Everything you need to know to create an intentional community from
scratch
An intentional community is a group of people who have chosen to live or
work together in pursuit of a common ideal or vision. An ecovillage is a
village-scale intentional community that intends to create, ecological,
social, economic, and spiritual sustainability over several generations.
The 90s saw a revitalized surge of interest in intentional communities
and ecovillages in North America: the number of intentional communities
listed in the Communities Directory increased 60 percent between 1990
and 1995. But only 10 percent of the actual number of forming-community
groups actually succeeded. Ninety percent failed, often in conflict and
heartbreak. After visiting and interviewing founders of dozens of
successful and failed communities, along with her own forming-community
experiences, the author concluded that the successful 10 percent had all
done the same five or six things right, and the unsuccessful 90 percent
had made the same handful of mistakes. Recognizing that a wealth of
wisdom were contained in these experiences, she set out to distill and
capture them in one place.
Creating a Life Together is the only resource available that provides
step-by-step, practical how-to information on how to launch and sustain
a successful ecovillage or intentional community. Through anecdotes,
stories, and cautionary tales about real communities, and by profiling
seven successful communities in depth, the book examines the successful
10 percent and why 90 percent fail; the role of community founders;
getting a group off to a good start; vision and vision documents;
decision-making and governance; agreements; legal options; finding,
financing, and developing land; structuring a community economy;
selecting new members; and communication, process, and dealing well with
conflict. Sample vision documents, community agreements, and visioning
exercises are included, along with abundant resources for learning more.
