Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Communities of Communities

[Collaborative Housing Society (cohosoc]

I strongly recommend pursuing the "communities of communities" idea -
sharing not only information, resources, etc., but also encouragement and
maybe even energy.

We had a retreat weekend in June where members from 8 groups and others got
together to meet, talk about specific issues common to every group (ie., the
approvals process).  One of the organized sessions was called "The Politices
of Cohousing", where we met to brainstorm about ways we could all work
together to facilitate the whole regulatory/institutional/public environment
to be more supportive of our individual efforts.  One result of this is that
each group has appointed one member (this may rotate) to come to bi-monthly
meetings where we share our thoughts, needs, experiences, etc. and formally
work together to build a bigger community of cohousing.

Our cohousing groups are all in the formation stage, with some further along
than others.    This may change when the construction process starts in
earnest, which it should be for at least two of the groups, but the intent
is there, and the framework for it to happen is there, and that seems to be
the key.

I should add that in a couple of cases, members from one group have been
attracted to another.  Because we see the benefits of co-operation, this is
not seen as a bad thing, in fact, quite the opposite.  We are creating
stronger members when they are able to find something that matches their
needs, rather than staying with a project that chafes.  But even when a
split does occur - and it does, we are also able to encourage groups to see
it as growth rather than death - mitosis is one of the basic mechanisms of
life, after all!

Just as it is within any one cohousing project, there is so much more we can
do by working together than we can by ourselves.

Russell Mawby
Collaborative Housing Society - Toronto
cohosoc [at] web.apc.org