How creating better housing solutions has become illegal
Are you housing dreams currently illegal? If so, this is a good thing! It means you want to create something that is so ahead of its time that the law has not caught up with you yet!
The FDS says where new housing is to be built, what roading and infrastructure will be developed, how emissions will be reduced, and other really important future decisions that have a big impact and that can’t be reversed if we do it wrong.
Climate- Resilient Housing Communities — Have your say
Collective Housing, whether it be co-housing, ecovillages, tiny home village, or similarly values-driven housing developments and neighbourhoods, are by their very nature more climate-resilient.
The tiny house movement is gaining momentum as rental and house costs rise but where do people put their tiny homes where they can also have a sense of belonging, connection, and security?
Collective housing development as a catalyst for personal development
Developing a socially-connected, sustainable, and affordable housing community from inception to built-reality requires much more than a Property Developer or Property Project Management degree...
What does it take to create a new kind of housing system?
I’m quite intrigued by the question: What does it take to create a new kind of housing system — one that creates more connections with people, that stewards nature and our planet, and that is affordable for people to buy or rent into?
How to become a skilled, knowledgeable, and resourced housing community creator
Most of us would agree that we have a housing problem—in fact many housing problems: high cost to buy and to rent, lack of available rentals, gentrification in many towns and cities, crappy building design leaving us cold and damp...
Enabling Housing that is for, by, & with Women & Ethnic Women
I have been contracted by Shama Hamilon Ethnic Women Trust to assist with a research project to discover what would enable more housing that is for, by, and with women, particularly ethnic women, and what are the challenges.
Housing Development Through Collective Wisdom & Reciprocity
What I really love about collective housing is that, by its nature, it develops community in a social sense while developing community in the physical realm.
12 Ways to Get More Support for Your Housing Community Project
Creating an outside-the-box housing project, such as where you might have greater density or smaller plot sizes, wanting to develop on rural land, wanting to create affordability...
I have just added a section to the Common Ground website called “Inspiring Communities and Housing Projects” which is to shine a light on the great housing idea you’re forming or the already formed housing community...
Designing Communities & Housing for Regenerative Community Living
Are you interested in exploring how your community (at any stage from idea to long-established) could be more resilient, low-impact, peaceful, inclusive, equitable, and collaborative?
Would you like support to gain more traction with your housing idea or project?
What I love about my work at Common Ground is connecting with inspiring people like you who tell me about their amazing housing & community project ideas, guided by values of connection, sustainability, justice and affordability.
When it comes to housing, it’s just as important to pay attention to the spaces between as it is the housing itself and to plan, design, and value these in-between spaces.
How would our housing and neighbourhoods look if they were in service to life? In service to human lives--the social and cultural needs of people, in service to nature and the other life forms on the planet, in service to the livelihood and resilience of the community.
12 Ways to Get More Support for Your Housing Community Project
Creating an outside-the-box housing project, such as where you might have greater density or smaller plot sizes, wanting to develop on rural land, wanting to create affordability, can lead to substantial more hurdles for housing community creators (including non-speculative housing developers and groups) because the Council, neighbors, financial institutions, and legal requirements don’t know how to fit these innovative neighbourhood designs into their current frameworks.
Below is a list of 12 ways that your housing project (co-housing, ecovillage, etc) can get support rather than getting way-laid by the possible hurdles that many others have faced. Support could come in the form of resources, low-interest investment, in-kind or pro-bono professional services, offer for land at a reduced price, and much more…
Investigate what the local and national goals are for the area and frame your housing project as creating a positive impact on those goals
Create a climate-resilient community and state how it will be carbon neutral or mitigating
Partner with a university or even local school to involve them in research that could be done on impact or to use the housing community as a learning ground
Show how your housing development contributes to the local economic development of an area and can help curb gentrification
Build some of the houses specifically for people in the local workforce, essential workers
Partner with a Community Housing Provider (CHP) to be able to offer some affordable housing
Build relationships with the neighbours to see what they would like to have or how they might like to be involved — asking their advice on local knowledge and connections
Speak and present your project within a regenerative framework
Build local interest through storytelling, dialogue circles, interviews, showcases
Host workshops the build the skills of cooperative and sustainable living so people get a feel for what it might be like to live in the community and get excited about it.
