Gaia: TRIBE: Choosing Intentional Community

Twin Oaks Newsletter Now ONLINE ONLY

http://wiselittleraccoon.gaia.com — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 20:35:32 GMT

Here's a link to subscribe to The Leaves of Twin Oaks, TO's newsletter, now exclusively available online. You can view back issues here as well.

http://www.twinoaks.org/community/leaves/index.html

Re: Communities Conference 2009

http://wiselittleraccoon.gaia.com — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 19:55:23 GMT

If you're on facebook, there's an event page where you can RSVP for the Communities Conference at Twin Oaks:

http://www.facebook.com/wren.tuatha#/event.php?eid=90436916305&ref=ts

This is an excellent event for networking, promoting your community, shopping for community, getting your questions answered, etc. Sadly, I'll be working that weekend and have to miss.

Have fun for me!!!

Wren http://www.HippieChickDiaries.com/

Re: WEEKEND PERMACULTURE DESIGN COURSE

http://wiselittleraccoon.gaia.com — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 03:29:51 GMT

Wren on April 2nd, 2009

This series of workshops covers the whole Permaculture design course
curriculum. Those who attend all 12 days and complete home study
assignments, advising sessions, and a design project will earn the
Permaculture design apprentice certificate. Students who are not taking
the entire course may attend selected individual days or weekends. The
dates and topics are:

April 18**
Introduction to Permaculture

April 19**
Ecology and Biogeography: Chesapeake Bioregion Ecosystems and Restoration Strategies

May 9**
Water

May 10**
Soil and Nutrient Recycling

June 6**
Mid-Atlantic Food Systems & Annual Garden Design

June 7**
Sustainable Culture

June 27**
Sustainable Energy Strategies

June 28**
Green Building and Community Design

July 25
Forest Gardens & Natural Pest Control

July 26
Animals and Aquaculture

August 1
Permaculture Design Presentations

August 2
Feedback & Graduation

**Open to students who are not taking the full design course.

Course facilitator Karen Stupski has fifteen years of experience
with sustainable living and organic gardening as a member of Heathcote
Community. She currently works as Development Director of the Gunpowder
Valley Conservancy, a watershed organization and land trust, and is a
Regional Organizer and Advisor for Gaia University. Karen holds a Ph.D.
in the history of science, medicine, and technology from Johns Hopkins
University. She will be assisted by a team of guest speakers and
project leaders.
Taking Individual One-Day Workshops
This series of workshops has been designed so that people can easily
sign up for individual days. The individual one-day workshops will run
from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm. The flow of activities will be a mix of
lecture, discussion, and interactive exercises in the mornings,
followed by outdoor and/or hands-on skill building activities in the
afternoon. Students are asked to bring their own vegetarian bag lunch.
This is a great way to learn more about specific topics that interest
you and to explore whether you might want to take the full design
course in the future. Any days that you complete will count if you
later decide to do the full design course at Heathcote in the 12-day
format.
Taking the Full Permaculture Design Course
Students who want to earn their Permaculture design apprentice
certification in the 12-day format must complete the following
components:
Attend all 12 one-day workshops. The full design course includes
the sessions described above plus an afternoon design skills session
from 3:30 to 5:30 pm. Students are encouraged to stay at Heathcote
Saturday night for evening film screenings.Complete home study assignments. These will consist of readings and
exercises. The required textbooks are: Introduction to Permaculture by
Bill Mollison, Gaia’s Garden by Toby Hemenway, and Toolbox for
Sustainable City Living by Scott Kellogg and Stacey Pettigrew. Various
articles will also be assigned.Complete a Permaculture design for a site of your choosing. Most
students in the past have chosen to create a design for their own home
and yard. However, you may also create a design for a “client” such as
a neighbor, a school, or a nonprofit. The design project will include a
site assessment, concept plan, detail plans, written report, and an
oral presentation with a visual display.Complete advising sessions with Dawn Shiner of Dancing Green. You
will have one phone consultation as you begin your design work which
will include review of your site assessment (which you much submit to
Dawn in advance.) Dawn will also be present for the design
presentations at the end of the course. She will give feedback and
guidance for the further development and implementation of your plan on
the last day of the course before the graduation ceremony.
Tuition: $1,100 (does not include food, lodging, or books)
Download Registration Form

Alabama Intentional Community Forming

http://wiselittleraccoon.gaia.com — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 16:06:27 GMT

Reposted from a polyamory group on tribe.com:

Intentional Community In Central Alabama Now Forming. Get In On The
Process If Your In Alabama or Have A Desire To Relocate Once Formed.
See groups.yahoo.com/group/theedenproject and intentone.com intentone.ning.com [network] For On-Going Discussions. Sustainable Living, Self-Sufficiency, Gardening, Friends Becoming Family, etc.

