This Year, We’ll Need Community More Than Ever
Posted on December 15, 2016 byI woke up on Election Day ready to get the whole thing over with. My life was already in a state of transition: the eco-village I’d lived in for two years was on the of cusp of disbanding. The new collective house I was moving into into had a lot of things to get in order:… Read More
How This Toronto Nonprofit Encourages Collaborative Consumption
Posted on December 12, 2016 byFor years, the news media has been looking to Silicon Valley as the epicenter of the new “sharing economy.” Maybe it should be looking to Toronto instead. Over the past few years, the Institute for a Resource Based Economy has been expanding the concept of collaborative consumption throughout the city, helping Ontarians reduce waste and make the… Read More
Social Permaculture: Applying the Principles
Posted on December 11, 2016 byPermaculture’s 12 principles apply to human groups just as much as to any other ecological system.
Orange Splot LLC Is Creating New Community Housing in Portland
Posted on December 8, 2016 byPortland, Oregon, is known for being ahead of the curve when it comes to alternative housing and co-operative living. From the Tiny House Hotel to the Columbia Ecovillage cohousing community, there are dozens of locations in the city where you can see these innovative projects in action. One housing developer, Orange Splot, LLC, is leading the charge, with… Read More
How Homeowners Can Be More Intentional Landlords
Posted on December 5, 2016 byNext month, I’ll be moving into a house owned by a “community landlord.” Rather than simply renting out rooms in the house, the homeowner (who no longer lives on the property), specifically sought out a group of people who wanted to build community there. Three of us will be the primary tenants who set the vision and… Read More
Filed Under: All Blog Posts, Governance + Group Dynamics
What does it take to cooperate?
Posted on December 5, 2016 byWhat does it take to cooperate? Dear Friends, We all know that cooperation is the only way forward to actually address the monumental challenges facing humanity. But this isn’t easy. Cooperation is not the standard we were raised with. It takes both learning and unlearning. Which is why we are grateful for you: intentional communities… Read More
Filed Under: All Blog Posts, Newsletter
The Class Cultures Toolkit Can Help You Host More Inclusive Meetings and Events
Posted on December 1, 2016 byTalking about class can be difficult – especially in intentional communities that include people from a variety of backgrounds. It can be a challenge to balance the needs of members from different classes: residents with stable jobs and incomes; property owners; activists who choose to live frugally; those with families to support. Some concerns –… Read More
Social Permaculture—What Is It?
Posted on December 1, 2016 byEcological relationships are relatively easy to deal with. Human relationships are often much more difficult, but we can design social structures that favor beneficial patterns of behavior.
Help Kickstart This Composting Toilet Research Project!
Posted on November 28, 2016 byIntentional communities can be the perfect testing ground for new sustainability practices – whether it’s an innovative greywater system or an aquaponics garden. At my community in Portland, we use our own composting toilet system, specifically intended to be safe and smell-free in a busy urban environment. Instead of flushing clean water down the train dozens of times each day, we… Read More
Not Rocket Science, but Just as Important
Posted on November 25, 2016 byThe arts of cooperative living—supported tirelessly by the cash-strapped FIC, and worthy now more than ever of financial support—will be as essential as technical skills if our species is to survive on this planet or any other.
The Untold Story of Utopian Communes In America
Posted on November 24, 2016 byIt was a time of great change and social experimentation. Groups of like-minded people pooled their money to buy property in what one writer called a kind of “socialist land mania.” Another philosopher said that it was impossible to find a well-read man without “a draft of a new community in his waistcoat pocket.“ Residents from these communities traveled… Read More
The Damanhur Community In Italy Has Its Own Currency and Constitution
Posted on November 21, 2016 byThe community of Damanhur in northern Italy is known for the Temples of Humankind, a 5-story series of underground chambers built by residents of the community as a spiritual gathering place. Begun in 1978, they were discovered by authorities in the 1990s, and nearly shut down. Now, they’re open to the public and have become… Read More
Social Permaculture, and Public vs. Private, #173 Contents
Posted on November 21, 2016 byOur Winter issue explores both Social Permaculture and the interface of Public and Private in intentional community. Starhawk and her colleagues share wisdom from the cutting edge of social permaculture practice, while diverse communitarians discuss how they find balance between the collective and the individual, openness and self-protection, outer-world activism and internal focus. We also learn about Sociocracy missteps, legal structures that help groups put their best feet forward (or not), and more.