Ensure local iwi partnership or involvement
If you’re building on rural land, include food growing and biodiversity activities.
I’ve been working with Nadine Simsar to assist her in the development of the Raglan Ecovillage project and the project has received a lot of support and interest from key stakeholders because it has used most of the above methods or plans to do in the future.
Author: Zola Rose
Date: October 13, 2021
How to become a skilled, knowledgeable, and resourced housing community creator
(Enabling people to create the kinds of housing and communities that reflects their values)
Most of us would agree that we have a housing problem — in fact many housing problems: high cost to buy and to rent, lack of available rentals, gentrification in many towns and cities, crappy building design leaving us cold and damp, neighbourhood designs that leave people feeling isolated, high levels of waste from the construction of housing, and lack of choice overall.
According to Einstein, we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking that we used when we created them.
So, many of us are taking matters into our own hands and looking into forms of housing that are intentional, with values of caring, sharing, reduced consumption, stewardship of nature, and affordability.
This creates a new sector of housing that is emerging — the collective or community-led or community-focused housing sector where future residents design, lead and create their own housing.
In many cultures, this kind of housing development is typical but in the Western world we’ve been slowly stripped of our abilities to create our own housing solutions — that being relegated to the speculative developers or the social housing providers.
So, how can the average Joe/Jane gain all the skills, knowledge and resources needed to do this?
One option is to get a “Property Development Management” degree; but this would lack the values-centred, community-led skills. You could get an Ecovillage Design Education certificate that uses regenerative principles and processes to guide a housing community development; but this would lack the nuts-and-bolts knowledge of property development.
As Einstein said, we need a new way of thinking about housing and therefore a new approach to the acquisition of the skills and knowledge for enabling this emerging sector.
What I believe would be the more integrated and wholistic approach to growing and enabling this collective housing sector is a combination of three different systems or spheres of knowledge and skills:
We would start with learning about regenerative systems so that we ensure we are not only causing no harm but actually working to create life-enhancing systems. Here we understand about how housing can be used as a catalyst to increase economic, ecological, social and cultural wellbeing in a place, understanding patterns, and
Then we move into developing collective leadership so that the people and social systems that will create and continue to evolve the communities and neighbourhoods are thriving, peaceful, and connected. And when conflict arises, as it will, there will be processes to deal with that effectively.
With those foundations, we can then have a better understanding of how the built and structural aspects of the housing community, how it looks and functions on the land, can contribute and be informed by the two above systems and vice versa. New possibilities of developing in place will emerge.
Common Ground is offering a programme to learn more about how we can enable and grow this collective, community-led and regenerative housing sector and the individuals who feel called to take a more active role in catalysing community and housing solutions.
Author: Zola Rose
Date: October 8, 2021
Is the housing or community you dream to create illegal?
Are you housing dreams currently illegal? If so, this is a good thing! It means you want to create something that is so ahead of its time that the law has not caught up with you yet!
Cohousing, Tiny Homes, Ecovillages, multiple dwellings on a rural property, smaller dwellings — most collective and alternative housing models have high standards of environmental practice, are more affordable, and offer better living conditions for residents yet are hampered by the current regulatory policies.
This is a global trend so know you’re not the only outlaw out there.
It’s urgent and imperative to unblock the biggest bottlenecks to doing collective and regenerative housing so that we are able to create the houses and neighbourhoods that create more social cohesion, that reduce emissions, reduce waste, use less energy, that cost less to buy and run, and many more benefits.
What makes these homes & developments illegal is the way they want to manage their land-use, water, waste, power and the size, number, or type of dwellings on the property. Many of these systems, focusing on sustainable and socially-beneficial outcomes, are currently not allowed by our building codes and zoning codes.
What has been exciting me recently is that I’ve found a lot of resources that tackle this zoning issue head on. There are a number of organisations and companies working to change these zoning codes and systems.
I’ll be writing a series on this topic so we can get a better understanding of how these entities are making headway in this zoning reform space so we can learn from their efforts and successes.
It’s not too often that you hear of developers creating community-centred neighbourhoods and rare that any would be stepping up to advocate for zoning changes. But, they do exist!