The Eden Project

The Essence Of Eden

Be A Founding Member

ArtCohousing in Italy seeks members

http://wiselittleraccoon.gaia.com — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 01:04:45 GMT

Another repost from facebook:
Barbara Reale
Artea
Art Academy Art Cohousing is an artistic laboratory for creative
developments in the development of 'Art and Cohousing' ArtSharing
located in Rome Italy.
Artea works to support and promote the
cultural and eco-sustainable engagement in various artistic fields
through CoHouse seat the Motherhouse of the artistic work is shared,
and training.
The CoHouse by organizing events, workshops,
symposiums and international events, hosting artists ArtCohousing in
providing the meeting participants and the coexistence of several art
forms such as art, music, theater, video, film and dance.
Currently,
regular meetings are held monthly where artists meet experiencing
moments of social and artistic maturity, putting together small
artistic projects on current issues, in true sharing of (ArtSharing).

In
the morning, an event that goes by listening to music while doing the
gardening, a walk in the natural park discovery of Mother Nature or
working in our sinergic garden .

They Are hosted every two
months International Artists for a weekend in exchange for
LivePerformance Stage and a donation of a work that will be exhibited
at the 'Artea Art Gallery. ( ArtCohousing) .
Organize free art exibition.
<a href="http://www.artcohousing.com" rel="nofollow" onmousedown="UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this), "1b004832533e83d46c59986793b1caf4", event)" target="_blank">http://www.artcohousing.com

WEEKLONG COMMUNITY WORK ACTION

http://wiselittleraccoon.gaia.com — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 13:25:11 GMT

HEATHCOTE COMMUNITY
23100 Heathcote Road
Freeland, MD 21053

SUNDAY, MAY 17, 2009 AT 6PM TILL
SUNDAY MAY 24, 2009 AT 12PM

The Community Work Action is an opportunity to experience building
community through working, playing, and learning together. You will
work with members of Heathote on community projects for 6 hours a day,
while spending time each day engaged in community-building activities.
These will include Zegg-style Forum, as well as games and exercises
designed to create and deepen connections, foster trust, and have fun.
If you’ve been curious about Heathcote Community, this is a great time
to visit! We will have an extended time to get to know each other, and
you will learn about our systems, structures, and group process.

Come
explore Heathcote, make new friends and expand your knowledge of
community living! Whether you are new to intentional community or an
experienced communitarian, you will learn tools and techniques that
will make you a more effective community builder wherever you are.

The week will be facilitated by Teryani Riggs and the Heathcote team.

To
Register: RSVP by April 17. Sign up early to reserve your space! please
RSVP by calling 410-357-9523 or emailing education@heathcote.org.

Tuition: Work exchange 6 hours/day (includes room and board). Heart donations are welcome.

WEEKEND PERMACULTURE DESIGN COURSE

http://wiselittleraccoon.gaia.com — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 13:01:17 GMT

AT HEATHCOTE COMMUNITYTake the full course or individual installments!!!

Start Time:
Saturday, April 18, 2009 at 8:30am
End Time:
Sunday, August 2, 2009 at 5:30pm
Location:
Heathcote Community
Street:
21300 Heathcote Road
City/Town:
Freeland, MD

Phone:
4103579523
Email:
karens@ecoisp.com

DescriptionThis
series of workshops covers the whole Permaculture design course
curriculum. Those who attend all 12 days and complete home study
assignments, advising sessions, and a design project will earn the
Permaculture design apprentice certificate. Students who are not taking
the entire course may attend selected individual days or weekends. The
dates and topics are:
April 18** Introduction to Permaculture
April 19** Ecology and Biogeography: Chesapeake Bioregion Ecosystems and Restoration Strategies
May 9** Water
May 10** Soil and Nutrient Recycling
June 6** Mid-Atlantic Food Systems & Annual Garden Design
June 7** Sustainable Culture
June 27** Sustainable Energy Strategies
June 28** Green Building and Community Design
July 25 Forest Gardens & Natural Pest Control
July 26 Animals and Aquaculture
August 1 Permaculture Design Presentations
August 2 Feedback & Graduation

