Questions & answers

We are happy to publish interesting information on our portal that is in line with our work. Please send the information to our head office via the contact page so that the editorial team can process it. We particularly welcome tips on:

• Literature (old knowledge about our fields of activity, books)
• Video material (YouTube, Vimeo, or documentaries on DVD)
• Products or ideas that make people more independent
• Events

We reserve the right to assess submissions with regard to our work and, where appropriate, to decline publication.

Comments are a way for members to express their opinions in the members’ area of the GAIA portal.

We appreciate it when this feature is used respectfully. Constructive comments are a pleasure for authors, contributors and readers alike.

Here are a few principles we consider important:

• Comments must be on topic, respectful, polite and easy to understand — no vulgar language.
• Please write continuous text and avoid lots of blank lines and unnecessary line breaks.
• Note that your nickname will be clearly visible to all members once the comment has been approved.
• Read your comment through once more before you send it. Typos happen quickly.

We reserve the right to approve comments based on these principles. In the case of harassing remarks, hostility towards members, unjustified criticism or defamation, we also reserve the right to delete comments and, if repeated, to take further steps.

There can be several reasons for this:

• We have no information on it.
• The data has not (yet) been prepared for download.
• The technology is still a work in progress.
• The person (e.g. the inventor) from whom we received the plans has not (yet) given GAIA permission to publish them.

Once released, plans for products can be found on the GAIA marketplace.

Plans can only be made available once a technology we have developed is complete. Preparing plans for download is a lot of work and only makes sense when the technology is mature enough that it can be expected to work properly.

We are also happy to make plans for other technologies available to our members for download if they have already been prepared and exist in a proper, downloadable format. We never accept responsibility for whether such plans work. We also point out that the material provided (construction plans, downloads, etc.) is exclusively for private use.

Any commercial use constitutes a copyright infringement and may be prosecuted.

We try to offer members a high level of security. Content in the members’ area can only be viewed after a personal login, which means it is generally not reachable by search engines. In addition, we use software that makes unauthorised access more difficult and reduces the risk of systematic queries. We keep these mechanisms constantly up to date. Online, however, there is never absolute security.

Please feel free to send your suggestions directly to our head office. Use our contact page to do so.

Send us your question via our contact page. We advise against posting important questions in comments.

The Society for Self-Sufficiency always treats personal data confidentially and does not pass it on to third parties without asking you first.

To work actively in a working group, we need to get to know each other personally. Active involvement also depends on your specific skills and on what is feasible in your region. Alternatively, you can send us a message via our contact page.

An important task for every member is also to inspire people with the idea behind the Society for Self-Sufficiency — the pursuit of greater personal independence. Use the “Invite friends” function on your profile page for this. That way you actively contribute to the growth of the Society and thus to strengthening the community.

Under the menu item “Events” we list public and non-public events of our own and from our network. If you would like to organise an event on behalf of the Society yourself, please contact our head office via the contact page to clarify the details.

We support members who want to actively share knowledge. Please contact us via the contact page. We check whether your planned event is in line with §2 of the statutes and then plan the next steps together.

Above all, when planning a seminar it is important that you can hold a seminar professionally and know the subject extremely well — for example, that you can answer questions competently.

When planning a workshop, it is important that you are qualified in the subject. The Society for Self-Sufficiency only provides the framework for announcing an event. We take care of the announcement in the members’ area and pass the participants on to you. However, we accept no liability for the manufacture, the warranted properties or the functioning of any device offered by members in workshops. As a rule, we also do not handle the finances of paid events in advance.

After a successful seminar or workshop, however, it may be possible to turn it into a project.

The application to found the Society was entered in the central register on 19 September 2011. At that time, 6 founding members formed the Society as an association. The first information evening took place on 3 November 2011 in Kuchl near Salzburg.

You can find a selection of the active members in the members’ area, with an overview on the contacts page. A much larger part of our work is done on a voluntary basis by many supporters. We cannot determine the exact number of these people.

The board is governed as a body by §14 ff. of the statutes and is listed in the Austrian central register of associations. The board currently consists of:

• Roberto Reuter as chairman
• Markus Leo Otto as deputy chairman and secretary
• Rupert Schnitzhofer as treasurer

Since the association was founded in 2011, voluntary supporting contributions have increasingly been used for specific purposes. From the founding of the association until 2013, about two thirds of the contributions went into technical development — the rest into administration.

After the expansion to 4 fields of activity was decided and implemented in 2013, the funds have increasingly also been spread across Knowledge & Education, Health & Nutrition and Economy & Finance.

Since monthly income fluctuates with the number of new members, the amount of the contributions and their payment intervals, not only the possible pace of work but also the percentages allocated vary. We therefore cannot give binding figures for these percentages. The association’s finances are based on proper bookkeeping and are regularly and independently audited by 2 auditors.

