Group Process


On Community: A Graduated Series of Consequences and the “Community Eye”

Posted on November 26, 2019 by

Just knowing the community has this process in place deters people from breaking agreements. People don’t want to get a knock at the door by one fellow community member, much less three or four.


Whatever Happened to the Renaissance Community?

Posted on November 12, 2019 by

Despite the lethal combination of power, ego, and spirituality that brought the Renaissance Community to an end, most of its ex-members cherish their time there as a growth experience that made them better people.


Founder’s Syndrome

Posted on October 22, 2019 by

The original founder, visionary, and main public point person for Bellyacres for over a quarter of a century laments that some members came to consider him “the root of all present, past, and future problems in the organization.”


The Expert

Posted on October 8, 2019 by

Wow! This woman has it all! She’s the answer to so many of our current dilemmas! What could possibly go wrong? A lot.


Village-Building Stumbles: A few of the things Earthaven Ecovillage has gotten wrong

Posted on October 1, 2019 by

Those of us privileged enough to find ourselves in an intentional community often imagine that our environment will be free of the horrors and evils of the world. But alas, we bring it all with us.


Relationships in a Community-Forming Group

Posted on July 23, 2019 by

While trying to start a community with poly-friendly collaborators, two monogamous partners achieve greater clarity in their six-year relationship, and end it.


The Sting of Discrimination: When Polyamory Is Considered a “Red Flag”

Posted on June 25, 2019 by
9 Comments

Previously on the path to community acceptance, an applicant experiences for the first time “the direct sting of bigotry, the shock of exclusion based on stereotypes” when her family is denied on the basis of polyamory.


Your Monthly Freebie: Think Outside the Boss

Posted on June 8, 2019 by

This month’s Free Resource comes from Sustainable Economies Law Center, an organization whose mission is to “cultivates a new legal landscape that supports community resilience and grassroots economic empowerment.” Think… Read More


Your Community and the Law

Posted on April 30, 2019 by

Earthaven Ecovillage learns the hard way that it’s important for a community to choose its legal entities carefully, and to consult and listen to lawyers. A member shares some lessons from their ordeal.


Growing Together through Trauma, with the Land

Posted on April 9, 2019 by

When La’akea Community’s stability is disrupted and its existence threatened by the aftermath of an earthquake, members discover that their land is a much larger source of “glue” to keep them together than they had thought.


How We Came to Inherit a Salmon Stream

Posted on March 30, 2019 by

The residents of Sahale Learning Center and EcoVillage welcome the salmon who swim from the Hood Canal up the Tahuya River each year to spawn.


4 Building Blocks of Community

Posted on February 25, 2019 by

Start a Village “If you don’t like the way things are, Start a Village!” This was the essential message that Stephen Brooks delivered at his enthusiastic TEDx talk at Black… Read More


Skill Building for a Culture of Collaboration

Posted on January 7, 2019 by

To build a healthy cultural infrastructure, it’s important to clarify your cooperative decision-making process, adopt conflict tools, and commit to the ongoing development of collaborative skills in your group.


What it Takes to Create Community Connection

Posted on December 3, 2018 by

Common Conceptions of Community How can we create community connection — including more support, belonging, smiles, and growth — in our lives? Bianca Heyming gave a TED talk based on… Read More


Perennial Lessons from Historical Communities

Posted on October 30, 2018 by
1 Comment

A modern-day communitarian “networks” with Fourierist communities of the 1840s by examining their lives together and noticing enduring themes, challenges, and solutions.


How to Help One Another: Connecting Cohousing Communities in a Regional Network

Posted on October 9, 2018 by

In the PDX-Plus Cohousing Group, individual member groups find it simultaneously reassuring, daunting, and energizing to learn that their challenges and joys in living intentionally in community are shared.


Inclusivity and Disability

Posted on September 28, 2018 by
2 Comments

Cohousing aspires to be as inclusive as possible, but North American culture suppresses conversation about disability and health. How can communities create processes to address previously invisible needs?


Liberation, Networks, and Community

Posted on September 21, 2018 by
3 Comments

Movements and networks of liberation show us that community can be a tool either of oppression or of powerful organizing for liberation. It’s time for our movement to get solidly on the right side of history.


Connect: Now More Than Ever

Posted on September 7, 2018 by

Time spent at Lost Valley and La’akea inspires a passion not just for community and its heart-opening, communication-deepening, earth-connecting effects, but also for communal networking and the difference it can make in the world.


Leading Edges of Collaboration: GENNA Alliance

Posted on August 26, 2018 by

Six key networking organizations come together to serve the regenerative communities movement by forming GENNA, the North American branch of the Global Ecovillage Network.


Answering the “Call of the Mountain” through a Spiralling Network of Sustainability

Posted on August 25, 2018 by

Organizing a networking gathering yields many benefits, but the collatoral trials and tributions take their toll on this organizer—now recharging by prioritizing farm and family.


Combating Racism, One Community at a Time

Posted on March 26, 2018 by
1 Comment

Catholic Worker communities throughout the Midwest examine themselves, make changes, and reach out in an effort to overcome the insidious influences of white supremacy.


Class, Race, and Privilege in Intentional Community

Posted on March 24, 2018 by

A co-owner of Heart-Culture Farm Community explores ways to use her privilege to help create a society where people are truly equal.


I’m Not a Racist, But Racism Is In Me—and in My Community

Posted on March 22, 2018 by

Predominantly white communities are going to stay that way until they acknowledge and address racism. Here is some guidance for doing that.


Reflections on Class from a Newbie at Rocky Hill Cohousing

Posted on March 20, 2018 by
2 Comments

A cohousing project’s budget can help address class and classism—but the community also needs to articulate and explore its culture’s underlying or hidden rules.


White Bias, Black Lives: When Unconscious Bias Affects Your Community

Posted on March 18, 2018 by

Members of Sunward Cohousing recognize and attempt to transform their community’s differential treatment of white-skinned and dark-skinned neighborhood children.


Moving Beyond Diversity Towards Collective Liberation: Weaving the Communities Movement into Intersectional Justice Struggles

Posted on March 8, 2018 by

The co-organizer of the People of Color Sustainable Housing Network shares strategies for deepening your community’s work on issues of race, class, and privilege.


Participatory Budgeting in an Income-Sharing Community

Posted on June 11, 2017 by
1 Comment

How does one share income and expenses among a hundred people? Twin Oaks discovers how to supplant apathy with widespread engagement.


Public vs. Private: Group Dilemma Laid Bare!

Posted on January 11, 2017 by
1 Comment

For some neighbors, the logical leap from “glimpse of skin” to “nudist colony” is a surprisingly short one to make.


Five Tools to Help Groups Thrive

Posted on December 21, 2016 by

A clearly articulated evolutionary purpose, a welcoming of the whole self, and governance through self-management are keys to collective success.