Relocalization — the Cohousing Experience
Posted February 5th, 2008 by RobDietz 5 comments
Relocalization is a key way to move an economy toward sustainability. According to the Relocalization Network, relocalization is a strategy to build societies based on the local production of food, energy and goods, and the local development of currency, governance and culture. The main goals of relocalization are to increase community energy security, to strengthen local economies, and to improve environmental conditions and social equity.
In essence, relocalization means going about social and economic life at a human or community scale. Rather than purchasing and eating food which has been grown on distant farms, cooked in centralized factories, and shipped thousands of miles, relocalization calls for eating fresh foods from local farms sold in a community market. One way to jumpstart relocalization is to develop housing structures that foster community.
Cohousing is one such structure. Cohousing is a kind of intentional neighborhood, one in which the residents live in private homes, but manage the neighborhood and common amenities together. Although I am not a cohousing expert, I am certainly informed. I live with my family in a cohousing neighborhood. We own a modest sized townhouse, one of 34 residences in the neighborhood. The units are arrayed along a walking path where community members often see one another. We share some meals. We share work projects. We share tools. More tellingly, we share good times and values, and have a rich community structure that fosters support and connectivity. Cohousing amounts to a modern take on village life. There’s quite a bit more privacy (e.g., private home ownership and private employment) than what existed in villages of old, but many of the collective amenities are maintained.
On first blush, living in a tight-knit community (which includes resolving conflicts, making decisions, and managing shared resources) wouldn’t seem to have much to do with building a sustainable economy, but it sets the stage for relocalization. A citizenry that thinks and lives at the community scale is the main ingredient necessary to cook up a more local economy. Certainly other ingredients like local currency and energy systems would be helpful, but there is little chance of building the necessary local systems if people are not engaged at the local level.
I will add future posts on cohousing as I gain more experience. Additional information on cohousing is available at www.cohousing.org.
5 Responses to 'Relocalization — the Cohousing Experience'
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I think that in times of globalization and hyper-individuaslim, cohousing is a very good step (not the only one though) towards relocalization and sustainability as the author stresses.
There are several books published (find a list on our website), or for a view from within, you might be interested to watch our documentary “Voices of Cohousing” that won an award at the 34th Ekotopfilm festival 2007. trailer and info: http://notsocrazy.net
matthieu
6 Feb 08 at 2:40 am
I have not lived in a cohousing community as such myself but I admire the philosophy and practice, as it seems to aim at a good balance between the private and the communal, something which ‘communes’ or other intentional communities have not always managed to achieve. I recently visited a cohousing community in Santa Fe to present a workshop on ‘community currencies’, which are one tool for relocalisation that have spawned thousands of experiments worldwide. You can see lots of links on this topic at my website. Look forward to seeing more on cohousing.
John Rogers
6 Feb 08 at 4:32 am
Rob,
Where’s your community? I’d love to read more about your process of discovery and learning. Cohousing Developer Jim Leach (Wonderland Hill Development Co.) likes to say “Community is the Secret Ingredient in Sustainability,” and I think you captured the spirit of that well. Graham Meltzer’s book, “Sustainable Communities: Learning from the Cohousing Model” has a bunch of quantitative survey-based research on how the two are linked. And Dave Wann’s new book “Simple Prosperity” has some nice perspectives on the topic (he’s on the national cohousing association board and lives in Harmony Village in Golden, CO)
Raines Cohen, Cohousing Coach
Planning for Sustainable Communities
Living at Berkeley (CA) Cohousing
On my way from Casa Verde Commons (Colorado Springs, CO) to Heartwood Cohousing (Bayfield, near Durango, CO), after visiting cohousing neighborhoods in Oregon: Ashland, Corvallis, and Portland.
Raines Cohen
6 Feb 08 at 12:22 pm
Hey Rob, thanks for this older post. Let me ask something related now in December, 2008:
How to translate these principles at the neighborhood scale.
I have been a proponent of Cohousing-style collective living (and working) for some time. My new social enterprise folds it into a bigger vision, however. We will be working on the neighborhood scale- where our impact is felt more powerfully by each individual.
We work to create local creative/commercial partnerships to build vibrant, self-reliant neighborhoods. We encourage a relocalizing of their raw resources, inventories, vendors and labor so the assorted capital (human, natural, etc) that is generated by the community stay and develop inside the community. It is an intimate steady-state that centers around quality and community connection using local economics and culture.
I am looking for ways to translate the “relocalization” and “steady-state economy” tenets into our language and our strategies, using plain English not Economic-speak. So for example, how might I have a community analyze what their local carrying capacity might be and aim for a local steady economic development state? In 2009, we must talk livelihood and business survival tools. Can you suggest other business strategies being used by steady-state proponents at this neighborhood community level?
loni gray
23 Dec 08 at 1:59 pm
I wish I lived in a cohousing environment! It really is the best of both worlds: private space for when you want privacy, and access to common areas that are much better than any one person could afford or maintain. I like too the balance where peoples’ personal lives are respected and unknown, yet at some level, people will tend to look out for each other. I hope we see more of it, it seems like the ideal way to live.
thompsco
27 Jun 09 at 4:06 pm