We are working on technologies that will give us and future generations more independence and freedom. Our stated goal is that no more wars need to be fought over energy. Unfortunately, there are enough forces in our society that want exactly the opposite. It follows that:

As long as plans, materials, cuts and semi-finished parts keep changing — above all in our technical fields — based on experience from ongoing development, we work on these things only within the individual active developer groups. Our attention is also on protecting our members. Time and again, right up to the recent past, small groups or individual developers have been attacked by criminal parts of our society. So as long as we are not yet a movement of several thousand people, it is still easy to obstruct us — and the easier, the more is known about our capabilities and our internal structure. That is why we are as transparent as possible and at the same time as closed as necessary.

Once a GAIA development is complete and at least ready for series production, and once our association is large enough, we will share the knowledge we have gained with members within the association in an easily understandable way (e.g. in workshops).

In accordance with §2 of its statutes, the Society for Self-Sufficiency (GAIA) pursues several funding objectives.

• In Energy & Technology, the following projects have been started so far:
  • Heating with water — fully automatic GAIA HHO cell: Until the end of 2013, the focus in this area was on completing the fully automatic HHO cell. Work has continued since then on completing the cell with a heat exchanger for heating purposes. The goal is a fully automatic heating system for single-family homes.
  • Electricity from magnetism — magnet generator: Work on the magnet generator was pursued intensively from autumn 2011 to summer 2012. Several prototypes were built and developed further on the basis of the Bedini system. This development brought both successes and setbacks. In future we intend to start a new build of the magnet generator, taking into account what we have learned. Our own project has been on hold since then, however.
  • Energy from mechanics — experiments with planetary gears
  • Energy from batteries — experiments with battery technologies
• In Health & Nutrition, projects started so far include:
  • Project Terra Felix — together with organic farmers we are improving the quality of arable soil
  • Distribution of the TESLA experiment kit (cell activator)
• In Knowledge & Education, projects started so far include:
  • Project support for school initiatives — we support school initiatives, provide structural guidance for the formation of free-learning groups and support existing groups, e.g. by providing extensive knowledge databases.
• In Economy & Finance, projects started so far include:
  • Support for activities on unconditional basic income — information events and seminars on the subject take place under the GAIA umbrella.

We also actively work on growing the association, to raise awareness in society and as a prerequisite for achieving our goals. To this end the portal is continually being expanded. Many adjustments, extensions and optimisations — above all in the members’ area — are implemented on an ongoing basis.

Supporting the philanthropic (freely financed) Society is easy. To start a membership, register online. You are free to choose the amount of your supporting contribution within the amounts given.

Supporting contributions can be changed at any time and take effect from the next payment interval. It is important to us that you can always choose a different amount — one you can afford freely and without worry at that moment. Of course, we hope for your long-term support so that projects can be carried out purposefully.

You can end your membership at any time without notice. Just send a message via the contact page. If you are personally dissatisfied, we ask you to get in touch and give us the chance to talk things over before you end your membership. We strive to run the association in the interest of all members in every area. Our goal is to become a large movement.

You can also support the work of the Society with a simple donation. There are two ways to do this: use PayPal, or transfer directly to our account with the reference “Spende” (donation). We thank you in advance for every donation!

Membership comes with no obligations — apart from the contribution you choose yourself, which is equivalent to a regular donation. Since growth in particular is important for introducing new technologies, every single member counts. We are delighted when you decide to join us.

You can overwrite the membership number (until 2019) on your profile page. Since 2020 usernames can be chosen freely. If a name already exists, the system will tell you.

You always log in to the members’ area with your membership number or username and the password you chose yourself.

This section existed on the old website until 2014. Due to lack of interest it was no longer maintained and was switched off on the new portal in 2020. If there is enough interest, we will work on providing it again in the members’ area with extended features.

A central phone number has been offered on the website since 2018. However, we recommend sending us your questions in writing. That way we can, for example, pass them on to regional contacts more easily. Use the contact page or send us an email or fax. Regardless of this, we keep working on improving our infrastructure.

By definition, the law distinguishes between the two groups of members. The main differences are:

• extraordinary members, as supporting members, are exempt from all liability and have no voting rights
• ordinary members are liable for the affairs of the association, have voting rights and can take part in the general meeting

Much as with many other societies with a large membership, supporting members have become convinced of the work or the goals of the Society and, given its conduct and the necessary transparency, trust that the work is done properly.

The Society was founded in 2011 by 6 people, most of whom form the board today as ordinary members. The admission of further ordinary members is governed by §4 and §5 of the statutes.

There is no difference between the two terms. We use the term “voluntary supporting contribution”.

The general meeting takes place at least every five years. Ordinary members are notified of general meeting dates in good time. All details on the general meeting as a body are set out in §13 of the statutes.