**Open to students who are not taking the full design course.

Course
facilitator Karen Stupski has fifteen years of experience with
sustainable living and organic gardening as a member of Heathcote
Community. She currently works as Development Director of the Gunpowder
Valley Conservancy, a watershed organization and land trust, and is a
Regional Organizer and Advisor for Gaia University. Karen holds a Ph.D.
in the history of science, medicine, and technology from Johns Hopkins
University. She will be assisted by a team of guest speakers and
project leaders.
Taking Individual One-Day Workshops

This
series of workshops has been designed so that people can easily sign up
for individual days. The individual one-day workshops will run from
8:30 am to 3:30 pm. The flow of activities will be a mix of lecture,
discussion, and interactive exercises in the mornings, followed by
outdoor and/or hands-on skill building activities in the afternoon.
Students are asked to bring their own vegetarian bag lunch. This is a
great way to learn more about specific topics that interest you and to
explore whether you might want to take the full design course in the
future. Any days that you complete will count if you later decide to do
the full design course at Heathcote in the 12-day format.
Taking the Full Permaculture Design Course

Students
who want to earn their Permaculture design apprentice certification in
the 12-day format must complete the following components:

1.
Attend all 12 one-day workshops. The full design course includes the
sessions described above plus an afternoon design skills session from
3:30 to 5:30 pm. Students are encouraged to stay at Heathcote Saturday
night for evening film screenings.
2. Complete home study
assignments. These will consist of readings and exercises. The required
textbooks are: Introduction to Permaculture by Bill Mollison, Gaia’s
Garden by Toby Hemenway, and Toolbox for Sustainable City Living by
Scott Kellogg and Stacey Pettigrew. Various articles will also be
assigned.
3. Complete a Permaculture design for a site of your
choosing. Most students in the past have chosen to create a design for
their own home and yard. However, you may also create a design for a
“client” such as a neighbor, a school, or a nonprofit. The design
project will include a site assessment, concept plan, detail plans,
written report, and an oral presentation with a visual display.
4.
Complete advising sessions with Dawn Shiner of Dancing Green. You will
have one phone consultation as you begin your design work which will
include review of your site assessment (which you much submit to Dawn
in advance.) Dawn will also be present for the design presentations at
the end of the course. She will give feedback and guidance for the
further development and implementation of your plan on the last day of
the course before the graduation ceremony.

Tuition: $1,100 (does not include food, lodging, or books)

Download enrollment form and/or apply for financial aid at:

<a href="http://www.heathcote.org/oneday.shtml" rel="nofollow" onmousedown="UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this), "e6c87785b09fe143e4513200e064fbf8", event)" target="_blank">http://www.heathcote.org/oneday.shtml

The Mother of All Reviews: Kassia & Sky's Euro-Commune Adventure!

http://wiselittleraccoon.gaia.com — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 21:38:52 GMT

I finally posted about Kassia & Sky's Euro-Commune Adventure, after seeing their slideshow live at Chrysalis Community in Arlington, VA.

These ex-Twin Oakers have an amazing slideshow. Read about it and click to see it from here:

http://hippiechickdiaries.com/2009/03/27/kassia-skys-euro-commune-adventure/

They compare and contrast several established IC's in Europe, from squtters to ecovillages. Well done, with beautiful photography!!!

--Wren Tuatha

The Franklin Farm, seeking members

http://wiselittleraccoon.gaia.com — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:36:27 GMT

Repost from our sister group on facebook. --WT:

Joy Pryor (Grand Rapids, MI) wroteon March 20, 2009 at 11:36pmA developing urban community in Grand Rapids, MI is seeking members/residents (we call ourselves farmers) See:
<a href="http://thefranklinfarm.wordpress.com/" rel="nofollow" onmousedown="UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this), "13d6f243c5c6dbab0632a9a49a4bdc52", event)" target="_blank">http://thefranklinfarm.wordpress.com/

Open Circle, seeking members

http://wiselittleraccoon.gaia.com — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:34:35 GMT

Repost from TRIBE on facebook. --WT:

Post #3Nexus X Humectress (Washington, DC) wroteon March 17, 2009 at 3:25pmOpen Circle <a href="http://directory.ic.org/21987/Open_Circle" rel="nofollow" onmousedown="UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this), "13d6f243c5c6dbab0632a9a49a4bdc52", event)" target="_blank">http://directory.ic.org/21987/Open_Circle

Open Circle has been around (under various names) for about 40 years,
living and working in a rather spontaneous non-organization based on
personal affinity. We don’t really believe in names (“Open Circle” is
the label we are using now to help you find us).

