NY Times brings attention to emerging collectives in urban centers
Posted on October 9, 2009 byA recent NY Times article profiles several urban households that are currently forming small collectives. FIC‘s Laird Schaub shares details about the recent surge in community. JOHANNA BRONK wants to make communal vegetarian meals and keep chickens. Mariel Berger hopes for social, artistic and political collaborations. Harmony Hazard is into hula hooping, book groups and… Read More
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Preparing for UN conference on climate change, international bloggers are focused on community
Posted on September 30, 2009 byShort videos of Dyssekilde Ecovillage were created by participants in THINK2 Climate Change, a 3-month international blogging competition organized by the European Journalism Centre, focused on the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. To launch the competition, bloggers were brought to Denmark and toured the 25 year old ecovillage, a pioneering example of… Read More
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Throwing in the Founder’s Towel
Posted on September 7, 2009 by1 Comment
After many years of dealing with the unique struggles inherent in starting a community, a community founder discovers her vision manifested elsewhere, and becomes a community joiner.
Householding: Communal Living on a Small Scale
Posted on September 7, 2009 byEspecially in financially uncertain times, those seeking the advantages of intentional community living can often find them within a single shared house.
Shared Living—When Home Is a Community
Posted on September 7, 2009 by3 Comments
An ex-resident of Casa Caballeros reflects on the wealth she found in the realms of personal growth, shared resources, spontaneous celebration, and financial freedom even in economic downturns.
Emergency Community
Posted on September 7, 2009 by1 Comment
After serving thousands of meals, a community of post-Katrina relief kitchen volunteers moves to the West Coast and acquires a mortgage, a baby, full-time jobs, and the challenges of the mundane.
Hard Times at Orinda
Posted on September 7, 2009 by1 Comment
Watching their collective fortunes decline, the members of Orinda adopt a new spirit of frugality, find that they are living more sustainably, and discover true wealth in relationships with friends and family.
Couple embark on a bike tour/documentary film project exploring Intentional Communities
Posted on September 6, 2009 by2 Comments
Scott Merzbach of The Amherst Bulletin has written a piece on a San Francisco couple who are touring communities nation-wide, compiling footage and interviews for a new documentary on sustainable living. A San Francisco couple’s 12,000-mile bicycle tour around the country has connected them to a simpler life. It is also teaching them how to… Read More
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Owenstown, a large-scale eco-village, is proposed in rural Scotland
Posted on September 2, 2009 byAn article by Helen McArdle in Scotland’s Sunday Herald describes plans for Owenstown, the first new town founded in Scotland for several decades. The community, based on cooperative principles, is named for Robert Owen, a visionary 19th century socialist who established the New Lanark Community in Scotland and New Harmony in the United States. Dubbed… Read More
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Profile of EcoVillage at Ithaca
Posted on August 24, 2009 byThe Star, a major Malaysian newspaper, profiled EcoVillage at Ithaca in an online article this week, introducing readers to the ecovillage model and interviewing several community residents. A ‘village’ in upstate New York shows that you can nurture community values and tread lightly on the planet without forgoing modern living. Read full article here.
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Thriving Creative Community at Milepost 5 in Portland, Oregon
Posted on August 23, 2009 byAn article this week in The Oregonian describes the flourishing artistic community at Milepost 5. When the Milepost 5 dream – a development where artists could work, and rent or buy affordable condos – took flight in 2007, Portland’s condo market was still healthy. City leaders were getting serious about supporting the “creative class” considered… Read More
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Sharing and Climate Change
Posted on June 7, 2009 byA simple solution could drastically reduce the energy consumption and carbon emissions of the modern citizen, and it does not require new technology or a drastic reduction in quality of life. We all learned about it in Kindergarten, and statistics from Twin Oaks prove its effectiveness.
Visions of Utopia, Part Two
Posted on June 7, 2009 byAuthor: Tim Miller Published in Communities Magazine Issue #143 Visions of Utopia, Part Two Experiments in Sustainable Culture A Documentary by Geoph Kozeny Available from store.ic.org or 1-800-995-8342. ($30 plus shipping; or $50 plus shipping for Parts One and Two together; additional discount available to FIC Members.) Geoph Kozeny lived in community for more than… Read More
Lighten Up
Posted on June 7, 2009 byOrganized around common ecological values and a shared appreciation for the epic of evolution, a group of neighbors reduces its collective energy consumption by 25 percent.