Here is the list of housing projects that have received zoning changes. that I’ll be covering over the next month in addition to Orange Splot which is covered in this edition:
MicroLife which has an educational programme empowering people to work with their local government to change the zoning policies in their local communities. They’ve succeeded so I’ll share about their signature “method” and their pilot community.
OUR Ecovillage who worked to create a new zoning for British Columbia Canada called Comprehensive Development Zone for ecovillage to be able to develop a residential community using appropriate technologies in a rural area.
Serenbe: A biophiliic housing development community that eventually formed its own city to be able to be in charge of the zoning for its development which was too environmentally radical for the local zoning laws.
Incremental Development Alliance: Coaching council (policy makers) to ensure zoning laws don’t get in the way of what is needed in the city and to be supportive.
Boekel Ecovillage: The ecovillage aims to achieve every one of the SDGs, as such it is very innovative. The municipality assigned the project as an “experiment area” where restrictive regulations are temporarily declared inapplicable.
Cully Grove Neighbourhood built by Orange Splot
What is zoning reform and how can it be done: Zoning Advocacy by Orange Splot
In this edition, I’m covering the work of Orange Splot. They are both a development company which focuses on building smaller homes on smaller plots with a community-focus but are also an advocacy powerhouse to appeal to local government to change zoning to accommodate the “missing middle” and for affordable and equitable housing.
Great work is being done in Portland and around the country to support housing types that use land, space, and energy more efficiently; are well-served by transit and neighborhood services; are designed to strengthen our local communities; and people can afford.
On their website they offer resources from advocates, developers, and others we think might help accelerate this critical evolution in local planning around residential development. They’ve included some articles and op-ed’s that do a great job of communicating these issues to the public. So don’t start from scratch … take, adapt, & use away!
Policy Advocacy
From the Orange Splot website: As an example, below are the policy recommendations in a letter written to their Mayor and Commissioners.
We urge you to support the “Missing middle” housing amendment (#P45) — but also to go further, by following the City Club’s recommendation to revise the zoning code to allow for middle housing types in residential neighborhoods across the City — not just near centers.
We also urge support for amendment #P46, setting a 10,000 unit goal for affordable housing
Offer density bonuses for smaller homes in residentially zoned portions of the city, with an extra density bonus for affordable housing with sales price and income restrictions
One of the main drivers of expensive housing is minimum lot sizes. Portland needs more, and smaller lots
Support an expansion of Portland’s accessory dwelling unit [similar to Granny Flats] program and an allowance for internal divisions of larger home
Implement a mandatory Inclusionary Zoning policy, along with an excise tax on new construction of at least 1%, dedicated to affordable housing.
Portland implements age-friendly policies for “granny flats” and tiny houses
by AARP International and AARP Livable Communities
Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) are small, independent housing units created within single-family homes or on their lots. Although these homes are small, in many communities the complexities of building one are a big deal.
On top of zoning constraints and construction costs, some municipalities charge pricey fees that can make the project untenable.
That’s no longer the case in Portland, Oregon, which in 2010 significantly reduced (or “waived the largest”) municipal fees and adjusted the city’s zoning codes to make it easier for a homeowner to add an ADU to his or her property. An overriding reason for the change: to help residents age in place.
Regenerative Real Estate Episode: Creating vibrant, community-oriented housing with Eli Spevak (23 May 2020)
Eli Spevak has been developing affordable housing communities in Oregon for over 20 years, starting as a volunteer construction supervisor with Habitat for Humanity. In 2006, he launched Orange Splot, LLC to build new models of community-oriented, affordable, green housing development — ideally within an easy bike ride of his house. Eli was awarded a Loeb Fellowship in Advanced Environmental Studies at the Harvard GSD, co-founded www.accessorydwellings.org, co-founded Portland for Everyone, and now serves on Portland’s Planning and Sustainability Commission.
In this episode of The Regenerative Real Estate Podcast, Eli gets into his evolution of his career and his developments. This is a must listen for anyone wanting to live or development community-oriented projects!