Our overall
approach to life is to make it into a game – a challenging, educational
and fun process that changes from week to week, and even day to day.
Members often “volunteer” to each other, informally rotating leadership
roles depending on the project at hand, the experience of the persons
involved, and the prevailing mood of the moment.

We own a large
mixed-use building in the historic downtown section of Culpeper,
Virginia; a cabin on 90 acres of forest land bordering the Shenandoah
National Park at the base of Old Rag Mountain; and a small house in
Takoma Park, Maryland (a quiet neighborhood on the edge of Washington,
D.C.) These days, we spend most of our time in Culpeper, and one or two
days a week at our cabin. Three of our friends use our Takoma Park
house the most, and we're seldom there. We often share communal meals,
pool most income, assets, and other resources, grow food with our
friends in several different gardens, and operate various consulting
businesses. We thrive on challenges to our creativity.

Our
cooperative lifestyle is a fertile arena for personal growth. Our goal
is artistic tribal living where we foster mutual trust while working
together effectively as a team. Our current interests and experiments
include: sustainable living, green and natural building, organic food
production, social inventions, Nonviolent Communication, music, and
fiber arts.

Our day at a time philosophy includes commitment to
our community, loyalty to each other, group decision making to
coordinate our actions, and generating an ongoing economic surplus. We
continue to evolve based on ideas of everyone in the community, which
could include you, if you join us.
Open Circle welcomes visitors who
share our zest for learning and adventure. We would enjoy hearing from
you – if you are friendly, open minded, and resourceful.

The Buddhist House, seeking members

http://wiselittleraccoon.gaia.com — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:32:00 GMT

Reposting this announcement from our sister group on facebook.--WT:

Dharmavidya David Brazier (Leicester) wroteon March 17, 2009 at 12:15pmThe
Buddhist House (TBH) is an intentional community founded on Pureland
Buddhist principles. There are currntly about fifteen members. One
cannot be precise because we are a rather mobile crowd. TBH is situated
in Leicestershire, UK, in the village of Narborough. The community also
has a small house in London and another in mid-France and members do,
to some extent, move around betwen them.

The age range at TBH is
from 15 months to seventies with somebody in every decade except that
we have no teens at the moment. We are a very varied group of people in
terms of background, education, physical health, or pretty well any
other criterion. We have four cats.

Some of the community
members are deeply involved in Buddhist training and others less so. In
order to keep the ethos of the house we try to keep a balance.
Everybody here, however, has come because they like to live in a place
with this ethos. We have two communal vegetarian meals per day and have
Buddhist practice sessions each morning. We do not take people who
smoke and we have no alcohol on the site.

We offer retreats and
educational programmes, especially in Buddhist psychology. Students
come here to learn to be counsellors and psychotherapists. We hold
Buddhist retreats from time to time. The regime of the house is a lot
less strict than a monastery, but it does have a strong spiritual
flavour.

A nmuber of us are into the arts - poetry, writing,
pandramatics. Some have a number of published books. Some members are
keen on gardening.

New members generally come initially as
paying guests to see what the lifestyle is like and whether it suits
them. They may then become residents who contribute to the costs of the
house or trainees who do not contribute financially but are more
extensively involved in the Buddhist activities of the house.

TBH is part of the Amida Trust which has an international network of affiliates and supporters. This can be accessed at
<a href="http://amidatrust.ning.com" rel="nofollow" onmousedown="UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this), "13d6f243c5c6dbab0632a9a49a4bdc52", event)" target="_blank">http://amidatrust.ning.com

We can be reached by e-mail at
susthama@amidatrust.com

Warm wishes - David

Re: Starting the Vision Statement: What is Non-Negotiable?

http://ringbearer.gaia.com — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 20:17:55 GMT

Just like the US constitution, our constitution (which we haven't finalized yet), will be amendable. But unlike the USC it would need a consensus to amend. So in that sense everything is negotiable, but since Chris and I are not interested in negotiating the core values and goals right now, it is effectively non-negotiable (we've been joking that this would offer an incentive for others to kill us or kick us out). We are willing to discuss and explain, just not change at this point.

