This section expands on the previous considerations regarding the cooperative at TEIKEI by addressing concrete questions about membership, financial contributions, budgeting, profit distribution, and decision-making logic.
It is intentionally written in an explanatory style to provide orientation –
not as a final set of rules, but as a shared framework for collective thinking.
Members of the TEIKEI cooperative are not automatically all participants.
A cooperative does not mean: "Everyone does everything."
Members are those actors
who wish to take long-term responsibility for supporting the network.
Potential members include:
Not every participant needs to be a cooperative member.
Participation and membership are two distinct levels.
A financial contribution to TEIKEI is not an investment in the traditional sense,
but rather a contribution to shared ownership.
The contribution finances:
The contribution:
TEIKEI intentionally considers different forms of participation, not a one-size-fits-all model.
Individuals (e.g., from the core circle or regions)
can purchase cooperative shares.
Organizations can become members of the cooperative, such as:
In this case:
This keeps the cooperative manageable
while remaining diverse.
Important:
Not every established community automatically results in a cooperative share.
An organizer:
Possible approaches include:
TEIKEI intentionally separates:
Organization of communities
and
Ownership of the overall system.
Producers are central actors in TEIKEI –
but not automatically part of the ownership structure.
Possible models:
The key question is:
Both are valuable, but not the same.
TEIKEI does not pursue classic profit maximization.
The general principle is:
Possible uses of surpluses:
Whether and in what form profits are distributed:
TEIKEI clearly distinguishes between budget authority and operational decision-making.
The cooperative:
It does not decide on individual invoices or operational expenditures.
The core circle:
Operational circles:
Regions:
At TEIKEI, agreements are not primarily made through voting,
but through clear arrangements between levels.
This means:
This ensures clarity about:
Not everyone who participates in TEIKEI
needs to be a cooperative member.
But everyone who is a cooperative member
takes responsibility for the whole.
At TEIKEI, capital follows responsibility –
not the other way around.
The cooperative is not a catch-all,
but a supporting circle
that gives the network stability
so that diversity can thrive.
One level up: TEIKEI Cooperative
Author: Felix Schröder, with assistance from AI (ChatGPT)
Creation: written by Felix Schröder › formatted in Markdown by ChatGPT › published by Felix Schröder › layout adjusted by Claude
Created: 2026-01-22 · Last updated: 2026-04-21 · Questions or feedback? support@teikei.us