Creating pathways for collective and collaborative housing & community development
Does living more collaboratively suit your personality? Or, does it interest you because you know it’s better for the planet and your pocketbook to live collaboratively — sharing more with neighbours and collaborating with those who have similar values or intentions?
If so, would having a one-stop-shop platform serve you to make it happen?
I’ve recently discovered the Collaborative Housing initiative and website in Australia that has been created to inform and connect people who are interested in this type of housing (which is actually many types of housing). They offer case studies, resources, checklists, and more. Read more about it below.
What I noticed is that the Australian platform/initiative has a strong backing through the State of New South Wales and the Institute for Sustainable Futures — definitely strong collaborative partners.
What would it take to get our government to be more active in supporting people to create their own housing solutions? And if universities and institutes also played a part to support community-driven housing?
In Aotearoa, we have a similar term called Collective Housing with the same definition. But, in this country, we don’t have a one-stop shop to find out more about collective housing — what it is, how can it be done legally, financially and logistically, how to connect with others with shared housing values, and how to find professionals to help.
Common Ground is on a mission to do just that by supporting local, regional, and central governments to understand more about this collective housing sector and help them find ways they can support it. And by supporting community-led housing groups to connect with role players that will support their housing projects.
If you are working within government and want to see how what you’re doing in your role/department could support collective housing as a means to address our housing crisis, then let’s talk.
I created Common Ground to be such a platform and provide such services for Aotearoa and I’m looking for collaborators who are interested to build, support, and maintain Common Ground to be such a platform.
Email me to talk about how we can work together to take this initiative, platform & these resources further.
Collaborative housing is a movement that’s revolutionising the way homes are designed, built, lived in and valued. It encourages participation, sharing and community-building, while recognising that every household wants privacy, security and financial autonomy.
By enabling residents to share costs and pool resources, collaborative housing can make buying or renting a home cheaper. Add this to the benefits of living in a connected, supportive community and it’s easy to see why the movement is growing!
Collaborative housing is shaped by the people who’ll live there and is specifically designed to encourage social connection and be more affordable. It’s a broad term that covers a variety of housing types, but there are a few common features:
It contains a mix of private and shared space — residents agree on what’s private and what’s shared, allowing them to live more affordably and build a sense of community.
Sharing typically extends beyond the buildings to include vehicles, equipment and resources.
It’s designed to encourage informal social contact, whilst also allowing for privacy.
Residents have formative input in design and play a significant role the ongoing management of the community, though the level of input and how things are managed will vary from project to project.
Residents may be extended families, a group of friends, or strangers who’ve connected because they share a common vision for where and how they want to live.
Collaborative housing comes in all sizes, from a few homes sharing a single block to much larger developments. By incorporating sharing, it makes more efficient use of land than comparable developments.
Collaborative housing can be for both owners and renters, and there are options to suit all ages and demographics.
There is a spectrum of collaborative housing, from alternative to mainstream. It entirely depends on resident preferences. At the alternative end are ‘intentional communities’ like Narara Eco Village, and at the mainstream end are examples like Nightingale or Balmain.
Although communal and intergenerational living is not a new concept, collaborative housing is a recent addition to the landscape of mainstream housing choices in Australia. It’s a movement that’s well known in northern Europe and parts of the US, and it is gathering momentum in Australia as awareness of its potential and many benefits grows.
Author: Zola Rose
Date: July 28, 2022
Wayshaper toolkit for participatory housing development
Making the process of collective/collaborative housing more clear, efficient, and inclusive
90% of these housing projects fail. The housing projects I’m talking about are those led by the future residents who want to create a housing development — which could be co-housing, cooperative housing, or ecovillage. In Aotearoa this is termed “collective housing.” In Australia, it’s “collaborative housing” and in the UK it’s “community-led housing” and in the US it’s “intentional community.”
With housing crises around the world, 90% failure is unacceptable. Particularly when these houses & neighbourhoods are usually designed for affordability, environmental sustainability and social cohesion — things we need more of in our societies.
Wayshaper is a toolkit that is a potential game changer for collective housing development. I’m really interested to bring this toolkit and adapt it for Aotearoa, NZ.
Watch the video of the presentation about Wayshaper by clicking on the image and then fill in the survey to have input into how we can make toolkit relevant for Aotearoa.