Besides core values, we have goals that are non-negotiable. This might seem unusual if the main goal of your community is for people to live close together and share meals and land (as well as core values). We have other goals besides those and we believe that quantifying those goals makes them less vague, and allows us to monitor how well we are doing in achieving them. This is standard practice in science and business (and other areas such as public service and the military): quantify, measure and adjust to meet targets. If goals are vague and subjective, it is harder to see how well one is doing, and it is easy to not get much done and just continue the status quo. Of course there are dangers in relying TOO MUCH on numbers when it comes to human affairs. Vagueness and subjectivity do have their place. It is not a good idea to quantify love or kindness or joy. It is not a good idea to impose goals on others, and if people don't see the value in achieving a goal, they will cheat whether it is numerical or not (we just watched The TRAP, a BBC documentary with one section about how public servants in the UK cheated to meet ridiculous targets). With all these caveats, I still think that having numbers for some of our goals is a good idea. If we can't meet our 2 day bread labor/week target or our $400/year communal expenses, we will have to see where we can simplify or increase efficiency. Right now Chris and I are having disagreement about whether we should start as simple as possible or allow for some fat--I say no grid electricity, no power tools (except for initial clearing and building) and no single family residences. Chris says yes to all but the third of these. I say once we meet our targets, we can add more fat. Chris says we can reduce the fat if we don't meet our targets. It will be some sort of give and take in the end--but without the numbers to guide us, it would be harder to get things done. Reaching consensus is only half the story--getting hard things done is the other half. I claim that most communities only deal with the first half.

All that said, it sure would be nice to have more people participating in strategic planning. Though our goals are precise, there are many strategies to get there and Dana, you are right that some people want to have more say in how things get done. But if the goals are vague (or if there are no goals except living the core values), some people might think the goals are being achieved, others might think they are not. Drastic changes from the status quo are more likely to happen with quantifiable (objective) goals. Otherwise one can (in my opinion) delude oneself in thinking that one is "green" by driving a Prius or building a $0.5 million house that houses less than 10 people. You can disagree about that, but it is harder to disagree on numbers (if one honestly measures, and the measurements are repeatable by many people).

On the other hand, I just want everyone to have everything they want.

On the third hand, I think most people are too hypnotized by this culture to have what it takes (scholarship, critical thinking, ability to sacrifice, low ego) to understand how to change things--call me an elitist and I won't argue. I would gladly let someone else draft a constitution or help Chris and me, but noone is stepping up to the plate whom I think is qualified--Amadon, Chris Hooley, Christina (and sadly, Chris and I are not up to the task either, but it's the best we got). Perhaps none of these people has everything it takes, and all of us together would produce something much better than any of us alone.

On the 4th hand, I want everyone who cares to, to feel like they truly are co-creators of a grand, beautiful vision.

On the 5th hand (hi Shiva), the time for drafting constitutions is over. It is time to plant, play music, make films and dance.

Starting the Vision Statement: What is Non-Negotiable?

http://wiselittleraccoon.gaia.com — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:56:41 GMT

When creating a vision or mission statement for the community you want to form, how specific should you get?

I've been debating this (rather than discussing it, I'm afraid) with my partner Iuval. He and his friend Chris plan to buy land and cofound an intentional community.

Iuval and Chris have been talking for 3 years or so, to lay out the core values they have in common, which they want to practice through their intentional community. I can imagine examples of core values might be pacifism or non-violence, deep communication, the lightest ecological footprint possible, spiritual interconnection and social/economic justice (my list).

They've received the advice, wise, I believe, to sit down and ask themselves what in their vision is non-negotiable. Where we differ is that I believe a core value can be non-negotiable, but how you practice it should be left to the individual or consensed upon by the group, perpetually subject to updating and renegotiation.

