Community Conversations, #164 Contents

Placeholder image for Foundation for Intentional Community website.
Christopher Roth
  • September 3, 2014
  • Relationships
People sitting in a circle on grass in a forested outdoor setting.

Issue #164 • Fall 2014

Community Conversations: Theme Articles

Deepening Community: The joy of togetherness By Paul Born

Community grows when we make time to share our stories, enjoy one another, take care of one another, and work on building a better world together.

Creating a Movement By Rachel Brnjas

Seeking Community and other initiatives of the Tamarack Institute aim to catalyze a community revitalization movement.

Community Conversations Campaign: Final Thoughts and Next Steps By Derek Alton

In an age when prioritizing community is itself radical, self-awareness, self-care, and storytelling are essential to deepening our connections.

A Community Conversation at Whole Village By Sylvia Cheuy

For intentional community members, community comes with added benefits, unique challenges, and a call to authenticity.

The Community We Built By Carly Fraser

Residents of Guelph, Ontario, build community with intention in an existing suburban neighborhood.

Village Conversations: Delburne’s Story By Nora Smith and Karen Fegan

Nearly half of a Canadian town’s residents, from “all sides of the street,” participate in its Community Conversations initiative.

Sharing Stories and Rituals By SILC Guelph

By sitting down to talk, a forming intentional community reconnects with its reasons for coming together.

Kawsmos: The Unintentional Community By Mary Wharff, Elizabeth Schultz, and Deborah Altus

After 11 years of gathering, a group of Kaw Valley’s cosmic explorers realizes that community has happened to them.

Love and Bucket Brigades, Interdependence and Evolution: A Community Conversation at Lampa Mountain Community By Sara Donna

A small communal family discusses how they got good at cooperating, and other essentials of collective life.

A Welcome Intimacy, or Too Little Privacy?: Community Conversations at Lost Valley By Macy Osborne

Is community living the best thing since sliced bread, or the worst thing since sliced bread? It depends who—and when—you ask.

Meta-Conversation: an Exercise in Whimsical and Critical Facilitation By Melanie Meltzer and Mollie Nisen

When they crave an especially deep or challenging discussion, Gesundheit!’s meta-conversers excuse themselves (from the mundane)—then stir the collective pot, lie down, or go for a walk.

Conversations, Continuity, and Community By Paul Freundlich

Dancers learn to embrace change, cooperation, and the physical component of communication.

Conversations Take Wing: The RareBirds Housing Cooperative Story By Mary Jordan

Friends explore their visions and shared purpose, and an intentional community is born.

From Conversation to Community: How a Bunch of Mates Bought Some Land Together By John Hepburn

“Wouldn’t it be great to buy a block of land together in the bush?” Dinner party conversations yield unexpected fruit.

On the Ropes at Harbourside Cohousing By Margaret Critchlow

When creating community becomes a literal tightrope walk, how do the actively aging fare?

Senior Cohousing in Canada

Oakleigh Meadow Cohousing Hard at Work “Building Community, One Conversation at a Time” By Cindy Nickles

Members of a forming community learn about empathy, understanding, conflict-handling, and other elements of healthy communication.

Voices

Letters

Publisher’s Note: Enhancing Community Where You Are By Laird Schaub

Stephen Gaskin Dies at 79 By Laird Schaub

Notes from the Editor: Talking about Community By Chris Roth

Jewish Intentional Community Building in the US By Rachael Cohen

Agriculture, Wild Foods, and the Future: a story about how changing community changed my perspective By Wren Vile

It Is My Turn By Marianne Gueymard

Koh Panyee: A Thriving Community, Defying the Odds By Peter McGugan

The Investment’s Fine—Join the Pool! By Richard Grossman

Radical Governance Changes in Two North American Ecovillages By Diana Leafe Christian

Earthaven and Dancing Rabbit embrace their groups’ evolution and growth with innovative new governance and decision-making methods.

Creating Cooperative Culture: Seeing the Good in the World, Part II: Transformative Learning Experiences at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage By Morgan Middlebrooks and Joshua Lockyer

While helping communitarians measure their progress toward sustainability goals, a college student finds herself unexpectedly changed.

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