If you’re not in Aotearoa, I would suggest getting in touch with Jim and Blase directly — their contact details are in the presentation or on the Wayshaper website.
If you already attended the presentation, please fill in the feedback form and let us know what you think are the next steps.
Wayshaper is the decision-making toolkit for community-led/collective housing groups.
Wayshaper helps to simplify, accelerate, and support the process when developing a community-led/collective housing group model. It provides a way for advisors and groups to explore the needs and preferences of group members, map out priorities, explore options and make decisions.
The toolkit was created following surveys and in-depth research to identify key difficulties and best practises with 16 accredited advisors* and 43 groups at different stages of development, from early planning to post-build.
The UK edition was launched in May 2021 and is currently in use by 45 accredited advisors as well as several groups using it as a standalone toolkit, without advisor support. Localised editions are being planned for Canada, Wales and Switzerland — and maybe Aotearoa.
The toolkit comprises 86 cards, workshop instructions and online resources linked to each card, such as downloadable documents, guidance and case studies, accessed under an annual subscription model.
The key benefits of using Wayshaper are allowing a group to see all the options available to them, and critically, which options are interdependent or incompatible, greatly simplifying and accelerating the process.
Topics covered:
• Residents
• Organising principles
• Incorporation and governance
• Ownership
• Finance
• Tenure
• Type of group
• Land ownership
• Site search
• Planning
• Type of location
• Delivery model
• Type of construction
• Design and build standards
• Management of construction
• Long term management
Some feedback from active users
‘I think it saved us months of discussion and research.’ — Sofia Silva, North West Nest.
‘Makes the whole process of decision making around community housing seem much more manageable.’ — Laura Clapp, Exeter Tiny Homes.
‘Really lightens the load of trying to convey all the maze-like twists and turns re housing development and CLH.’ — Prana Simon, accredited advisor.
Author: Zola Rose
Date: July 28, 2022
Rethinking Housing -
Getting Collective Housing to the strategic table
Many people reading this newsletter have been not only rethinking housing over the past decade, but have been actively pursuing or advocating for viable alternatives that create better quality homes, more community-focused, and led, more affordable, and more socially connected — like those creating cohousing communities or those sitting on the committee of The Housing Innovation Society (THIS) and the Cooperative Housing Society of NZ. We are a pretty passionate and knowledgeable bunch but it is a slog without the major role players working in collaboration with us — like government and financial institutions.
I recently found out about the Rethinking Housing conference being held in September and was at first elated to find out about the conference but quickly became deflated to see that none of the leaders in the collective housing space, nor the successful emerging and established projects, are represented. And, the very cost of attending this two-day conference (around $2500 for two days) would exclude most of us who are doing this grassroots housing work. They only offer discounts to government and housing providers with no mention of staff or volunteers from any community-based housing projects or organisations to get a discount.
For me, rethinking housing means not only having housing professionals at such a conference, but also housing experts — those who are in the trenches of alternative and collective housing reform-work daily and even those struggling in those housing conditions who can speak from lived experience.
On the plus side, there is a focus on Build to Rent which would increase housing supply and perhaps guarantee more stable and reasonably priced rents and there is also Julie of Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust which offers progressive affordable homeownership. There is also a presentation on how to move housing from an investment paradigm to a “right to a home” paradigm.
But, the lack of recognition of the groundswell of Collective Housing projects, knowledge, and innovation is very disappointing. There is a presentation that mentions working with community but it is in the context of social housing — as if that’s the only time a community should be considered for engagement, when they are at the lowest economic end of the continuum.
In the UK, there are thousands of Community-Led Housing projects with local government playing an active collaborating and enabling role along with other housing role players. In fact, there have been conferences in the UK organised by local authorities focused solely on empowering and facilitating the community-led housing movement. Why is New Zealand continuing to ignore this as an extremely viable and worthy avenue for housing development?
If you think that the Collective Housing sector should have representation, email me with your ideas.
Author: Zola Rose
Date: July 27, 2022
Creating a Tiny Home Community
(Co-Housing Ecovillage)
The tiny house movement is gaining momentum as rental and house costs rise but where do people put their tiny homes where they can also have a sense of belonging, connection, and security?
