Standing in Love in the Face of Hatred
Posted on September 29, 2017 byThis post by David Spangler first appeared on the Findhorn Foundation’s blog here. There is a dramatic moment in the Fellowship of the Ring, the first book in J.R.R. Tolkien’s acclaimed trilogy, Lord of the Rings, when the Fellowship is racing through the dark caverns of the mines of Moira pursued by a Balrog, a demon from the… Read More
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Intentional Eco-Village Communities: Are Geodomes A Sustainable Answer to Homelessness?
Posted on September 29, 2017 byNote: We acknowledge that homelessness is a complex sociopolitical and community issue, and aim to be respectful of all the various causes and experiences of homelessness. We also believe that community-based solutions are some of the best options because they tend to be more inclusive of local circumstances, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. We welcome… Read More
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Tracing Windward’s Memeology
Posted on September 21, 2017 byThe Haudenosaunee, the Oneida Community, and The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, with its vision of a “polyamorous line family,” all form part of Windward’s conceptual ancestry.
Filed Under: All Blog Posts, Communities Articles, Issue 176, Life in Community, Starting a Community
A New Look at Modern Aging
Posted on September 18, 2017 by1 Comment
This article first appeared on Cohousing USA’s blog here. By Charles Durrett. The last nails are being hammered in. Fresh paint still clings to the damp air. In Port Townsend, Washington, residents of the newly-built Quimper Village Senior Cohousing eagerly await moving into the neighborhood that they co-designed. The neighborhood that not only symbolizes their… Read More
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Our Commitment to Social Justice
Posted on September 18, 2017 by1 Comment
Intentional communities are intrinsically idealistic. They’re based on a radical analysis of social problems and are an attempt to address them. They represent a personal desire to live in a way that feels more satisfying, but also the desire for a better society for all people. They are a recognition that some of the essentials… Read More
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The Secret to Living in Community
Posted on September 16, 2017 byCommunity Bookstore Featured The Secret to Living in Community by Kim Kanney, Community Bookstore Manager Deep Listening The Secret to Living in Community A new film available in digital download and digital rental. Exploring the secrets of Aboriginal wisdom which enable connection and healing, this documentary asks What skills do we need to build successful… Read More
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Providing Regenerative Ecovillage Solutions for the Bonn Climate Summit
Posted on September 15, 2017 byThis November the UN Climate Summit (COP23) will be held in Bonn, Germany, where the imperative will be how to massively scale-up and effectively implement the Paris Climate Agreement. The Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) strongly believes that sustainable communities are already making significant contributions to climate change mitigation and adaptation. It is GEN’s mandate to… Read More
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Consensus: Learning to think and act cooperatively – The Community Builders Forum – Webinar #2
Posted on September 13, 2017 by2 Comments
In the second addition of The Community Builders Forum, the FIC’s new webinar series for members, Laird Schaub takes us through what makes consensus work. Members can participate in these webinars live. For more info on becoming an FIC member, click here. For most people consensus is an unnatural act. It calls for participants to… Read More
Two amazing community events in California
Posted on September 5, 2017 byTwo Amazing Community Events In California West Coast Communities Conference Sept 29 – Oct 1 Building Resilient Communities & Permaculture Convergence Oct 5 – Oct 8 Co-Sponsored by the Foundation for Intentional Community The FIC is proud to sponsor the third annual West Coast Communities Conference, and the Building Resilient Communities & Permaculture Convergence. West… Read More
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The Value of Community: What Defines Success?
Posted on September 1, 2017 by2 Comments
Short-term experiences of intentional community, and short-lived communities, can still have powerful, life-changing, and society-changing effects.
The Communal Studies Association
Posted on August 29, 2017 byCSA and FIC partner to spread awareness of communal groups past and present and the vital lessons they offer, in areas ranging from conflict resolution, sustainability, and equality to the dangers of authoritarianism.
Learning from the Past, #176 Contents
Posted on August 28, 2017 byOur Fall issue, sponsored in part by the Communal Studies Association, focuses on Learning from the Past. Current communitarians reflect on lessons from their own and their communities’ histories, and on inspiration from historical communities that inform their own efforts. Students of communalism share the outcomes of their research, including recipes for success and failure and other insights from past and present communities. Community seekers and founders describe what they’ve learned so far. Throughout, we explore how learning from the past can help us navigate the present and move toward a more vibrant, functional, cooperative future.
West Coast Communities Conference 2017
Posted on August 8, 2017 byWelcome to the 3rd Annual West Coast Communities Conference, Sept 29 – Oct 1 in Souther California! Taking off from last year’s subject of economic justice, we are organizing this year’s topics around the subject of equitable and sustainable income and affordability. Organized by SWICA – South West Intentional Communities Alliance and co-sponsored by the… Read More
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Living Out a Gift Economy in Community with Others
Posted on August 1, 2017 by2 Comments
Putting love into practice can be done even when you have nothing materially.
Public Banks and Credit Unions: What’s the Difference?