Filed Under: All Blog Posts, Communities Articles, Community Where You Are, Issue 143, Sustainability
Environmental Activism
Posted on June 7, 2009 byWith a long history of protecting the local watershed, Trillium Farm Community in southern Oregon grows not only organic food, but ecological activists.
How Ecology Led Me to Community
Posted on June 7, 2009 byThe author recounts some of the off-beat marching orders he received from an eco-oriented “different drummer”—and how, instead of becoming a hermit, he became a communitarian.
Chicken à la West Birch Avenue
Posted on March 7, 2009 byAuthor: Hilary Giovale Published in Communities Magazine Issue #142 We used to be a typical neighborhood. People were friendly enough and we waved to each other on our way into and out of our houses. We had the occasional chat on the sidewalk while shoveling snow or doing yard work. But that was where community… Read More
Filed Under: All Blog Posts, Communities Articles, Community Where You Are, Issue 142, Sustainability
Network for a New Culture Camps
Posted on March 7, 2009 byParticipants in NFNC’s Summer Camps explore intimacy, transparency, freedom of choice, personal responsibility, sexuality, and new ways of being, teaching, and learning.
Festivals and Gatherings on The Farm
Posted on March 7, 2009 byA long-time events organizer reflects on the rewards, challenges, logistics, and community dynamics involved in hosting gatherings large and small.
Filed Under: All Blog Posts, Communities Articles, Community Where You Are, Finding Community, Issue 142
All We Have Is All We Need
Posted on December 7, 2008 byA group of North Americans establishes a community in Costa Rica and
learns new lessons about simplicity, wealth, change, growth, balance,
and happiness.
The Richness of Giving
Posted on December 7, 2008 byMany traditional cultures around the world have an economy based not on buying and selling, but on giving, which fosters an intricate network of social connections.
Best Meetings
Posted on December 7, 2008 byThree group-process experts answer the question: “Please tell us a story of one of the best meetings you ever attended (as participant or facilitator). What was great about it? What do you think made it turn out so well?”
Abundance and Scarcity in the Goodenough Community
Posted on December 7, 2008 byA community confronts economic adversity by remaining constant in relationship, holding financial losses in common, and working together in fundraising, educational programs, and new projects.
Filed Under: All Blog Posts, Communities Articles, Economics, Group Process, Issue 141, Starting a Community
Free to Serve
Posted on December 7, 2008 byWhile in similar circumstances to his neighbors from Clan Super Size, our author replaces a desperate sense of scarcity and need for low-cost goods with feelings of hope and abundance.
Filed Under: All Blog Posts, Communities Articles, Community Where You Are, Economics, Issue 141, Sustainability
Cohousing and Peak Oil Video on Peak Moment TV
Posted on September 15, 2008 byPeak Moment TV has a 30 minute video on cohousing featuring Bellingham Cohousing in Bellingham, WA.
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Running for Office from the Commune
Posted on September 7, 2008 byAuthor: Nick Licata Published in Communities Magazine Issue #140 I opened my morning paper anxious to read the first article on my race for a position on Seattle’s City Council. I was living in PRAG House, an old mansion in the Capitol Hill neighborhood that a group of us had converted into a collective 25… Read More
Business and Well-Being
Posted on September 7, 2008 byAuthor: Tree Bressen Published in Communities Magazine Issue #140 Q: Historically, our group has felt fairly unified in our core values. Our business discussions and decisions rested on certain basic assumptions and expectations, including the importance of respecting others, welcoming feedback, accepting personal responsibility for feelings and actions, avoiding blame, and—to the best of our… Read More
Every Politician Should Live in a Commune
Posted on September 7, 2008 byAfter living in the PRAG House collective for 25 years before running for office, a Seattle City Councilor recommends that anyone entering politics consider experiencing intentional community first.
Searching for Republicans…and Other Elephants in the Community Living Room
Posted on September 7, 2008 byAn informal survey raises several compelling questions: Can communitarians
learn to focus on larger-scale politics as much as on internal politics? Should they? What’s proper political etiquette in community? And have you ever met a communitarian who is not left of center?
CNN – Simple Living and Eco Communities
Posted on August 25, 2008 byCNN has had two articles on community in the past few weeks, one on simple living and one on eco-communities in the UK. The simple living article profiles a woman at the Keystone Ecological Urban Center in Chicago. Keri Rainsberger isn’t rich. She works in the nonprofit world for a relatively low-profit salary. Yet, as… Read More
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