And how to get financing for a tiny home when lenders are so few and risk averse?
And how to ensure their legality in place?
I’m making it my mission to create a replicable model of a tiny home community, guided by co-housing and ecovillage design and principles, that can help solve these major challenges that face people who want to live in a tiny home and who also seek community, affordability, and sustainability.
The model includes partnership and collaboration with local government, central government, iwi, housing organisations, local employers, landowners and tiny home builders and tech suppliers. Solving our housing crisis cannot be done alone or by a small group but will have greater success through collaboration and partnership.
I’m starting in my hometown of Nelson, Aotearoa NZ. I will be tapping into my extensive housing networks and applying my decades of community development expertise and experience towards this mission.
I’ll be covering and exploring: Land access and tenure, legalities, funding and finance, community formation, and development of infrastructure and shared facilities, and models that are working in other places that could be replicated.
My first experience of tiny living did not go well and I’m sure I share that experience with others. I bought a renovated caravan and found a sympathetic landowner to offer me the back of their paddock. But many challenges arose: the caravan had leaks, the paddock turned extremely muddy and difficult to traverse, I felt isolated as the family was not interested in being in-community with me, and I felt a bit “illegal” staying on their land for more than 60 days (the current legal maximum in Aotearoa for a caravan/tiny home to be in one place.) I chose this option to save money but the time and money I spent setting myself up cancelled out most of the savings and emotionally it was costly.
There needs to be a better, more efficient, clear, supported, and replicable system for helping people into tiny homes and community.
If you’re in the Nelson area and want to help form, join, or support this tiny home community creation or if you’re a supplier or advocate anywhere in the country and want to collaborate, email me.
Follow this creation journey on the Common Ground Channel and socials and see the first episode below and subscribe to get updates.
Author: Zola Rose
Date: June 2, 2022
Creating Housing Solutions as a Calling
Would you say that you feel a calling and a burning flame inside you to create an amazing place to live for yourself and others? That you’re passionate about housing that serves a bigger purpose and creates a sense of community?
I was invited to be a guest on the Unbox Your Gift podcast where Rita interviews people who have turned their passion into a profession.
Check out the episode to hear about my contribution to growing the “collective housing” movement, to free up land for affordable housing through a Community Land Trust, and to serve those who are currently struggling to create housing options, and more…
My passion has always been community development. Over the years, my profession has taken many forms as I refine what it is that I love to do, how best to use my gifts to serve others and make the world a better place. It’s also been responding to the opportunities that are around me or seeing how I can provide solutions to challenges and problems faced by society, humanity, or the world.
In 2019, I startedCommon Ground as a social enterprise to address Aotearoa’s housing crisis through a regenerative community-led development approach with the message that housing is about creating belonging to and stewardship of place, with connections to people, nature, community, and culture. The “how” we build is just as important as “what” we build and how that creates positive impact for generations.
So, with Common Ground I’ve been creating offerings that serve the need to create housing that enhances community wellbeing and resilience, that is connected, affordable, and sustainable for our environment. Common Ground uses a living systems, regenerative approach based on an integrated and community-led means of development.
If you also feel this calling to enable, support, and create Housing in Service to Life, join me at Common Ground. We’re building a grassroots movement to create better housing and neighbourhoods that serve life and see housing as a human right.
Author: Zola Rose
Date: December 2, 2021
Climate - Resilient Housing Communities —
Have your say
Collective Housing, whether it be co-housing, ecovillages, tiny home village, or similarly values-driven housing developments and neighbourhoods, are by their very nature more climate-resilient.
Why are collective housing projects more climate-resilient than conventional housing? For so many reasons!
This is why it’s so important to focus our energies on HOW we build and WHAT we build — that it makes a positive impact on our climate reduction now and into the future. In this critical time of climate disruption which is threatening life on earth and destroying whole areas with floods, fire, heat, storms, and the like, we have an imperative to do housing development very differently.
