Group of diverse people gathered in a bamboo structure at Alegría Village.

Alegría Village

  • Communities

About the Communities

  • Established
  • Ecological
  • Town/Small City

Founding year

  • 2018

What we do

JOY DOESN’T COME AT THE END OF THE ROAD. LIVE IN JOY NOW.
Alegría Village is a new ecological neighborhood in the hills of San Mateo, Alajuela, Costa Rica, dedicated to best practices in regenerative living and design.
Nestled on 70 hectares (170 acres) of fertile farmland, Alegría includes extensive permaculture food forests with hundreds of fruit trees, edible community gardens, abundant springs and creeks that supply our water, and hiking and biking trails for exploring our natural surroundings.
Each neighbor has their own space – their own private land and home – and we all share a community center, pool & hot tub, yoga & meditation shala, coworking hub, permaculture farm, and sacred spaces tucked throughout the property. We now have over 135 neighbors, from 32 different countries (including many Costa Rican families) calling Alegría Village home.
Together we live a simple, grounded, intentional, and deeply connected lifestyle.
As an intentional community, Alegría Village is united by shared values and our commitment to upholding the permaculture ethics of Earth Care, People Care, Fair Share, and Future Care:
Earth Care: We are Earth Stewards
We are pollinators, planters, protectors, committed to living a lifestyle that heals not hurts the natural ecosystem around us.
People Care: We take care of each other
We are good neighbors, we are good friends. Together we support our children, our elders, our mothers, our fathers. We are an interconnected, interdependent community, looking out for the health and happiness of the collective village.
Fair Share: We are each a part of the whole
We all share a vision for a thriving regenerative future and each of us, with our diverse skills, backgrounds and contributions, are integral to the realization of this dream. The way forward is inclusive, collaborative, just, evolutionary, revolutionary. And we all show up for the revolution.
Future Care: We are Peaceful Warriors in service to the Planet
We radically question everything and design and implement better solutions for a thriving world. We are activists, aiming to inspire small changes, governmental changes, global changes. It is our privilege to ask, how can we offer support to our human, animal and plant relations? We are here on this planet to serve.
Our vision is a regenerative planet. A planet where humans honor and steward our natural environment and have a symbiotic, productive relationship with our entire ecosystem. Our vision is a place where all beings thrive. A place where our children can run free exploring and cultivating their natural curiosity, where our elders are supported and integrated into the fabric of our community, where wildlife is protected, water is respected, and food grows in abundance on the land where we live.

Our Mission

Regenerative planet where humans honor nature, thrive in symbiotic relationship with ecosystem, ensuring abundance, respect and support for all

  • Purpose
  • Ecological
  • Community type
  • Ecovillage
  • Intentional Neighborhoods
  • Sustainability practices
  • Regenerative agriculture or permaculture
  • Permaculture design
  • Activities
  • Others

Commemorative dates

  • January 1, 2018
  • Started planning
  • January 1, 2022
  • Started living together

Gallery

  • 229 Total members
  • Open to new members
  • Open to visitors
Total
229

Primary decision-making authority

  • Small Leadership Group

A few people (not elected by the broader community) make the major decisions.

Decision-making process

  • Majority Vote

More than 50% agreement needed.

Governance structure

  • Representative/Democratic

Members elect leaders who make decisions within defined roles.

Economic model

  • Partial Income-Sharing

Members contribute a percentage of income to community funds.

Economic scenarios for this community

  • There is a one-time fee, investment, or share purchase to join the community separate from accessing housing
  • Members need to pay fees, dues, or similar to live there on a per month or per year basis
  • There is a labor obligation

Additional economic information

Join fee: Yes
Regular fees: Yes
Labor: Encouraged or suggested
Members with pre-existing debt: allowed

Community activities and engagement

  • Transition Town (post-petroleum and off-grid communities.)

Age demographics

  • Mixed adults (few or no children)

Property status

  • Privately owned

Setting

  • Town/Small City

Smaller municipalities with local services but rural character.

Community type

  • Ecovillage

    Integrated communities designed around ecological principles with sustainable living practices.

  • Intentional Neighborhoods

    Geographically close groups of independently-owned homes whose residents actively cultivate community relationships and shared values.

Sustainability approach

  • Regenerative agriculture or permaculture
  • Permaculture design

Land practices in our community

  • The community practices permaculture

Food systems

  • Community garden
  • Food forest
  • Land area size
    171 acres

Guest Book

Written reviews are available for plus members. Click here to upgrade.