On an informational website, Chris compares the process of the two of them deciding details of the future community to the birth of the US Constitution, by landed white men. Chris points out that you don't have to have participated in the writing of the Constitution to buy into it or be protected by it. But, I would counter, those landed white men made sure we could amend, rewrite, burn it and start over if we want. Just like in screenwriting, no draft is ever final.

Iuval and Chris have asked themselves, naturally, how their vision/core values might play out and what that might look like in an intentional community--taking words that could mean anything and turning them into specific actions or agreements.

Then these expected actions or agreements become their vision and this starts to feel tricky to me. If your core value is a light footprint, for example, you might form goals that realize this value--to consume less, to share more, cooperate on resources, to create culture that demands less from the planet and the marketplace--have a drum circle instead of a movie night; put on a talent show instead of watching tv; meditate instead of shopping, whatever comes to mind. Maybe eating less or no meat...You'd live in the smallest house that makes sense for you. You might share it with others. You'd work from home, only enough to meet your basic needs and security and then maybe you'd volunteer or work a community garden. You might shower less and bicycle more (although you might need a shower after a good ride...) Your choices for realizing this core value are almost endless and all are gravely important to consider.

I wonder if the founders of a community, however expansive of heart and true of mission they may be, might go too far in dictating which strategies their community will require as "non-negotiable," cutting future members out of the consensus process.

One would think that getting very specific would be beneficial, so there are no surprises later. But where's the line between insuring success and doing others' thinking for them because you fear they may veer off your preferred course?

I've heard Iuval and Chris plan that everyone, they mean everyone, in their community will live in a large group house (100 people plus), in which individuals may have a private room. Chris would insist that everyone live 2 or more to a room. Although I agree this is a great way to save energy and can be fun if you have the right roommate (grin grin), even summer camp is over after two weeks. At 43, I don't know how long I would think that was fun. I am very aware that much of the world lives this way. But I am concerned that many, not all, Americans want a bit more space, or at least more privacy for the long term. Why not allow for choice, as Heathcote Community does, having group houses and individual dwellings?

Iuval and Chris are excited to create freedom for their community members, which for Iuval and Chris means freedom of time--getting out of the "slavery" of the work week, in which we work to support our over consumption, which doesn't make us happy anyway. In their writings, the word slavery is used in reference to the Western/First World citizen who's caught up in this spiritually empty cycle, as well as the Third World worker who may be suffering in a sweatshop or in classic bondage creating the running shoes, cellphones, or whatever, which we buy, pretending or trying not to know from where they came.

As a fair trade retailer myself, I'm on a mission to help people choose simplicity, having fewer things but nicer (more ethical) things, and to help people break the cycle of seeking fulfillment through stuff. But I am also a white person from the South whose family owned slaves just a few generations ago. I think it distorts the historical memory of slavery in this country to use that word lightly. Some Third World people in this modern chain are in fact slaves, held against their will and subject to cruelty and violence. For that reason we should demand to know where our products come from and learn to go without when the answer is slavery. But I would not apply the word to First Worlders who simply work hard at jobs they don't like to have lots of stuff that doesn't make them happy. Perhaps we could call them "saps..."

So Iuval and Chris are designing their community to aim for a two-day work week, which would cover "bread labor," or food, shelter and clothing. They want to FREE up community members' time for pursuing their bliss--art, music, science, etc. And to get out of the Global Economy which is fueled by slavery, they want to have all raw materials created within the community or within the local economy. Great! But I wonder if this design point, the two-day work week, is too specific. What other options might the larger group come up with as the hundred people for the group house start to arrive? It feels to me like a personal goal projected onto others. My own instinct for how I want to acheive the same core value is to become a vigilant and minimalist consumer.

So here are my survey questions to you, pod members:

Where's the line in creating the vision for the community you want to form?

How specific is helpful?

When, if ever, does it become controlling and/or distrustful of the future group?

How much say about vision/core values does a new member coming in need to have in order to feel invested?

I'd love to hear thoughts from long time communitarians as well as seekers!

Wren

Community Building Day, 2009

http://wiselittleraccoon.gaia.com — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 01:24:52 GMT

I'm moving this over from our sister group on facebook. Thanks to Maikwe for putting this on my radar. I like the schedule and am recommending this!--Wren

Community Building Day, sponsored by FIC. May 16th, 2009 at Camphill
Kimberton outside Philadelphia. Presenters include Laird Schaub, Tony
Sirna, Caroline Estes, Harvey Baker and Ma'ikwe Schaub Ludwig.