Collective housing is more climate-resilient for one or more of the following typical characteristics:
More natural building materials, less embodied energy in the materials
Waste-conscious in both the building and the living, with many choosing waste minimizing lifestyles and systems
Less car-use through car-share groups
Bulk buying of food and other goods that can be shared with residents
Alternative energy use is preferred
Smaller house sizes with a Common House providing for shared spaces
Food gardens around or near the homes, reducing food-miles
Water capture and sink through swales and gardens
Socially connected and therefore more socially resilient
Passive-solar design which needs less heating and cooling energy
If you would like to explore how Common Ground can help your housing community project to be more climate-resilient and explore what other positive impact and regenerative outcomes it can achieve, check out our services page with options of how to work with us.
Author: Zola Rose
Date: November 9, 2021
Collective housing development as a catalyst for personal development
Developing a socially-connected, sustainable, and affordable housing community from inception to built-reality requires much more than a Property Developer or Property Project Management degree, the aspect I would call Built & Structure Systems — it requires two other main knowledge areas: Personal and Collective Leadership Systems as well as Regenerative Design Systems
In this second episode in our series covering the development of the Rotorua Off-Grid Tiny Home Community, we explore the more personal-leadership aspect of the Personal and Collective Leadership Systems knowledge needed by not only the housing creator/developer but also the future residents and project collaborators.
As Lisa Houghton says in the video, Any cohousing start up initially requires self-belief and self-determination. To bring the vision out into the light of day. For it to stand up to be seen and passed around the hands of many others.
There are countless steps along the way. Some of the tasks are easy and
satisfying. Some complete learning curves or against our inner natures and
requiring immense effort to stay engaged.
It can be such a disorienting landscape in the beginning as one is filling in
the map of the terrain to cover. Constantly discovering important pieces on
the path that need to be researched and developed. As overwhelm creeps
in so does the voice of fear. And if we are not mindful it is in these
moments of overwhelm that our fears can pull us off course.
The full transcript from the video can be found here.
And from my own experience of living in an emerging ecovillage where the personal development and personal-collective leadership was lacking, it ended up crumbling the whole community. The community leaders turned to blame and judgement for anything that went wrong, fractioning the residents.
If you, as a Creator or Project Leader, don’t develop a high level of self-understanding and personal leadership at the inception and ongoing, you might be creating an Ego-Village rather than an Eco-Village. (quote by Zola Rose)
Check out the video to learn more about why understanding of self and developing personal leadership is so important to creating a thriving co-housing or cooperative living project.
Author: Zola Rose
Date: November 8, 2021
Self understanding and its role in cohousing start-ups and cooperative living
Self understanding is not a self assured position of ‘I am sorted’. But more a fluid state of observation and when required, of inquiry.
Self understanding gives one deeper insight into one's inner narrative and more compassion for oneself and others.
This natural compassion is key, as it allows us to seek to understand ourselves and others, rather than default to our conditioning, which can too easily lead to judging.
We are going to explore 2 paths today. And both paths lead to community.
The path of the creator and the path of cooperator
CREATOR
To be able to sustain creating we need to be able to recognise our fears. Without recognition when we are under pressure, fears can assume the position of presumed reality and can stop us in our tracks either abruptly or with a slow non specific derailing off our path.
COOPERATOR
To Cooperate we need to be able to work together. Without self understanding again our fears can present as it’s two closets siblings sorrow and anger in the form of irritation or apathy. And be neatly projected on our companions reducing our ability to participate not only in the project, but in relationship and with our own self development.
So what is self understanding? Why is it important and what does it give us?
Self understanding is any moment that you gain real insight into your inner world. Those moments that you see what you are up to. You recognise that you are creating the dialogue. A little like a narrator of a movie, talking us through each moment of our entire day. Starting the moment we become semi conscious as we wake and finally clocking out when we drift off to sleep. Plugging into our physiology and supporting the chemical and hormonal cascade that shape how we feel, what we crave and how much energy we have. If we do not realise this narration is our own script, it can seem like it is pre written, pre destined to be our lives, and in-fact that is what it becomes!
Without self understanding, whenever a part of ourselves comes up that we have not accepted or owned we project that story onto another as though they are causing our discomfort.
With self understanding we are able to recognise the triggers that engage our hidden parts and own our reaction without acting out on others. This is more easily seen in the case of cooperation because our reaction to another is usually way overly dramatized and we only need to witness our thoughts and feelings to know something is up. However, it is a little more covert when we are creating, as it is much more difficult to recognise the voice of fear as conditioning when we are in completely new surrounds.
