Group Process
On Community: A Graduated Series of Consequences and the “Community Eye”
Posted on November 26, 2019 byJust knowing the community has this process in place deters people from breaking agreements. People don’t want to get a knock at the door by one fellow community member, much less three or four.
Whatever Happened to the Renaissance Community?
Posted on November 12, 2019 by1 Comment
Despite the lethal combination of power, ego, and spirituality that brought the Renaissance Community to an end, most of its ex-members cherish their time there as a growth experience that made them better people.
Founder’s Syndrome
Posted on October 22, 2019 byThe original founder, visionary, and main public point person for Bellyacres for over a quarter of a century laments that some members came to consider him “the root of all present, past, and future problems in the organization.”
The Expert
Posted on October 8, 2019 byWow! This woman has it all! She’s the answer to so many of our current dilemmas! What could possibly go wrong? A lot.
Village-Building Stumbles: A few of the things Earthaven Ecovillage has gotten wrong
Posted on October 1, 2019 byThose of us privileged enough to find ourselves in an intentional community often imagine that our environment will be free of the horrors and evils of the world. But alas, we bring it all with us.
Relationships in a Community-Forming Group
Posted on July 23, 2019 byWhile trying to start a community with poly-friendly collaborators, two monogamous partners achieve greater clarity in their six-year relationship, and end it.
The Sting of Discrimination: When Polyamory Is Considered a “Red Flag”
Posted on June 25, 2019 by9 Comments
Previously on the path to community acceptance, an applicant experiences for the first time “the direct sting of bigotry, the shock of exclusion based on stereotypes” when her family is denied on the basis of polyamory.
Your Monthly Freebie: Think Outside the Boss
Posted on June 8, 2019 byThis month’s Free Resource comes from Sustainable Economies Law Center, an organization whose mission is to “cultivates a new legal landscape that supports community resilience and grassroots economic empowerment.” Think… Read More
Your Community and the Law
Posted on April 30, 2019 byEarthaven Ecovillage learns the hard way that it’s important for a community to choose its legal entities carefully, and to consult and listen to lawyers. A member shares some lessons from their ordeal.
Growing Together through Trauma, with the Land
Posted on April 9, 2019 byWhen La’akea Community’s stability is disrupted and its existence threatened by the aftermath of an earthquake, members discover that their land is a much larger source of “glue” to keep them together than they had thought.
How We Came to Inherit a Salmon Stream
Posted on March 30, 2019 byThe residents of Sahale Learning Center and EcoVillage welcome the salmon who swim from the Hood Canal up the Tahuya River each year to spawn.
4 Building Blocks of Community
Posted on February 25, 2019 byStart a Village “If you don’t like the way things are, Start a Village!” This was the essential message that Stephen Brooks delivered at his enthusiastic TEDx talk at Black… Read More
Skill Building for a Culture of Collaboration
Posted on January 7, 2019 byTo build a healthy cultural infrastructure, it’s important to clarify your cooperative decision-making process, adopt conflict tools, and commit to the ongoing development of collaborative skills in your group.
What it Takes to Create Community Connection
Posted on December 3, 2018 byCommon Conceptions of Community How can we create community connection — including more support, belonging, smiles, and growth — in our lives? Bianca Heyming gave a TED talk based on… Read More
Perennial Lessons from Historical Communities
Posted on October 30, 2018 by1 Comment
A modern-day communitarian “networks” with Fourierist communities of the 1840s by examining their lives together and noticing enduring themes, challenges, and solutions.
How to Help One Another: Connecting Cohousing Communities in a Regional Network
Posted on October 9, 2018 byIn the PDX-Plus Cohousing Group, individual member groups find it simultaneously reassuring, daunting, and energizing to learn that their challenges and joys in living intentionally in community are shared.
Inclusivity and Disability
Posted on September 28, 2018 by2 Comments
Cohousing aspires to be as inclusive as possible, but North American culture suppresses conversation about disability and health. How can communities create processes to address previously invisible needs?
Liberation, Networks, and Community
Posted on September 21, 2018 by3 Comments
Movements and networks of liberation show us that community can be a tool either of oppression or of powerful organizing for liberation. It’s time for our movement to get solidly on the right side of history.
Connect: Now More Than Ever
Posted on September 7, 2018 byTime spent at Lost Valley and La’akea inspires a passion not just for community and its heart-opening, communication-deepening, earth-connecting effects, but also for communal networking and the difference it can make in the world.
Leading Edges of Collaboration: GENNA Alliance
Posted on August 26, 2018 bySix key networking organizations come together to serve the regenerative communities movement by forming GENNA, the North American branch of the Global Ecovillage Network.
Answering the “Call of the Mountain” through a Spiralling Network of Sustainability
Posted on August 25, 2018 byOrganizing a networking gathering yields many benefits, but the collatoral trials and tributions take their toll on this organizer—now recharging by prioritizing farm and family.
Combating Racism, One Community at a Time
Posted on March 26, 2018 by1 Comment
Catholic Worker communities throughout the Midwest examine themselves, make changes, and reach out in an effort to overcome the insidious influences of white supremacy.
Class, Race, and Privilege in Intentional Community
Posted on March 24, 2018 byA co-owner of Heart-Culture Farm Community explores ways to use her privilege to help create a society where people are truly equal.
I’m Not a Racist, But Racism Is In Me—and in My Community
Posted on March 22, 2018 byPredominantly white communities are going to stay that way until they acknowledge and address racism. Here is some guidance for doing that.
Reflections on Class from a Newbie at Rocky Hill Cohousing
Posted on March 20, 2018 by2 Comments
A cohousing project’s budget can help address class and classism—but the community also needs to articulate and explore its culture’s underlying or hidden rules.
White Bias, Black Lives: When Unconscious Bias Affects Your Community
Posted on March 18, 2018 byMembers of Sunward Cohousing recognize and attempt to transform their community’s differential treatment of white-skinned and dark-skinned neighborhood children.
Moving Beyond Diversity Towards Collective Liberation: Weaving the Communities Movement into Intersectional Justice Struggles
Posted on March 8, 2018 byThe co-organizer of the People of Color Sustainable Housing Network shares strategies for deepening your community’s work on issues of race, class, and privilege.
Participatory Budgeting in an Income-Sharing Community
Posted on June 11, 2017 by1 Comment
How does one share income and expenses among a hundred people? Twin Oaks discovers how to supplant apathy with widespread engagement.
Public vs. Private: Group Dilemma Laid Bare!
Posted on January 11, 2017 by1 Comment
For some neighbors, the logical leap from “glimpse of skin” to “nudist colony” is a surprisingly short one to make.
Five Tools to Help Groups Thrive
Posted on December 21, 2016 byA clearly articulated evolutionary purpose, a welcoming of the whole self, and governance through self-management are keys to collective success.
