We are an international community exploring new ways of living, sharing, and exchanging in a world of transition. What once began as a ship-based initiative (with the Valparaíso ship) has evolved into an ethereal ship: a living network of people, stories, knowledge, and practices that moves beyond physical borders while remaining deeply rooted in place.
Since 2013, our foundation has grown from an artist hub that hosted over 1,000 international volunteers in Amsterdam's harbor to a platform for learning, co-creation, and cultural exchange. Along this journey, we came to understand that the ship was never merely a vessel but also a metaphor for how societies organize value, relationships, and the commons.
From this insight, the Pirate Economy emerged. Inspired by degrowth and post-growth thinking, we question economic systems built on endless expansion and extraction. Instead, we experiment with economies that prioritize sufficiency, care, and shared well-being. In the Pirate Economy, value is not measured by accumulation, but by meaningful use, reciprocity, and the regeneration of social and ecological systems.
In 2018, we deepened this exploration through the Adventures of the Valparaíso Youth Exchanges, working with young adults and youth workers on storytelling, cultural exchange, and collective learning. These exchanges became laboratories for non-formal education and political imagination. At the same time, we developed the Pirate App as a practical tool to support sharing goods, skills, and experiences beyond conventional market logics, turning theory into everyday practice.
Our approach is rooted in political ecology and decolonial thinking. We recognize that dominant economic models have historically erased local knowledge, exploited land and people, and imposed a single worldview. The Pirate Economy rejects one-size-fits-all solutions. Instead, it embraces the pluriverse—a world where many worlds fit—learning from indigenous, local, and alternative economic practices and honoring cultural diversity as a source of collective intelligence.
Today, with the support of our home base in the Netherlands, we are ready to bring this ethereal vision to life. While the Valparaíso now exists as a decentralized global community, a physical ship is essential to bring this experiment into lived reality. The ship becomes a moving commons: a shared space for learning, exchange, art, and collaboration, where relationships come before transactions and care guides decision-making.
When the time is right, our journey to Valparaíso, will begin. Along the way, we plan to create temporary marketplaces and learning spaces in the United Kingdom, France, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, the Canary Islands, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, and finally Chile. The journey is expected to last around 1.5 years. Each stop becomes a place of encounter, where local communities shape the exchange, rather than being reduced to consumers or destinations.
The ship will carry goods contributed by people and partners, circulating through practices of reuse, repair, and collective stewardship. Through hands-on workshops, we will explore recycling, upcycling, and responsible waste management as practical expressions of a regenerative economy. Learning happens through doing, sharing, and listening.
The Adventures of the Valparaíso is both a journey and a question: what would our economies look like if they were designed for life rather than infinite growth? We invite others to navigate with us toward a more just, regenerative, and pluriversal world.
We are looking for a ship!