Posted on July 24, 2017 byAs we’ve been thinking about intentional communities as alternative loci for power, the question of money and other ways for storing and using it naturally also came up. This article by Marc Armstrong first appeared on Cowboys on the Common’s blog here. Anything that takes control from Wall Street banks is viewed by many as… Read More
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New membership benefits with the Foundation for Intentional Community
Posted on July 22, 2017 byJoin the FIC! Sky Blue, FIC Executive Director Why would I become a member of the FIC? There have always been benefits to FIC membership, and now we’re expanding those benefits. But that’s not the only reason to be a member. Being a member is a way to support the programs and services we provide to… Read More
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Community Is the Best Medicine: A guide to cooperative living on a disability income
Posted on July 21, 2017 byThose living with disabilities have many options for finding community; here are suggestions on where and how to look.
Servant Leadership in Cooperative Business: Stirring It Up at East Wind Nut Butters
Posted on July 11, 2017 byAn egalitarian community’s General Manager reflects on embodying collective values and ecological sanity in a three-million-dollar-a-year business.
Fifty Years of Commune Life
Posted on July 6, 2017 by1 Comment
This article first appeared on Commune Life. For a more theoretical take on the Twin Oaks project, we recommend reading Allen Butcher’s excellent article here. When Twin Oaks was founded (in 1967), they thought a revolution was possible in their lifetime and one of the purposes of Twin Oaks was to show how people could… Read More
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Mobile Home Parks: A Fast and Inexpensive Path to Cohousing
Posted on June 30, 2017 by2 Comments
Mobile home and RV parks present an unequaled opportunity to accelerate the transition to more widespread community living.
Filed Under: All Blog Posts, Communities Articles, Economics, Finding Community, Issue 175, Starting a Community
How do we resolve group conflict?
Posted on June 24, 2017 byCommunity Bookstore Special Best of Communities The Cream of Our Crop Agreements, Conflicts, and Communication by Kim Kanney, Community Bookstore Manager Best of Communities Volume VI Agreements, Conflicts, and Communication A special selection of articles from Communities: Life in Cooperative Culture magazine $10 Digital, $15 Print The Foundation for Intentional Community is pleased to offer you the… Read More
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Community as Economic Engine
Posted on June 21, 2017 by1 Comment
A long-time communard suggests ways non-income-sharing communities can better support their members’ economic well-being.
How We Inspire: Top 100 Documentaries
Posted on June 17, 2017 byTop 100 Documentaries To Change The World by Kim Kanney, Community Bookstore Manager Recently we came across a link to the “Top 100 Documentaries We Can Use to Change the World” from Films for Action. Of course, we FIC-ers are suckers for such click-bait and in any case are eager to explore such lists. As the… Read More
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Climate Change Needs Community-Based Action
Posted on June 15, 2017 byby Ma’ikwe Ludwig This post originally appeared on Cowboys on the Commons. To read Ma’ikwe’s forthcoming book on local environmental activism, Together Resilient: Building Community in the Age of Climate Disruption, please click here. For a follow-up interview about this article, please go here. “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way.… Read More
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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.
Filed Under: All Blog Posts, Communities Articles, Economics, Group Process, Issue 175, Life in Community
The Gift Economy of Standing Rock
Posted on June 1, 2017 by1 Comment
The principles of indigenous culture informed the Water Protectors’ camps: generosity, compassion, and collective survival took precedence.
Towards a Joyful Economics
Posted on May 28, 2017 byFrom Gift Circles in Brooklyn to the sharing economy at an ecovillage-based collective house, the author explores practical applications of Sacred Economics.
Filed Under: All Blog Posts, Communities Articles, Community Where You Are, Economics, Finding Community, Issue 175
Digging Deeper
Posted on May 27, 2017 byA Deeper Look Communities Movement Research By Ma’ikwe Ludwig, FIC Development Director (and Junior Researcher) I’ve been looking at data again. I’ve done this on again off again for the past few years for the various nonprofits I work with, but this data is way more fun than, say, budget numbers. This data is the… Read More
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Re-Membering the Web of Life: The Biological Imperative for Sovereignty, Interdependence, and a Consent Economy
Posted on May 27, 2017 by“To last, love must enflesh itself in the materiality of the world—produce food, shelter, warmth or shade, surround itself with careful acts and well-made things.” —Wendell Berry With our first breath, we sign an unwritten contract. With this signing, we accept certain preconditions for being alive, in this body, here and now, on this Earth.… Read More
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Economics in Cooperative Culture, #175 Contents
Posted on May 26, 2017 byEconomics in cooperative culture—the focus of our Summer issue—is expressed in myriad forms
From cohousing developments to gift-economy activist camps, from spiritual communities to mobile home parks, from income-sharing communities to intentional neighborhoods, people across a wide range of economic circumstances and approaches are discovering the benefits of cooperative economics. Their stories suggest new ways of “stewarding our home” and transitioning into a more inclusive and sustainable future.
