All Blog Posts
Your Tour Powered by the FIC – 30th Birthday, Day 3
Posted on November 2, 2017 by1 Comment
Alyson Ewald is a former Board member of the FIC. Full bio below. For more 30th blog posts click here. This morning I gave a tour of our homestead at Red Earth Farms to a dozen people who were visiting the neighboring ecovillage. As they asked questions about scything, fruit trees, renewable energy, and reclaimed… Read More
The Origins of the FIC – 30th Birthday, Day 2
Posted on November 1, 2017 by1 Comment
Harvey Baker has been involved with the FIC since the beginning, having served on the Board for 29 of our 30 years, and continues to be one of our most wise and innovative thinkers. He is also a co-founder of Dunmire Hollow Community, TN (1974). Full bio below. For more 30th blog posts click here.… Read More
Life Lessons for Community Longevity
Posted on November 1, 2017 byThe founder of Bellyacres Artistic Ecovillage profers advice inspired by the nearly three decades he was immersed in the experiment.
Movement at a Crossroads – 30th Birthday, Day 1
Posted on October 31, 2017 by2 Comments
Sky Blue is the Executive Director of the Foundation for Intentional Community. For more 30th blog posts click here. It’s been quite a year. From the rise of white nationalism, to hurricanes and fires, to threats of nuclear war, to NFL protests, and a seemingly endless stream of high profile sexual assault and harassment cases,… Read More
30 Years of Service to the Intentional Communities Movement
Posted on October 31, 2017 byHappy 30th Birthday!!! Foundation for Intentional Community 30 Years of Service to the Intentional Communities Movement For 30 years the FIC has provided networking and support to co-ops, land trusts, Cohousing, ecovillages, communes, and collective living of all kinds. We’ve helped people find communities, helped communities find people, and helped people who… Read More
New Report Explores How to Rethink Cities of the Future
Posted on October 27, 2017 byThis post by Nithin Coca first appeared on Shareable. In 2009, the world hit a watershed moment. For the first time in human history, a majority of people were living not in rural areas, but in cities. Since then, the growth in cities has only accelerated, and the United Nations estimates that 66 percent of the world’s population… Read More
Want to Change the System? ‘Become the System’
Posted on October 27, 2017 byThis article first appeared on Shareable . We live in turbulent times: many certainties are disappearing and changes are difficult to understand. Can transition management help us to explain where the world is heading? Derk Loorbach, director of the Dutch Research Institute for Transitions (DRIFT) at the Erasmus University of Rotterdam, talks about the mechanisms, risks,… Read More
Why I Study Communal Societies
Posted on October 21, 2017 byThe study of intentional communities, both past and present, is a rich and rewarding enterprise for the student of political theory. The members of intentional communities, whether historic or contemporary, religious or secular, short-lived or enduring, must grapple with fundamental questions about human nature and human organization. In doing so, they illuminate in microcosm the… Read More
Intentional Communities: How do we grow this movement fast?
Posted on October 19, 2017 byIt’s been quite a year. This is a synthesis of what I’ve been hearing and what I’ve been thinking about intentional communities, or whatever you want to call them. There’s a lot of interest in replicable, scalable models and best practices. People seem to be feeling more of an imperative to have an impact on… Read More
Landing Your Community – The Community Builders Forum – Webinar #3
Posted on October 18, 2017 byThe Community Builders Forum – Webinar 3 – Landing your Community The practical and spiritual aspects of real estate for intentional communities We host monthly webinars, which members can participate in live. These webinars cover a wide range of topics of interest and importance to intentional communities and their allies. Recordings of past episodes can be… Read More
Empowerment, Intersectionality, and Collaboration at an Urban Laboratory
Posted on October 17, 2017 byEmpowerment, Intersectionality, and Collaboration at an Urban Laboratory Arcosanti Convergence November 10-12, 2017 An FIC co-sponsored event The FIC is a proud co-sponsor of the first Arcosanti Convergence at Arcosanti, a unique urban laboratory in Arizona. The Convergence will bring together renowned speakers, artists, musicians, and activators to co-create an experience of… Read More
Overcoming Our Americanness
Posted on October 11, 2017 byUnless we learn from past and present communities, and collate lessons from our own, we will bob as separate crafts on the ocean of our uncooperative and ahistorical Americanness.
Can we grow old in community?
Posted on October 3, 2017 byCommunity Bookstore Special Best of Communities The Cream of Our Crop Elders in Community by Kim Kanney, Community Bookstore Manager Best of Communities Volume IX Elders in Community A special selection of articles from Communities: Life in Cooperative Culture magazine $10 Digital, $15 Print The Foundation for Intentional Community is pleased to offer you the… Read More
Intentional Community in a Nicaraguan Jungle: Honoring my duality through community practices
Posted on October 1, 2017 byThrough her experience temporarily “unplugging” to join a community emphasizing genuine connection and values-based living, an international law student gains lifelong lessons.
