A MONTHLY EMAIL PUBLICATION of the FIC since 1999, serving over 4000 subscribers. March 25, 2006 1 Dynamic Maps In The Online Directory 2 Featured Bookshelf Titles At Sale Prices 3 Communities Magazine Issues 4 Communities Conference At Twin Oaks 5 Help Build A More Cooperative World! _________________________________________________________________ 1 DYNAMIC MAPS IN THE ONLINE DIRECTORY By Tony Sirna _________________________________________________________________ We've added an exciting new mapping feature to our Online Directory http://directory.ic.org Using Google's mapping technology we now have dynamic maps showing where each community in our database is located. Now you can look for communities in a given country, state, or region in an easy-to-use map-based system. Find out which communities are in your area by centering the map on your zip or postal code, or your city & state. While Google maps does support street address mapping we chose to map communities only to their zip-postcode or city-state-country location so more people don't start showing up at listed communities unannounced :-) We will be adding more features to the Online Directory and to the whole ic.org website in the coming months. The current count of listed communities is 1050 in the United States alone, with a grand total of 1525 listed worldwide! http://directory.ic.org _________________________________________________________________ 2 FEATURED BOOKSHELF TITLEs at SALE PRICEs Reviews by Catherine Nicosia, Community Bookshelf Manager _________________________________________________________________ REINVENTING COMMUNITY: Stories From The Walkways of Cohousing edited by David Wann 2005 * 270 pages * paperback There are several excellent titles now available on the subject of cohousing, some of which we offer. Cohousing, The Cohousing Handbook, Senior Cohousing and Sustainable Community all come to mind. These books do a great job of detailing the how-to of cohousing and giving an overview of the growth of the cohousing movement from its origins in Scandinavia. Now with Reinventing Community, David Wann has given us an anthology of the stories of the real people who are building and living in these communities. There are a wide variety of voices and groups represented in the 50 short pieces that make up this book. The stories cover everything from planning a community to moving in to the joys and challenges of daily life. There are some very funny moments, some bittersweet moments and some thoughtful insights. The editor does an excellent job of providing a good sense of what life is like for the inhabitants of cohousing communities. While one can read the book straight through, it also is fun to dip into the book at different points and read stories that are particularly interesting. Some of the best tales are about community activism, ecological concerns, building diversity and growing sustainable neighborhoods. The only topic that really seemed to be missing is where cohousing folks see themselves in relationship to the larger communities movement. We can hope that connection will be written about in the near future. I do recommend this book highly to everyone interested in or already a part of the cohousing movement. Regular price $18.00 Special price $15.00 http://store.ic.org/catalog/specials.php ---------- ADDITIONAL NEW SPECIALS AT THE IC STORE We want to let the readers of this newsletter know about our Specials Page. We highlight not only our current monthly offerings, but other titles available at special prices. This month, we are adding two new books to the lineup from our Social Change category. UPROOTING RACISM: regularly $18.00, now $14.00. EVERDAY ACTS AGAINST RACISM: regularly $16.00, now $12.00. Both of these books are excellent resources for educators and others interested in this topic. ---------- Shipping/handling 3.00 S/H for first item 1.00 S/H for each additional item S/H prices are for Standard Mail postal delivery within US. This eNews special offer is valid through [[offerdate]]. Information, catalog, ordering http://store.ic.org/bookshelf Community Bookshelf RR 1 Box 156 Rutledge MO 63563 800-995-8342 bookshelf ( at ) ic ( dot ) org Shop online for lower shipping rates, more shipping options, and more sale items. http://store.ic.org/catalog/specials.php _________________________________________________________________ 3 COMMUNITIES MAGAZINE ISSUES Just ahead and coming in the summer By Diana Leafe Christian, Editor _________________________________________________________________ JUST AHEAD IN THE SPRING ISSUE Sustainability And Peak Oil #130 Here's some of the exciting material coming in the spring issue, at the printer now, will be mailed in a few weeks: * Community Survival During The Coming Energy Decline What is Peak Oil and why should we care? Are ecovillages, sustainable communities and organized eco-neighborhoods any better prepared than people living in mainstream culture? Jan Steinman and Diana Leafe Christian. * Resources for Learning More about Peak Oil * An Energy Primer: How we Consume our Ancient Sunlight Jan Steinman illuminates for the layperson the nature of physical energy and its power to perform work over a period of time, and what this means from barrels of oil to gasoline to electric lights. * Some Energy Forms and Units * Peak Oil and Community Food Security Organized neighborhoods and small towns are ensuring their future food supply, says Ethan Genauer, from