Event
is geared largely toward folks seeking or living in Intentional
Community, but will also feature great stuff for "Guerilla Commmunity
Building" (AKA creating community wherever you are).

Contact maikwe@solspace.net or see the events page on the FIC's website: <a href="http://fic.ic.org/aofc/index.php" rel="nofollow" onmousedown="UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this), "512dde784f80c80ec5089b8b1468feda", event)" target="_blank">http://fic.ic.org/aofc/index.php

Communities Conference 2009

http://wiselittleraccoon.gaia.com — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 01:21:54 GMT

I'm moving this post over from our sister group on facebook. Thanks for the announcement, Suade!--Wren

Hey Y'all.

I'd like to invite anyone interested in learning
about ecovillages, communes, coops, CoHousing to a weekend of
workshops, community-building, and culture creation.

Come hang out at the Communities Conference in rural Virginia, August 14-16, 2009.

We'll
explore topics such as group decision-making, forming communities,
intentional relationships, community economics and sustainable living.

We
welcome people looking for a community, already living in community and
those just interested in the idea of cooperative living. This
conference will be lightly structured. Everything is optional. There
will be workshops and sharing circles, but also lots of time to just
hang out, meet people, network and play together.

If you're interested in learning more, check out our website,
www.communitiesconference.org

- complete with pictures from past conferences and my blog as
conference organizer. Also feel free to message me with any questions
you have!

Hope to see some of y'all at the Conference!

-Suede

Re: crazy travellers searchin for nice people in southwestern eur

http://wiselittleraccoon.gaia.com — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 19:23:32 GMT

Sounds exciting! If your group is ever touring the US, it would be interesting to arrange a visit to Heathcote Community!

http://www.heathcote.org/

pioneers wanted

http://ringbearer.gaia.com — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:41:35 GMT

I am looking for people who are interested in figuring out how to produce most basic needs either within the community or within a network of local communities. If you have a skill like carpentry, blacksmithing, glass making, masonry, that is good, but I also need people who can think about things at a higher level of a local economy/technology, and inventors to fill in gaps in current technology. Also, people willing to undergo some discomfort or even hardship, willing to do whatever it takes to become local, even if it is not their expertise (e.g. you are willing to do gardening even if you are a builder). The idea is to focus on local needs first, before thinking about making money from the Global Economy, although we might need resources (including money) from the global economy to get there. I also want people who are willing to share alot, including possibly their living quarters (exceptions can be made for prima dona artists:-).

I am looking for land in Arkansas because it is cheap, relatively long growing season, warm, almost no taxes or pesky government regulations, real wild and pretty still in some places, but the location is negotiable, and hope that at least one successful such community can be established somewhere and serve as an example for many others in other places.

Re: Community Due Process (dealing with "problem people")

http://HealthyCulture.gaia.com — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 15:53:42 GMT

Hi, Iuval,

Thanks for reading and responding to my rather long post. I definately agree that we are all "problem people" in one way or another, which is why I put the phrase in quotes in my title. I also like the idea of "mutual criticism" though I think it should extend to the community bylaws, and status quo as a whole and not just all of the individuals within it. I think that that was one of the things that was wrong with the "self-criticism" experiments. A healthy culture can, not only stand, but respond to, critizisms of itself and moreover actually encourages them, though again not unilaterally.

I suppose that I can agree with hierarchies that I would describe as situational, consesual and temporary, though I think to call such things "hierarchies" would probably be rather misleading. For example, If, in a storm at sea, everybody has consensus to do as the captain says (not because he or she is "the captain" but because they spontaneously acknowlegde his or her manifest "experience and wisdom" under the circumstances) then I would say that what is really happening is censensual rather than coercive, even if it would look different from outside. But for me the living quality of the consensus on the matter is the point. It could be the case after all that the captain is drunk, that the captain--even temporarily-- succumbs to his or her own sick culture in ways that relate to but transcend the practical nature of the task at hand (for example the captain could sucuumb to valuing gold more than people and in an effort to lighten the load of the ship declare that certain persons be throwned overboard rather than the gold...etc...)

my point is not only that people exist (and have experience and wisdom) primarily as people (I would say as "individual-persons") rather then as "officers" or jobs, and that their competance at anything else needs to be evaluated from this shared ground, but that even this shared ground is just as unstable as the deck of a ship in a storm in that a person who is "well Balanced" as a person and using the best of his or her experience at one moment might lose that balance in the next moment. Given the inherently dynamic nature of such things, I think it much better that a flexible equalitarian generalism pervail over a rigid specializaton as the norm and that the latter (even when it is not rigid) be subordinant to the former.