Cohousing’s Diversity Problem
Posted on September 29, 2017 byThis article by Amanda Abrams first appeared in CityLab here. The topic, however, is not new; take a walk back through FIC’s archives to read Adriane Dellorco’s take from 2001 here. Small but passionate, the cohousing movement in the United States is growing. With 163 communities located around the country and many others in development, the Danish import… Read More
Full Circle Memories from Dancing Rabbit
Posted on September 29, 2017 byThis post was first published on Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage’s blog here. If this account stirs you, get your application in now to join their final visitor session of the year, happening Oct 8-29! This fall I’m experiencing some pleasant full-circle memories that I’d like to share with you. Liz here, one of the newer residents of Dancing Rabbit.… Read More
Standing in Love in the Face of Hatred
Posted on September 29, 2017 byThis post by David Spangler first appeared on the Findhorn Foundation’s blog here. There is a dramatic moment in the Fellowship of the Ring, the first book in J.R.R. Tolkien’s acclaimed trilogy, Lord of the Rings, when the Fellowship is racing through the dark caverns of the mines of Moira pursued by a Balrog, a demon from the… Read More
Intentional Eco-Village Communities: Are Geodomes A Sustainable Answer to Homelessness?
Posted on September 29, 2017 byNote: We acknowledge that homelessness is a complex sociopolitical and community issue, and aim to be respectful of all the various causes and experiences of homelessness. We also believe that community-based solutions are some of the best options because they tend to be more inclusive of local circumstances, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. We welcome… Read More
Tracing Windward’s Memeology
Posted on September 21, 2017 byThe Haudenosaunee, the Oneida Community, and The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, with its vision of a “polyamorous line family,” all form part of Windward’s conceptual ancestry.
A New Look at Modern Aging
Posted on September 18, 2017 by1 Comment
This article first appeared on Cohousing USA’s blog here. By Charles Durrett. The last nails are being hammered in. Fresh paint still clings to the damp air. In Port Townsend, Washington, residents of the newly-built Quimper Village Senior Cohousing eagerly await moving into the neighborhood that they co-designed. The neighborhood that not only symbolizes their… Read More
Our Commitment to Social Justice
Posted on September 18, 2017 by1 Comment
Intentional communities are intrinsically idealistic. They’re based on a radical analysis of social problems and are an attempt to address them. They represent a personal desire to live in a way that feels more satisfying, but also the desire for a better society for all people. They are a recognition that some of the essentials… Read More
The Secret to Living in Community
Posted on September 16, 2017 byCommunity Bookstore Featured The Secret to Living in Community by Kim Kanney, Community Bookstore Manager Deep Listening The Secret to Living in Community A new film available in digital download and digital rental. Exploring the secrets of Aboriginal wisdom which enable connection and healing, this documentary asks What skills do we need to build successful… Read More
Providing Regenerative Ecovillage Solutions for the Bonn Climate Summit
Posted on September 15, 2017 byThis November the UN Climate Summit (COP23) will be held in Bonn, Germany, where the imperative will be how to massively scale-up and effectively implement the Paris Climate Agreement. The Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) strongly believes that sustainable communities are already making significant contributions to climate change mitigation and adaptation. It is GEN’s mandate to… Read More
Consensus: Learning to think and act cooperatively – The Community Builders Forum – Webinar #2
Posted on September 13, 2017 by2 Comments
In the second addition of The Community Builders Forum, the FIC’s new webinar series for members, Laird Schaub takes us through what makes consensus work. Members can participate in these webinars live. For more info on becoming an FIC member, click here. For most people consensus is an unnatural act. It calls for participants to… Read More
Two amazing community events in California
Posted on September 5, 2017 byTwo Amazing Community Events In California West Coast Communities Conference Sept 29 – Oct 1 Building Resilient Communities & Permaculture Convergence Oct 5 – Oct 8 Co-Sponsored by the Foundation for Intentional Community The FIC is proud to sponsor the third annual West Coast Communities Conference, and the Building Resilient Communities & Permaculture Convergence. West… Read More
The Value of Community: What Defines Success?
Posted on September 1, 2017 by2 Comments
Short-term experiences of intentional community, and short-lived communities, can still have powerful, life-changing, and society-changing effects.
The Communal Studies Association
Posted on August 29, 2017 byCSA and FIC partner to spread awareness of communal groups past and present and the vital lessons they offer, in areas ranging from conflict resolution, sustainability, and equality to the dangers of authoritarianism.
Learning from the Past, #176 Contents
Posted on August 28, 2017 byOur Fall issue, sponsored in part by the Communal Studies Association, focuses on Learning from the Past. Current communitarians reflect on lessons from their own and their communities’ histories, and on inspiration from historical communities that inform their own efforts. Students of communalism share the outcomes of their research, including recipes for success and failure and other insights from past and present communities. Community seekers and founders describe what they’ve learned so far. Throughout, we explore how learning from the past can help us navigate the present and move toward a more vibrant, functional, cooperative future.
West Coast Communities Conference 2017
Posted on August 8, 2017 byWelcome to the 3rd Annual West Coast Communities Conference, Sept 29 – Oct 1 in Souther California! Taking off from last year’s subject of economic justice, we are organizing this year’s topics around the subject of equitable and sustainable income and affordability. Organized by SWICA – South West Intentional Communities Alliance and co-sponsored by the… Read More
Living Out a Gift Economy in Community with Others
Posted on August 1, 2017 by2 Comments
Putting love into practice can be done even when you have nothing materially.
