as a default. This includes organized community workouts, suggested at least 30 minutes of activity a day, nutritious meals made from local organic ingredients, weekly farmers markets, and partnerships with local restaurants to minimize seed oil use. We aim for all participants to leave healthier than they arrived.
Multigenerational
Our community includes everyone from newborns to centenarians, fostering an environment where different life stages interact and learn from each other, breaking away from the typical age-segregated settings.
Multidisciplinary
We believe that there is huge potential for breakthroughs at the intersections of disciplines. Edge Esmeralda is designed to foster collaboration between people with diverse expertise – scientists, artists, engineers, urban planners, philosophers, mechanics, and beyond.
Cultural Norms
Invite Emergence
Some of the best moments this month won’t be planned in advance. They’ll happen over a serendipitous walk between venues, a conversation that happened upon you, or a late-night hang. Try to leave room for those moments. Attend a session outside your usual zone. Help a neighbor build something. Take part in an experiment. The village thrives when people show up open to what they didn’t expect.
Practice JOMO (Joy of Missing Out)
There will always be something happening – talks, dinners, workshops, spontaneous adventures. It is impossible to do it all. Rather than trying to keep up, we encourage you to practice the joy of missing out (JOMO). Choose with intention, and be fully present for what you’re doing.
Contribute Meaningfully
You don’t have to host a session to make a contribution. Show up fully to a workshop. Offer help behind the scenes. Ask a thoughtful question. Share something you’re working on during Demo Day. Co-creation is as much about presence as it is about production.
Disagree with Care
This is a village full of strong perspectives, different values, and diverse communication styles. This should be celebrated! We ask that you engage in disagreement with generosity. Listen before reacting. Ask clarifying questions. Speak from your own experience, and when in doubt, default to kindness.
Leave No Trace (Physically and Socially)
We ask everyone to treat our shared environment with care. This means cleaning up after yourself, tending to communal spaces, and being mindful of waste. It also means paying attention to how we show up with and around each other and the broader community we're in. We’d like everyone to leave these people and spaces better than we found them.
Be a Good Neighbor
Our village exists within the broader context of Healdsburg, a town with its own history, pace, and community life. As temporary residents, we’re invited to participate in that community with respect and awareness. That means being respectful toward the people who live and work here, staying curious about the culture of the town, and noticing how our presence interacts with daily life.
Supporting local shops, learning about the area’s history, tipping well, being friendly to strangers and moving through town with attentiveness are small but meaningful ways to engage with place in a way that feels reciprocal. Healdsburg is an integral part of the environment we’re building in, and the more we pay attention to where we are, the more rooted and connected this experience becomes.
Support & Accountability
We want Edge Esmeralda to be a place where people feel safe being themselves and taking creative risks. If something happens that makes you feel unsafe, please use this anonymous conflict care & accountability form. These reports will be seen by the community board, led by Charlotte Fradet, and handled with care and discretion. Alternatively you can message @CharlotteFradet privately via Telegram if you’d rather talk than write.
We may experiment with community-led practices to make sure that this is a safe and engaging space. If you’re excited about helping with this, let Charlotte know.
Closing
This month will feel full! Of people, projects, emotion, and energy. Take the moments you need for balance, and hold onto the fact that this will only exist for a month. Make the most of it.
You are each unique and capable humans. The culture we create together will be shaped by each of us – curious, kind, adventurous, high-agency, growth-minded, and game to make the impossible possible.
– Edge Esmeralda Team ☀️