A MONTHLY EMAIL PUBLICATION of the FIC since 1999. July 24, 2004 1 Communities Magazine Upcoming Fall Issue #124 2 FIC Co-sponsored Events Late Summer & Fall 2004 3 Visions Of Utopia Video DVD Format Available Online 4 We Want You! To Join The FIC _________________________________________________________________ 1 COMMUNITIES MAGAZINE UPCOMING FALL ISSUE #124 Spiritual Communities _________________________________________________________________ Communities magazine editor Diana Christian admits she's completely surprised by the sterling insights, wit, and general “juiciness” of articles submitted for the Fall 2004 Spiritual Communities issue. “I successfully avoided spiritual communities as a theme for the magazine for 10 years now,” she confesses, “mostly because I imagined a slew of pretentious, pedantic, or 'more spiritual than thou' submissions by well-meaning folks offering platitudes instead of substance." Turns out her fears were groundless. “Boy, was I wrong! We got one well-written, vigorous, thoughtful article after another.” Here's a partial line-up so far. Rocky Mountain High: a short, well-written piece about life and practices at Lama Foundation. Living on the Edge of the Abyss: first-person, witty, self- revealing. Why I'm Moving to Findhorn: short, pithy, first-person. Spiritual Beings, Material World: a heartfelt plea from an Ecuadorian ecovillage founder that spirituality be grounded in active ecological service to the planet. Truth Practice, Intimacy, and Social Change: a vigorous, knock- your-socks-off piece from former Zen monk now at an urban FEC commune; about the nexus of community living, political activism, and clarifying the mind. Stay tuned, Diana says. UPCOMING Winter 2004 #125 issue theme: Student Co-ops. Get a sample issue, renew or subscribe here http://store.ic.org/products/communities-magazine.html http://store.ic.org/products/communities-magazine-sampl.html Sample issues by surface mail $6 US - $7 Canada - $8 Other Subscriptions one year 4 issues $20 US - $24 Canada - $26 Other Order by phone fax or mail FIC * 138 Twin Oaks Rd * Louisa VA 23093 800-462-8240 fax 540-894-4112 _________________________________________________________________ 2 FIC CO-SPONSORED EVENTS LATE SUMMER & FALL 2004 Twin Oaks Communities Conference Global Ecovillage North American Conference Many more events listed here http://www.ic.org/events/ _________________________________________________________________ TWIN OAKS COMMUNITIES CONFERENCE Labor Day Weekend - September 3-6th - Louisa, Virginia Text by Anissa Ljanta, Conference Organizer Last night I took a walk through the woods up to our conference site and sat, imagining the Communities Conference unfold in my mind as the last of the sun glittered through the trees. I heard kids playing and birdsong harmonizing with the noises of people engaging in workshops and telling stories around the campfire. I heard music and singing, smelt good food and remembered one woman at the end of last years conference saying she didn't want to go home. I feel honored to be a part of co-creating such amazing event.  For the organizing team the pace is really picking up momentum now, as we get closer to conference time. It looks like we have two interns working on the conferences this year: Beth has already joined us and Monica might be here in a few weeks. Chuck has been living in New Zealand at Anahata Community and is guesting here at Twin Oaks with the express purpose of helping out with Conference preparation. Such a great balance of experience and fresh new ideas and energy. We've never had it so good! Work has begun on upgrading the Conference site kitchen. Chuck is, as I type, up there rewiring the electrics and putting in better lighting. A crew of visitors is scheduled to assist a member-to-be who was a Habitat for Humanity site manager renovate the kitchen. The kitchen will be a brighter, more ergonomic place to work. Yehaaa! Many a great idea is being manifested for the conference itself. Brightly painted flags are being created, Friday evening's program will include a Founders of Community storytelling event and we are planning a tea room, or should I say, 'tea tarp', in the woods just off the main-circle, where there is no structured program, to offer a space where casual networking can unfold. Workshop coordination has been fun and we're all excited about our line-up so far. We have an experienced and dynamic group of workshop facilitators presenting on community related topics, and a bunch of people looking forward to presenting in Open Space. To name a few of the official workshops: CT Butler (co-founder of Food Not Bombs and author of On Conflict and Consensus) will give a workshop on Consensus, by popular demand Kimchi from Earthaven will give her workshop on Permaculture, the amazing Allison Cerulli (ex-Moonshadow) is giving a workshop called Alternative Building in Community. Tony from Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage/Skyhouse is giving Legal Options for Intentional Community. Joy Tekiah and Kate from Twin Oaks are co-facilitating their workshop Income Sharing as Lifestyle Activism and Laird Schaub will be educating and entertaining us with more workshops including Conflict: Fight, Flight, or Opportunity? For those brave enough to have their brains prodded to think out of the box, I am facilitating this years Utopian Architects Program on Monday. Subtitled 