ABOUT SHANTIGAR The Shantigar Foundation is a private nonprofit organization that provides communal space for intimate gatherings and co-stewards one of the Acadian bioregion’s most expansive wildlife corridors.

Our lands lie within the traditional homelands of the Mahican and Pocumtuc tribes.

In 1977, renowned playwright Jean-Claude van Itallie invited his Tibetan Buddhist teacher, Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, to retreat at his farm in Western Massachusetts to write his renowned Shambhala teachings. Trungpa renamed the farm, "Shantigar," which means "Peaceful Home." Since then, our land has been visited by luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Judith Malina, Emilie Conrad, and Terrence McKenna.

Today, we are anchor members of the Franklin County Land Trust in Massachusetts, which connects over 34,000 acres, and an official UMASS-Amherst monitoring site for ongoing pollination studies.

In 2024, the BioFi Project, Regen Network, and Indigenous Commons hosted events with Shantigar to advance #ReFi market designs in service to life.

By joining meditative and artistic practices with the healing power of nature, we offer lifeways for a more peaceful and flourishing planet. Our guests often explore practices that link creative, personal, social, and ecological transformation.

WHY WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT Our goal is to establish Shantigar as a bioregional hub and “living laboratory” for regenerative lifestyles, co-working, residencies, knowledge systems, convenings, research, pilot projects, ecosystem monitoring, tech, art, and learning opportunities.

All funds from the current grant round will be used to support more Regen convenings and projects. In no order, our funding needs include:

• Improving our Hosting Capacity: We often run out of hot water for guests, and have infrastructure and permitting needs to make more spaces on our campus available.
• Hosting more Regen Groups: We intend to drive transformative change by providing regular co-working space for Regens who need an intimate setting for regenerative, bioregional, refi, and indigenous led initiatives.
• Activating our Living Laboratory: We want to host expanded ecological research and monitoring of our landscape to advance place-based projects in nature rights, tech, bioregionalism, and ReFi.

TOGETHER WE CAN

• Build Regenerative systems and movements
• Protect a vital ecosystem
• Empower Regen communities
• Organize BioFi in the Acadian bioregion

CONNECT WITH US Website: Shantigar.org Twitter: @ShantigarORG Instagram: @Shantigar Facebook: @ShantigarFoundation