Inaugural Convergence of Intentional Communities

From Sept 2-3, the FIC and Twin Oaks co-facilitated an historic Convergence of Intentional Communities following their annual Twin Oaks Communities Conference. More than 222 participants attended across the two events (plus several dozen Twin Oakers and other local communards), and the FIC and the Twin Oaks fire relief fund split about $2K from the glorious return of Harvey Baker as auctioneer.

At the convergence, over 50 communitarians from all over North America (and a few from abroad) deeply asked ourselves:

• “Who will we need to be as the poly crisis deepens?”
• “How will we get from here to there?”

Convergence of Intentional Communities – Day One

Firstly, we began by exploring our identity as individuals within communities within a larger movement towards a more meaningful, regenerative, and just future. After a lively discussion on needs and offers, a number of bilateral linkages were created and themes were selected that impact our full networks.

Convergence of Intentional Communities – Day Two

The second day was devoted to fleshing out the scope and focus of a dozen working groups. Some were in areas the FIC can directly support such as courses, networking, membership, and a resource library. In addition, those interested in consultancy and research will reach out to other networks and organizations already working in these areas––GEN and the Communal Studies Association, for instance.

Furthermore, the remaining six working groups aim to further support our growing community of communities in several key areas. These include:

• exchanges of people and resources
• bioregional, national, and transnational gatherings
• a harm reduction and repair council
• regenerative business opportunities
• resiliency planning
• and lastly, tech tools to make this all possible (we jumped into Discord, but are also exploring other platforms such as Hylo).

Where next?

Overall, engagement and enthusiasm ran high as each group identified roles (including an internal steward and a liaison to a “hub”) timelines, linkages with other groups, and resources needed to manifest their vision. Now, our task will be to continue herding all these cats while weaving these initiatives with existing projects and networks.

It’s all very exciting and emergent!