'Creating Healthy Culture' we'll be actively exploring the existing landscape of our communities cultures. We'll share what we've learned, identify what we can build on and pinpoint missing elements. We'll facilitate the transition from passive support of corporate brainwashing to conscious creation of healthy culture. Being a utopian architect requires us to be prepared to dive in and out of small groups, shout out, brainstorm and most likely, laugh outrageously. On Monday afternoon we'll be brainstorming the feasibility and logistics of the Community Bus. This has been the dream of many for years: the alternative fueled bus full of propaganda, workshop presenters, musicians, theatre folks, facepainters doing educational shows and workshops to promote sustainable living and the joys of living communally. Is it possible? Is the rumor that there is funding true? Will the 2004 Twin Oaks Communities Conference be where it all starts to take shape?! Come and join us for an unforgettable weekend of fun, networking, communing with nature, deep thinking and good food. Event date Labor Day weekend--we're taking registrations now! *Anissa Ljanta* Secretary of the Federation of Egalitarian Communities Radical educator, Conference Organizer and activist for social change and earth rights The Conference is co-sponsored by the Fellowship for Intentional Community, the Federation of Egalitarian Communities and Twin Oaks Community. Communities Conference at Twin Oaks 138 Twin Oaks Rd Louisa VA 23093 540-894-5126 conference ( at ) twinoaks.org Information and pre-registration http://www.twinoaks.org/conference --------------- THE GLOBAL ECOVILLAGE NETWORK NORTH AMERICAN CONFERENCE An FIC Co-Sponsored Event | September 20-25, 2004 Hollyhock Retreat Centre, Cortes Island, British Columbia DID YOU LIKE THE MOVIE LORD OF THE RINGS? If you think the only magical forests are in New Zealand, or in the California redwood groves then you haven't visited Hollyhock! There are no words adequate to describe the serenity and landscape of an ancient cedar forest on the Pacific ocean. And it's all available at the GEN N. American Conference, Sept. 20-25, 2004. One of our registrants described his reasons for attending: "Whenever there is a high energy gathering of pioneering minds such as the one you are organizing, it is always worthwhile to be present". For more info and to register see http://www.ecovillage.org/conference/index.htm WANT TO HELP DESIGN AN ECOVILLAGE? Kakwa Ecovillage, a new forming community, is offering its first workshop right after the GEN Conference. Come visit and contribute to the vision. Ecovillage Design--Sept 27 through Oct 1, 2004 Max Lindegger internationally renowned ecovillage designer and Diana Christian, editor of Communities Magazine and author of "Creating a Life Together," join to provide the tools for creation and assessment of an "Ecovillage". Topics to be covered: Infrastructure, Water, Energy, Roads, Waste, Organizational Structures Community Vision, Economics, Community Governance, Conflict Resolution , Permaculture Principles in Relationship to Ecovillages, Financing, Government Liaison, Design Methods and Processes Project Planning and Management The course will be held on a 540 acre organic farm looking to evolve into a full-scale "Ecovillage". Student's practical design exercises will be evaluated for implementation into the projects plan. Tuition $800 CDN, meals included. Location: Kakwa Ecovillage, BC, Canada Information about Kakwa Ecovillage http://www.kakwaecovillage.com/ Workshops and Registration http://www.kakwaecovillage.com/workshops.htm _________________________________________________________________ 3 VISIONS OF UTOPIA VIDEO DVD format available online _________________________________________________________________ we recently announced the release of Geoph Kozeny's award- winning video documentary about intentional communities in DVD format. We're happy now to announce that the DVD Volume One version is available at our webstore, as well as by phone fax or mail. To order a copy of Volume One (VHS or DVD) for yourself or to share with your friends Volume One | 94 minutes color VHS (American) or PAL (European) or DVD format (universal) $30 plus $3 S/H standard mail in US http://store.ic.org/products/visions-of-utopia-video.html Order VHS or DVD by phone, fax, or mail FIC :: 138 Twin Oaks Rd :: Louisa VA 23093 800-462-8240 :: fax 540-894-4112 More detailed info about the Video http://fic.ic.org/video Geoph More information about VHS, PAL and DVD formats http://store.ic.org/infopages/video-format-info.html _________________________________________________________________ 4 WE WANT YOU! TO JOIN THE FIC _________________________________________________________________ Seeking more sense of community in your life? Want to help others discover the benefits of cooperative living? FIC membership benefits include invitations, discounts, credit union access, and a newsletter -- but we think the biggest benefit is the knowledge that you're helping bring into reality the vision of a cooperative world. Read more about membership and sign up online using our secure server http://store.ic.org/products/fic-membership.html More info. Request a membership form to be sent by mail. RR 1 Box 156 Rutledge MO 63563 800-995-8342 fic ( at ) ic ( dot ) org Learn more about the mission of the Fellowship organization http://fic.ic.org/index.html