A managing director was appointed in 2014. Since 2016 he has worked as executive chairman.

The appointment of a managing director is governed by §19 of the statutes.

Arbitrators help settle disputes. They are chosen case by case before the courts can be called upon. It is a sensible procedure — similar to mediation — to avoid unnecessary legal action.

Usually members come forward on their own with an idea for a project. Anyone interested can contact the Society via the contact form and describe their project there.

After an initial assessment, the options for carrying it out are worked out together with those involved. Depending on the type of project, there are many ways to implement it. In any case, the framework must be agreed in advance by mutual consent. This includes, among other things, arrangements on the time frame, budget, any materials needed and the way the work is documented.

When a project is completed successfully, a publication process usually follows. The knowledge gained is then prepared appropriately and, depending on the circumstances, made available free of charge or for a fair contribution towards costs. From that point on, the knowledge is freely accessible.

Freely accessible means in particular that anyone can use the knowledge or the technology. As for the risk of pirate copies, it is up to the character of each member how far they take responsibility towards the Society. But one thing is clear: the foundation for spreading the knowledge has been laid.

The first product is the fully automatic round HHO cell. These were first built with members in spring 2013. The workshops were organised as part of our work within the Society and run under his own responsibility by Christoph Beiser. To date more than 25 units exist, built in 2 workshops. For a while, the group of cell owners worked on completing the cell with a heat exchanger so that it could be used as a heater. Most of the cells, however, are used for welding.

The second product is the KoSi — a silver colloid generator. All details on the KoSi SILBER – Power 1000 can be found on the GAIA marketplace.

We know of rare cases in which virus scanners are somewhat “over-motivated”. Basically that is a good thing. But they misinterpret the tracking in our newsletters. That may sound unusual, but because we send our newsletters ourselves, independently of third parties, virus scanners are not specialised enough for such niches and raise an alarm just to be safe.

Remedy: Please whitelist our domain — then this should no longer happen. There is no general solution.

Note: Our website is constantly and proactively checked by several independent services for damage (malware, viruses, Trojans, brute-force attacks).

We place great importance on security, but there is simply no such thing as absolute security online. Even so, it is extremely unlikely that there is a serious threat.

Images and videos published on our portal are subject to copyright — just as everywhere else in public. The Society and all its bodies are, in the legal sense, the intellectual creators of all content they publish in the form of text, images and film — unless other sources are explicitly indicated. Copying and republishing without first obtaining written permission is prohibited. For requests to use images or videos, please use our contact form. We reserve the right to take action against infringements within the scope of the law.

You can only log in to the members’ area with your membership number (or username) and password. In any case, you need a valid membership. Logging in via social networks or other third parties is not supported. However, we keep developing and may offer this option in future.

You log in with your membership number (until 2019) or, since 2020, with a username, together with the password you chose when registering.

If you have forgotten your password, you can reset it in the login forms or here.

Resetting the password only works with the email address used when registering. If you no longer have access to it, contact us.

We actively protect the portal against spam and automated access. If you have trouble logging in with your browser, please check your browser’s security settings first.

If you use ad blockers such as Adblock, your browser blocks the cookie that keeps you logged in until you log out. You are then logged in, but every time you open a post or a subpage the browser “forgets” that you are logged in.

We place great importance on security. Among other things, this includes the security of the member data and internal content we store. Online, however, there is never absolute security. When everyone lives and applies their understanding of security, the result is a “safe bet”.

So please choose a secure password. One way to create a secure password is to make up a medium-length personal sentence and use the first letters of its words as the password. Example: “I was in Rome for the first time in July 2005.” The password would be: “IwiRftftiJ2005”.

Alternatively, you can choose a term, replace its vowels with numbers and/or add punctuation. Example: “Olaf Erfinder”. The password would be: “0l4f3rfind3r!”.

A financial year runs from 1 January to 31 December. Regardless of this, memberships and all other activities can start or end at any time during the year.

Preference is given to people who, by training or skills, can audit and assess finances.

The auditors are elected at the general meeting for a maximum of 5 years. The election and responsibilities of the auditors are described in §18 of the statutes.

One-off or regular donations and supporting contributions are the financial basis of the Society’s work. They are its main source of income. The income is used sustainably and to create value.

The exception was income from advertisements in the “GAIA Perspektiven” — the Society’s former newsletter to its members — which, while it was published, was devoted entirely to its production, printing and distribution.

We are happy to issue confirmations of supporting contributions on request. Please use the contact page. You will then shortly receive a PDF confirmation at your email address. We are working on automating confirmations of supporting contributions further.

Please note that supporting contributions are exempt from VAT because they do not require any direct consideration in return, and they are not tax-deductible.

The records are audited every year both by an external firm of tax advisers and by two auditors.