ObaNova · Current Project Guide

ObaNova is imagined as a physical expression of BenBiz: a place where its principles are not only described but tested in space, work, learning and everyday decisions. Remaining distinctly oneself while taking part in a shared life should become a lived arrangement, not an abstract claim.

No centre dictates a finished way of life or a prescribed list of activities. Human dignity, free choice, personal space, care for nature, clear terms and fair recognition of work remain rooted; the people who form a settlement, its real needs and the conditions of its place shape everything else.

• Known: shared principles and an intention to shape living, making, learning and inquiry together.
• To verify: how those principles can be protected in the daily life of each settlement.
• Open to contribution: questions, objections, lived experience and protective practices.

Shared life does not require sameness. People may freely choose the oba that fits their affinities, interests and rhythm of life while keeping personal space, a profession and ties beyond the settlement.

ObaNova cannot be reduced to land, buildings or accommodation. Food, water, shelter and livelihood matter, but so do learning, care, art, play, conversation, rest and the quiet time a person needs for themselves.

• Known: shared life and personal space must be protected together.
• To verify: arrangements for common space, care, decisions, safety and privacy.
• Open to contribution: lived experience, needs, boundaries and practical ideas for life together.

No oba is meant to be a copy of another. Farming and food, livestock and beekeeping, natural building and energy, craft, software, learning—or another field—may take prominence according to local need and the interests and expertise of the people forming that oba.

Specialisation is more than production. Each oba may also work as a living R&D environment: forming questions, trying them at a small scale, observing and measuring, recording what did not work as well as what did, and sharing its learning with other obas. Common knowledge can grow without imposing one model on every place.

• Known: people and local conditions—not a central template—will shape each specialism.
• To verify: research ethics, measurement, records, expert review and how learning is shared.
• Open to contribution: expertise, a research question, field experience, equipment, data or a learning partnership.

Today there is a long-term direction, a set of shared principles and possibilities under inquiry. There is no selected pilot site, confirmed founding team, permission, finance or start date. The 14-decare site in Kumluca–Yazır is one of the candidate sites under evaluation; it has not been purchased or selected. Other options are also being considered.

When a place and team are ready, the first step should not be a whole settlement. It should be a lawful, safe, measurable and, where possible, reversible trial. Water, soil, access, fire safety, permissions, local relationships, true cost and capacity for ongoing care belong to research and validation before any long-term structure is promised.

• Today: the intention, principles, open questions and a route for contribution.
• First small trial: a limited cycle of living, production or learning once place and team are verified.
• Research and validation: land, water, soil, permissions, safety, cost, energy and care.
• Long-term horizon: a network of specialist obas that keep their own character and share what they learn.

Lawful industrial hemp is an important direction BenBiz considers worth exploring; it is not the whole of ObaNova or a task assigned to every oba. Fibre, cloth, paper, insulation, building components, food, oil and other lawful possibilities can be considered only when the right people, place and conditions come together.

Hemp honey, biodiesel, hemp-lime, or the thermal behaviour of hemp and natural stone are not verified product or performance claims here. They are research questions requiring scientific, technical, economic and legal validation. A sound beginning means a permitted variety, traceable seed, a suitable site and a small trial that reveals real outcomes.

• Known: we want to explore lawful, beneficial value pathways for hemp.
• To verify: regulation, variety, local fit, yield, processing, safety, quality, cost and real need.
• Open to contribution: experience in farming, science, textiles, machinery, building, product design or cooperatives.

One person may say, “I have a place or a tool”; another, “There is a need I want to address here”; and another, “I can bring knowledge, work or a research question.” Nobody needs to arrive with a finished project. It is enough to state what is available, where its limits lie and what is missing.

When complementary people and resources meet, purpose, roles, time, safety, permissions, resources, decision rights, expenses and the recognition of work are discussed in advance. Only then may a small Solidarity Circle begin a trial; no unconfirmed person or role is announced as settled.

• Known: a contribution may be space, work, time, knowledge, equipment, material, relationships, data or finance.
• To verify: the people, terms, responsibilities and mutual agreement of every circle.
• Open to contribution: a concrete resource, need, specialism, research question or time you can genuinely offer.

This guide can grow through a question, correction, objection, lived experience, trustworthy source, research proposal or idea for shared work. A contribution is connected to the relevant heading; clarification may be requested, and the reasoned outcome remains visible to the contributor.

Learning from a trial includes its limits and failed approaches as well as its successes. Turkish and English are updated together, while the earlier record is preserved. A contribution made today does not in itself create residency, membership, a job, role, partnership, score, entitlement or payment.