The Global Movement of Ecovillages – Community Builders Forum – Webinar #5

Posted on December 21, 2017 by

What to look forward to in this webinar: Ecovillages are communities striving to live well and lightly together. From appropriate technologies to holistic health; from sustainable agriculture to group facilitation, ecovillages are integrating solutions within human-scale communities and creating new cultures and “stories” in which we can live well – and lightly. While not utopias,… Read More


Enright Ridge Urban Ecovillage: A 13-Year-Old Retrofit Ecovillage in Cincinnati, Ohio

Posted on December 21, 2017 by

While it involves inevitable struggles, this replicable model both forms community and provides an ecological framework for living in the city.


Taking a stand for a sustainable and peaceful human presence on the planet

Posted on December 16, 2017 by

      Taking a stand for a sustainable and peaceful human presence on the planet by Sky Blue, FIC Executive Director Escalating Global Crisis – ICs are a Response It’s been quite a year. From the rise of white nationalism, to hurricanes and fires, to threats of nuclear war, to NFL protests, and a seemingly… Read More

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Honoring the Conversation: Turning a Neighborhood into a Community in Intown Atlanta

Posted on December 11, 2017 by

Face-to-face conversation strengthens the sense of community among the diverse constituencies of a nonprofit Land Trust.


The last 30 years have been practice – this is not a dress rehearsal

Posted on December 9, 2017 by

                  Why am I asking you to give to the Foundation for Intentional Community? A message from Sky Blue, FIC Executive Director   Intentional Communities: What is Being Learned?       Humanity is facing unprecedented danger, mostly self-inflicted. What is being learned in intentional communities is applicable and… Read More

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Envisioning Community in 2047

Posted on December 7, 2017 by

Ma’ikwe Ludwig has played various roles with the FIC over the last 20 years. Full bio below. The FIC celebrated it’s 30th anniversary this year. A lot has happened in the last 30 years. What about the next 30? It is generally way more fun for me to contemplate the future than dwell on the… Read More

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DC Community Evolution and Change: Perspectives from Lutheran Volunteer Corps

Posted on December 1, 2017 by

While time has brought increased gentrification, a faith-based community’s fight for social justice in DC is far from over.


This is not a dress rehearsal – 30th Birthday, Day 28

Posted on November 28, 2017 by

Why am I asking you to give to the Foundation for Intentional Community? Sky Blue, Executive Director, FIC For more 30th blog posts click here. The last 30 years have been practice. This is not a dress rehearsal; places everyone! Humanity is facing unprecedented danger, mostly self-inflicted. What is being learned in intentional communities is applicable… Read More

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The Communities Directory – Discovering Centers of Social Resilience – 30th Birthday, Day 27

Posted on November 27, 2017 by

My personal journey of discovering Intentional Communities and attempting to form one, the chance circumstances that connected me to the FIC, the path to reinvigorating the organization, and the exciting future of the legendary Communities Directory. – Christopher Kindig, FIC Business Manager. For more 30th blog posts click here. Communities are Real! When I first realized… Read More

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Back to the City!

Posted on November 26, 2017 by

As Compersia and Point A aim to demonstrate, a city can be the perfect place to start an egalitarian, income-sharing community.


The Peripatetic Communitarian – 30th Birthday, Day 24

Posted on November 24, 2017 by

It was 10 years ago this fall, just after the FIC tribe had gathered for its semi-annual organizational meeting in Austin TX, that we received the news we dreaded, and which we knew was coming: our dear friend Geoph Kozeny had succumbed to pancreatic cancer. It was fitting that so many of us who benefitted… Read More

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Conservation Land Trusts and Intentional Communities – 30th Birthday, Day 23

Posted on November 24, 2017 by

Carrie Rasmussen is the Development Director for the FIC. For more 30th blog posts click here. As a former executive director of a regional land conservation trust, I recently came to the Foundation for Intentional Community (FIC) and the intentional communities movement with a willingness to learn more about what shared living, economies and decision making are… Read More

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Bridging social and cultural divides one community at a time – 30th Birthday, Day 22

Posted on November 23, 2017 by
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Alan O’Hashi is a Board member of the Cohousing Association of the US. For more 30th blog posts click here. What’s been on my mind lately is how intentional communities can help bridge socio-economic divides. Over the years, I have learned that my influence is pretty much confined to communities and organizations that are closest to… Read More

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Urban Communities, #177 Contents

Posted on November 22, 2017 by
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Our Winter 2017 issue, Urban Communities, takes readers on a journey from the US East Coast through middle America to the West Coast, then to Canada and overseas. The communities featured span an equally broad range—from communes to cohousing, from outward-focused to more inward-focused, from retrofit to custom-built, from ecovillages, intentional neighborhood projects, and service-oriented groups to broader efforts to expand and strengthen the urban commons. As our stories make clear, and despite popular preconceptions, in many ways no setting is better suited to intentional community than an urban one—and, even short of full intentional community, city-dwellers have many, ever-evolving options for creating more connection, mutual support, and sharing in their lives.