farmers' markets and CSA farms to food-justice activists and "relocalization" efforts. * How Vulnerable Are We to Food Scarcity? The Relationship Between Oil and Food * Essential Questions About Food Security * City Repair and the Opportunity of Peak Oil Peak Oil is an opportunity for neighborhoods and small towns to recreate community connection, say Lydia Doleman and Mark Lakeman, who show how Portland's City Repair Project does this now with intersection repair projects, its annual Village Building Convergence, and Dignity Village, a residential village for formerly homeless people. * Peak Oil as "Opportunity"? Peak Oil is not an "opportunity" and ecovillages are not necessarily well-prepared for its effects, says Global Ecovillage Network president Jonathan Dawson, who cautions us not to dismiss its potential for serious disruption of ecovillage life. * Helping Friends and Neighbors Prepare We want to share the likely consequences of Peak Oil with others, but where do we start? Megan Quinn offers suggestions from the Peak Oil Leadership Training workshops. * Preparing For A Post-Carbon World: Why I'm Joining O.U.R. Ecovillage Guy Prouty and fellow community members intend to create a "community lifeboat" so that when times get tough they can depend on each other. * Living the (Almost) Petrol-Free Life How one man gave up most aspects of oil-dependency two decades ago, his day-to-day life in community now. Is this workable? Could others do it? Patricia Greene. ---------- COMING UP IN THE SUMMER ISSUE Good Works: Communities in Service to Others Summer 2006 #131 Has your community gone out of its way to be of service in some way; for example, benefiting the environment, or helping people in need? Or have members of your community individually supported a service effort or created their own service project? Some communities (or individual community members) have supported relief efforts for tsunami victims or Katrina victims, set up soup kitchens for the homeless, or offered help to Central American political refugees. If you or your community has a story like this to tell, we'd like to share it with our readers. Contact us right away as the deadline for submissions is very close at hand. communities ( at ) ic ( dot ) org 828-669-9702 ---------- Get a sample issue, renew or subscribe here http://store.ic.org//communities/sample.php http://store.ic.org/cmag Sample issues $4 plus $3 S/H by US standard mail. Shop online for lower shipping rates and more shipping options. 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 _________________________________________________________________ 4 COMMUNITIES CONFERENCE at TWIN OAKS An FIC Co-Sponsored Event :: August 18 - 20, 2006 Twin Oaks Community near Louisa, Virginia _________________________________________________________________ Organizing has begun for the annual Communities Conference at Twin Oaks. With over 25 different communities represented annually, it is a prime opportunity to network amongst other community minded folks. It is an ideal event for people who are looking for community, as well for those already living in community, to share and learn from each others experiences. It is a co-created conference, with shining eyed people, contributing their helping hands, ideas, perspectives and energy. There will be the famous Saturday night dance, campfires, singing, open space, workshops by experienced and dynamic presenters, the infamous mudpit, hammocks, good food and more. An unforgettable weekend for many! Join us at Twin Oaks' conference site in the woods! We'll be delving into the nuts and bolts of community with a variety of workshops on topics such as cooperative decision-making, intentional relationships, forming community, community econmics, and many more. Children are welcome. The Conference is co-sponsored by The Fellowship for Intentional Community http://www.ic.org The Federation of Egalitarian Communities http://www.thefec.org Twin Oaks Community http://www.twinoaks.org Communities Conference at Twin Oaks 138 Twin Oaks Rd Louisa VA 23093 540-894-5126 conference ( at ) twinoaks.org Information and registration form http://www.twinoaks.org/conference _________________________________________________________________ 5 HELP BUILD A MORE COOPERATIVE WORLD! _________________________________________________________________ E. B. White once said, "I arise in the morning torn between a desire to save the world and a desire to savor the world. This makes it hard to plan the day." Like many of us faced with the same dilemma each morning, you can choose to improve the world in a way that also helps you (and many others) to savor it at the same time. Join the FIC! If you've already joined, donate! It's easy, it's fast, it gets you discounts and other benefits... but best of all, it's a way to both enjoy being part of a vast network of community-minded folks, and also enable the growth of that very network. So, don't fret over whether to improve the world or enjoy it--do both. Savor community living while bringing it to more people. Please join us. For more info on member benefits and to join online using our secure server go to http://store.ic.org/membership To request a membership form by mail, or to email, or to talk with a human, contact us at RR 1 Box 156 Rutledge MO 63563 800-995-8342 fic ( at ) ic ( dot ) org To learn more about the mission of the organization visit http://fic.ic.org/index.html Many thanks from all of us in the Fellowship.