In such a situation of assumed primary equality, no one is obliged to turn off or repress their critical, creative, and moral faculties in deference to some preestablished hierarchy (unless they themselves consense to do so in responce to the actual details of some real and usually temporary situation). In such a situation no one is in danger of being corrupted either by "power " or by servitude, and bilateral habits of universal respect (rather than dangerous and usually unecessisary unilateral and mechanical habits of comand and obedience) are formed all around.

Anyway, so far as your experience goes, I can only say that is seems fairly typical. I think that the intentional community movement in general has yet to realize in practice that collective "might" is not any more "right" than Individual "might" and that if a so called intentional community is going to amount to much more than a mob with a land base, it and those within it must understand "rights" in terms of responcibilities--not only direct responciblities to the land and to their own growth as persons, but to the creation of the kind of minimaly coercive and health culture which I think is alone compatible with the long term health of the LandBase and of all its occupants.

After all, if "Might is Right" , then rapists have the right to rape, child molesters have the right to molest etc...and this implication extends equally to the "right" to private ownership of land (which is ultimately aquired and maintained by "might"). And this is so whether the "right" and "might" is individually or collectively held. And since ANY ingroup with the power or numbers (the "might") behind them can usually be relied on to convince THEMSELVES (perhaps with more of a farce of deliberation then the average mob), of their "Righteousness" in excluding or coercing others, the only check against the resergence in so called intentional community of the defacto vileness of the historical and contemporary state of affairs is, so far is I can see, some culture of coercion/ alienation/hierarchy-minimizing due-process, such as I gestured at in my post.

The due-process I descibe and advocate would of course be only one aspect of the healthy culture in which it could credibly exist and thrive. But it makes more sense to direct folks to my profile and blog if they are curious about my own ideas of what such a cuture might be like in general.

Thanks again for your responce Iuval! Hope we have occasion to dialog more,

I-P

Re: Community Due Process (dealing with "problem people")

http://ringbearer.gaia.com — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 20:02:58 GMT

IP, perhaps we are all "problem people", although some may be more problematic than others (like some of the animals who were more equal than others in Animal Farm :-)) Can we find a process that is more symmetrical and less punitive? I think Oneida already did it, and other possibilities abound. Their process was called "mutual criticism", and it wasn't totally symmetrical because their "leader" was exempt. They had it regularly, whether there was a problem or not. Some communists had "self-criticisms" but I think they eventually evolved into charades. I actually like the idea of a self-criticism as long as everyone has to do it and does it in a spirit of humility and being able to laugh at themselves. I think the Bruderhof also have something similar to a feedback, but I don't remember if it is symmetrical or not. IMO, anything that prevents egos from getting too big is a good thing. I personally have no problems with hierarchies based on wisdom and experience and competence as long as they are not rigid hierarchies and there are checks and balances to prevent egos from getting too big.

I hope we can develop systems that can deal with problem people (that is, all of us) while acknowledging that the responsibility for the problem is systemic, not fully personal. I was dealing with two problem people at the last IC I was at: myself (a provisional member) and the full member , D, who felt like I was the only problem person (as well as the previous members who left feeling like she was the problem person). At the end, D gave me a membership review/feedback where she asked me to leave based on what her assessement of my problem was (unless I was willing to make a correction in my attitude, which I was not able nor willing to make), and I was not really allowed to respond. I chose to leave until the system changes.
-Iuval

Re: I've found eden... and it's too expensive

http://rosedraws.gaia.com — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 15:06:39 GMT

This would be such a great time to start a community. Properties can be had for a song!

But I guess the same economy that makes property affordable, keeps us all more pinched than usual.

I have an opportunity to move into a friends community. It's not a great community (except for my friend)... but they have a plot of land available that I could put a home on. It becomes affordable because the land is part of the trust, and I only have to pay for building the home. But the equity has evaporated from my current house, so I can't do it. I feel so stuck!

Ah, money. it's the clay on our feet.