Arcosanti Combines Architecture and Ecology in The Arizona Desert
Posted on November 17, 2016 byAbout 70 miles north of Phoenix, high in the Arizona desert, a blocky, concrete series of buildings rises out of the hillside. It looks like a cross between a futuristic museum and a desert village on Tatooine. But this isn’t your typical example of post-modernism. It’s an experiment in “arcology,” a style of design that… Read More
The First Seasteading Community May Be Closer To Reality Than We Thought
Posted on November 17, 2016 by1 Comment
In June, I wrote a blog post about the Ephemerisle Festival, a gathering on the Sacramento River Delta that imagines what a floating city might look like. The festival hopes to educate people about “seasteading,” which refers to long-term communities at sea, away from the interference of national governments, where residents can practice self-reliance and self-governance. At the time,… Read More
This Binational City Would Make Borders A Thing of the Past
Posted on November 14, 2016 byArchitect Fernando Romero has a plan for a binational city stretching over the U.S. and Mexican border. The project was on display last month at the London Design Biennale 2016. The designers call it “the first integrated masterplan for a binational city conducive to both sides of the border, employing tools of enterprise such as special economic zones… Read More
You Are The FIC
Posted on November 14, 2016 byYou Are The FIC! After last Tuesday, could it be any more obvious that the world is in crisis? When the unimaginable happens, how do you respond? My request to you: Don’t despair. Use this as an opportunity. Trump has brought into stark focus the problems that already existed. It doesn’t mean we haven’t made… Read More
Filed Under: All Blog Posts, Newsletter
A New Book Combines Zen and Permaculture to Educate and Inspire
Posted on November 10, 2016 byStefan Geyer, a London resident active in the U.K. permaculture community, is releasing a new book called “Zen in the Art of Permaculture Design.” It’s not a guidebook to specific permaculture practices, but a reflective look at the ways permaculture principles can inspire change in our lives and communities. According to the book’s copy, “Permaculture is… Read More
Buy, Eat, and Live Local With Help From BALLE’s New Toolkits
Posted on November 7, 2016 byWhether it’s eating local, supporting worker-owned businesses, or taking money out of Wall Street banks, the “localist” movement is on the rise. While the dominance of mega-corporations like Wal-Mart and Amazon may seem complete, small businesses make up half of the U.S. GDP and create over three times as many jobs. The Business Alliance for Local Living… Read More
Filed Under: All Blog Posts, Cooperative Economics, Localization, Networks + Organizations, Resources
The Micro-Nation of Liberland Could Be The World’s Biggest Planned Community
Posted on November 3, 2016 byPicture a country built from scratch: a city-state with open borders, where paying taxes is optional and there are no laws other than “live and let live.” At just three square miles, cars will be unnecessary; the open-air cityscape will allow for algae-powered residences and vertical farms. Private property, drug use, and sexuality will be free from interference by… Read More
Happiness in Communal Life: A Scientific Project
Posted on November 1, 2016 byStatistics don’t lie: communal living seems to help people be happier.
How Does Your Community Create Space for Romantic Partnerships?
Posted on October 31, 2016 by1 Comment
In the popular imagination, intentional communities have a reputation for being free-for-alls when it comes to love and relationships. But in reality, that’s rarely the case, and many communities have guiding principles around how members are expected to relate to each other romantically. Gender dynamics, power imbalances, and more, can all come into play when living… Read More
How to find your community
Posted on October 29, 2016 byCommunity Bookstore How to Find Your Community by Kim Kanney, Community Bookstore Manager Best of Communities II Seeking and Visiting a Community A special selection of articles from Communities: Life in Cooperative Culture $15 in print; $10 in digital The Foundation for Intentional Community is pleased to offer you the cream of our crop―the very… Read More
Filed Under: All Blog Posts, Newsletter
The Jewish Intentional Community Conference Takes Place December 1-4
Posted on October 27, 2016 byThe FIC’s Intentional Communities Directory includes communities that range from the spiritual to the secular. If you want to find a religiously affiliated (or unaffiliated) community, there’s a good chance you’ll find one there that aligns with your values. For those looking for a community centered around the Jewish faith, you can check out… Read More
These Apps Connect Excess Food With People Who Need It
Posted on October 24, 2016 byNearly $500 billion worth of food gets thrown away in the U.S. each year – while nearly 50 million Americans go hungry. A new app hopes to use peer-to-peer technology to connect people throwing away food with those who need it. We’ve seen the sharing economy dabble in foodsharing before. Platforms like Feastly and Josephine let… Read More
Why does this matter to me?
Posted on October 24, 2016 by3 Comments
Anyone with idealistic tendencies loves the idea that a crisis is an opportunity. I certainly qualify. But as a California boy who’s spent most of his adult life in Virginia, I’ve been infected with that East Coast, get-er-done pragmatism. So while I absolutely believe the FIC is presented with a tremendous opportunity right now, the… Read More
Filed Under: All Blog Posts
The Case for Mass Civil Disruption and Resistance: The story of how 15 intentional communities and experiments came together to form a national coalition to defend life, come hell or high water
Posted on October 21, 2016 by1 Comment
Activists and communitarians gather to ask: “How do we respond to our current global crisis?”
How Seed Saver Networks Are Protecting The Planet’s Biodiversity
Posted on October 20, 2016 byAs more farmers and gardeners take an interest in permaculture, seed savers’ networks are becoming a vital way to preserve heirloom varieties and protect our planet’s biodiversity. Although not as visible as the farmers’ markets that line our neighborhood sidewalks on Sundays, they’re an integral part of the farm-to-table movement. Seed savers and seed libraries… Read More
Filed Under: All Blog Posts, Growing Food, Localization, Networks + Organizations, Sharing + Gift Economy
The Boat-to-Fork Movement Promotes Local and Sustainable Seafood
Posted on October 17, 2016 byMany of us are familiar with the farm-to-table movement: we might shop at our neighborhood farmers market, or even subscribe to a CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) model as a way to support local farms. But what about other products, like seafood? Can we find ways to eat fish locally and sustainably? A network called Local Catch… Read More
Crisis = Opportunity: Taking it to the next level
Posted on October 15, 2016 byPeople keep asking me, what’s your vision for the FIC? It’s a fair question to the new Executive Director of an almost-30 year old organization. I want to help intentional communities find their place in the world. I believe intentional communities have learned important lessons that need to be shared in collective resource sharing, cooperative… Read More
Filed Under: All Blog Posts