A long strange trip – 30th Birthday, Day 21

Posted on November 21, 2017 by

Marty Klaif has served on the FIC Board for almost 20 years. For more 30th blog posts click here. As a typically confused mid-twenty-something year old, I became aware of the concept of intentional community while doing self directed historical research into political movements. I found Charles Fourier, Robert Owen, and Josiah Warren among many others who… Read More

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Exploring Full Potentiality – 30th Birthday, Day 20

Posted on November 21, 2017 by

Nébesna Fortin is a member of NextGEN North America among other affiliations, and serves on the Council for the Global Ecovillage Network of North America. For more 30th blog posts click here.  I grew up in an ecovillage in Canada called La Cité Écologique. This project was born out of a child’s dream. At the age of… Read More

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Blog Post Roundup – 30th Anniversary

Posted on November 21, 2017 by

      FIC 30th Birthday Reminiscences by Moumita & Carrie ‘Tis the season for celebrations, resolutions, and good intentions. Thanks to all of you who have joined in our 30th birthday reminiscences. We have so enjoyed reading about what intentional community means to our supporters, and how FIC has been a part of your… Read More

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My Pathway to the FIC – 30th Birthday, Day 19

Posted on November 19, 2017 by

Kim Scheidt has been the FIC accountant since 2006. Full bio below. For more 30th blog posts click here. This year the Foundation for Intentional Community (FIC) celebrates its 30th anniversary. It is hard for me to believe that I have been involved as a FIC staff member for the past 11 of those years. Time… Read More

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The Directory Goes Online – 30th Birthday, Day 18

Posted on November 18, 2017 by

Tony Sirna is a former Board member, ic.org webmaster, and founding member of Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage.  For more 30th blog posts click here. When I took over the FIC web site in 2004 it had already been an amazing resource for a decade. Similarly the Communities Directory had completed it’s third edition and sold tens of… Read More

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Providing resources that sustain the organization – 30th Birthday, Day 16

Posted on November 16, 2017 by
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Kim Kanney is the current Manager of Communities Bookstore. Full bio below. We work hard to curate a rich collection of materials useful to community building, sustainable living, and more. In addition to being one of our core services, Bookstore is also an important income source for the FIC and supports our work. For more 30th blog posts click… Read More

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Visions of Utopia – 30th Birthday, Day 17

Posted on November 16, 2017 by

To celebrate Visions of Utopia, for the rest of the month you can view them free online. Use promos “Visions1” and “Visions2” for the free rental, available at https://vimeo.com/communitybookstore The Fellowship’s first forays into the world of information dissemination were focused on print. After first getting under way in 1987, we produced our first edition of Communities… Read More

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Teaching Feminism by Example – 30th Birthday, Day 15

Posted on November 16, 2017 by

This article, first published in Communities issue #162, is one example of how the FIC cares about educating the public on social justice issues and ending oppression. Kim Scheidt works part-time for the Foundation for Intentional Community in addition to her other jobs as homesteading feminist and half-time mom. For more 30th blog posts click here. By… Read More

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The Shared Life – 30th Birthday, Day 14

Posted on November 15, 2017 by

  Susan Patrice has lived in and helped start a number of communities, and has been involved in various projects and support roles with the FIC.  For more 30th blog posts click here. Living in Intentional Communities radically changed my life. That is not hyperbole, it really did.  And of course, I, like so many others,… Read More

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30 years of building a movement – What have we accomplished?

Posted on November 14, 2017 by

    30 Years Of Building A Movement What Have We Accomplished by Sky Blue, FIC Executive Director 30 years of building community, and a movement  A lot’s changed in the last 30 years. The internet alone as transformed just about everything. We constantly hear stories from people about how they found their community through the… Read More

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What is an intentional community? – 30th Birthday, Day 13

Posted on November 13, 2017 by

The descriptions below were collected and compiled in the early ’90’s by Dan Questenberry. The origin story of the term intentional community can be found at the bottom. Bios for each of the contributors have been left largely as they were when this was first published. Full bio for Dan below. For more 30th blog… Read More

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Commitment to a Better World – 30th Birthday, Day 12

Posted on November 12, 2017 by

For more 30th blog posts click here. Deborah Altus lives in Lawrence, Kansas. She is a professor at Washburn University, a board member of the International Communal Studies Association, and former member of the editorial review board for the FIC. In the 1980s, I lived in a housing co-op (Sunflower House) inspired by B. F. Skinner’s… Read More

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Structures and Cultures of Cooperation – 30th Birthday, Day 11

Posted on November 11, 2017 by

Tree Bressen served on the FIC Board from ’97 – ’03 and got her first “training” as a group process consultant living at Acorn Community, VA. She is one of the creators of the Group Works deck. Full bio below. For more 30th blog posts click here. I’ve been a group process consultant for the better… Read More

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Together Resilient: Building Community and Climate Disruption – The Community Builders Forum – Webinar #4

Posted on November 11, 2017 by

What to look forward to in this webinar: What are the underlying causes of climate change? And what can we do about it? Drawing on her new book, Ma’ikwe Ludwig will talk about community-building from two angles: how it can help us reduce our carbon footprints, and how it can create pockets where we are… Read More


Why I Study Intentional Communities – 30th Birthday, Day 10

Posted on November 10, 2017 by

Zach Rubin studies movements and social, and recently helped with a study on decision-making in established intentional communities. We’re thrilled to have this kind of research, showing from a scientific perspective what many of us have long experienced to be the benefits of living in community. Full bio below. For more 30th blog posts click here.… Read More

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We remember when we fought the FIC to create a website for them – 30th Birthday, Day 9

Posted on November 8, 2017 by
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Elph, Jillian, and Michael were the creators of the FIC’s website. For other 30th blog posts click here. ‘Gators patrolled the misty waters below the boardwalks of Miccosukee Land Coop  as we walked in the moonlight, hands ever so slightly brushing. It was October 1994 and excitement abounded amongst the cypress trees cradling the land that… Read More

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