Location

  • Alajuela, Costa Rica

Alegría Village

Needs and Offers

Connecting people and communities through an intentional online marketplace

  • Promoted
  • Events
3 weeks ago

Healing Love Healing Money: Trust As The Foundation For A New Culture

Money, love and power are among the hardest things any community works with, and many of us carry the same fears into both: not having enough, losing what we have, and the sense that if someone else gets money or love, we won’t. Healing Love, Healing Money: Trust as the Foundation for a New Culture is taught by two intentional communities. Karen McAllister and Duncan Cryle are from Clear Sky Meditation and Retreat Center, a Buddhist-lineage community in the BC Rockies. Monika Alleweldt and Benjamin von Mendelssohn from Tamera Healing Biotope, a community of about 160 people in southern Portugal that has spent decades studying love, trust and relationship. Clear Sky has spent years working on its relationship with money, and our two communities found surprising parallels in the fears beneath both. Over four sessions we explore the roots of fear around money and belonging, love, possession and power, trust as infrastructure (community as a container for healing), and ethical livelihood. We use short meditations, body-based practices, reflection and small-group conversation. You do not need to be in a romantic relationship or live in community. When: October 27, Nov 3, 10, 17. All four sessions: 12–2pm Vancouver, 1–3pm Alberta, 7–9pm UK and Portugal, 8–10pm Central Europe. Note: US and some Canadian provinces change clocks on November 1, so the US west coast is 12–2pm on October 27, then 11am–1pm for the remaining sessions, and Eastern is 3–5pm on October 27, then 2–4pm for the rest. Cost: sliding scale Details and registration: https://www.clearskycenter.org/event/healing-love-healing-money-online/  
October 27, 2026 13:00 – November 17, 2026 15:00
  • Promoted
Offer
  • Promoted
Need
Need
  • Communities with Openings
4 weeks ago

Heart-centered, nature-loving unschooling family seeking a community to land with for winter 2027

We’re a German-American family who left conventional life about four years ago to live in line with our values: freedom, connection, nature, and spirituality. We started out as worldschoolers, moving every month or two. That taught us a lot, including that too much movement leaves a family rootless. Since then we’ve been looking for the balance between adventure and belonging. We found a taste of it on a multigenerational farm community in Austria, and we’re now living alongside a small community in Norway. For January to March 2027, we’d love to spend a season inside a community that feels like home. What we’re hoping for A community with teenagers and a culture that welcomes self-directed learning, where unschooling is understood and not just tolerated Nature at your doorstep (forest, land, animals, or garden) Some shared meals, perhaps shared rhythms, and real relationships, not just a place to park A spiritual or reflective thread, whatever form it takes for you An opportunity to get to know your community by giving back (although we can’t do a ‘full’ volunteering program as we have the past three years – ie: Workaway- because we have meetings online that take up too much of our time to volunteer full time)  What we bring Resilience and emotional wellbeing. I’m an online resilience coach with a BA in Developmental Psychology, certified in HeartMath®, and an experienced yoga and meditation teacher. I can offer community sessions in nervous system regulation, stress resilience, and meditation, and support for parents and teens. Experience raising three children in a nomadic, family-centered lifestyle, including years of travel across Europe. Open, adaptable, and grounded. We’ve lived in many settings and adapt quickly. We show up as contributors, not consumers. Unschooling and homeschooling know-how. We’re glad to share what we’ve learned, especially for families navigating legal and practical questions in Europe. Many other shareable skills: carpentry, sourdough bread baking, food fermenting, music making, dad-joke-telling, drone pilots, cookie bakers, food preservation and much much more.   We’re looking for a mutual fit, not just a bed for the winter. If our story resonates and you have space or know someone who does, we’d love to hear from you. Tell us about your community: your values, your daily rhythm, and what you’re hoping for from the people who join you.
Need
  • Forming Communities
2 weeks ago

Forest Community Starting

Description: Willits, CA, Pacific Northwest rainforest system. Forest Haven is seeking forest lovers who value solitude. We have several areas in the main compound and a few tucked away in private. Space is designed for your RV / Tiny Home / +++. We will add power and water for each new Steward’s space. Land: 40 acres(17 hectares), 3ac for humans. Year-round creek at base of parcel. Heavy trees, 40 meter-ish high. Conifer mix. With a large south-facing common garden.   New forest stewards have agreed to prioritize tree health. This means each person here will have a say in whether we cut any single tree. We never cut for wood or sale.  Stewards agree to walk the forest daily as our one required 20-minute group activity.    Limit the number of dwellings to 3-5 Total. There are 8 common buildings, with 3 having flush toilets and one with a hot shower, washer and dryer. We are 100% off-grid.  We have a natural spring and solar. The full-size common kitchen is large enough to process the garden harvest and more. Remote workers and retirees’ welcome. Full online and cell service available.    Forest Haven is currently a private forest reserve.   If 2 households sign on, it will become a 501(c)(3). Each person’s “donation/rent” will be tax-deductible. This is a private forest reserve going public as a nonprofit.    Please inquire if you want to help in a small way using basic permaculture methods to improve our forest’s health, message me to learn more.

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