And it is here that I would like to zoom in and shed some light.
Any cohousing start up initially requires self belief and self determination. To bring the vision out into the light of day. For it to stand up to be seen and passed around the hands of many others.
There are countless steps along the way. Some of the tasks are easy and satisfying. Some complete learning curves or against our inner natures and requiring immense effort to stay engaged.
It can be such a disorienting landscape in the beginning as one is filling in the map of the terrain to cover. Constantly discovering important pieces on the path that need to be researched and developed. As overwhelm creeps in so does the voice of fear. And if we are not mindful it is in these moments of overwhelm that our fears can pull us off course.
So let’s pan back and get a sense of what is going on here.
As the creator. The one who has taken their vision and shaped it to be seen and engaged with we are called to an immense task. This task often draws upon our life experience and stretches us further as we say yes I will do this.
So at this point, ask yourself what is my story… is it along the lines of I am alone and I have to do this all by myself and its going to be hard? Or do you have another story line about life… I am being gifted this vision and because I am brave enough to say yes life will support me and together we will bring this into being.
What ever your underlying thoughts and feelings are about your place in life and how life works for you, is what you will act out. Not all of our storyline is poor me, but when it is, it is Self Understanding that will help you see ‘this is your creation’
So how do we do it, this self understanding business?
Honesty. You must be able to witness your own inner activity honestly. What you think and feel. Initially there is usually a lot of projection, but with time you will learn self enquiry — the simplest is what I am up to, what am I avoiding, what don’t I like in the other that is also in me? And with patience and taking responsibility for how you are feeling you will start to see how you are creating your experience. It’s a pretty magical experience, something another cannot do for you and is best done in moments when you are triggered and reactively obsessing about something. And to start it may just be a feeling that just won’t go away.
Now as I said its much trickier as the creator to recognise your own story line, the biggest clue is the repetitive nature of it… it is an occurring theme in your life. With skill you can sense it brewing behind the scenes with thoughts that are certain of a negative outcome that there is nothing you can do to change — wrecks of fair — controlling, disempowering and lacking in transparency. Fear will tell us what is going to happen and that there is nothing we can do to change it… and won’t tell us the truth, which is we are afraid we will fail, we feel out of our depth or we don’t feel good enough.
Now if you can break the illusion of the fear and get to what is going on underneath for you, you have something to work with. And you are back in charge, able to figure out what you need and most importantly grow into the next phase rather than sink into repetitive behavior.
Now have a look, does it seem that these intensely demanding moments in our lives, squeeze out the stale, out grown beliefs and habits, forcing them aside. As we have to grow to keep up with the enormity of the task. And that with each step we are guided by our inner compass. And that our response to those inner prompts are even more rapidly reflected in the way things seem to land that day. Giving us instant feedback and generating greater growth potential than we usually experience… which in fact makes these moments a gift.
Author: Lisa Houghton
Date: November 5, 2021
What does it take to create a new kind of housing system?
I’m quite intrigued by the question: What does it take to create a new kind of housing system — one that creates more connections with people, that stewards nature and our planet, and that is affordable for people to buy or rent into?
Long ago, while studying about social change for my Master’s degree, I learned that the most effective way to make social change and systems change is to work at all aspects along the spectrum — from grassroots efforts working in a place and in the community to advocating for policy change in the legislation and addressing the systemic causes of the problems. It is both about creating the new solutions that we want, with positive energy and innovation, while acknowledging that the way things are for the majority is unjust and must also change.
Grassroots Action — from the bottom up, creating the solutions
There is a great example of a grassroots, collaborative action in the development of the Rotorua Off-Grid Tiny House Village which is being led by Lisa Houghton. She has a calling to address the housing crisis in a holistic way right in her hometown using permaculture design and principles, taking a partnership approach by seeing how Council can support the project, ensuring affordability through small footprint, and fostering connection through a village-style neighbourhood.
As the concept and the process unfolds, Common Ground will be following the journey of those who are coming together to create the village and the blossoming of a new housing paradigm for Aotearoa by way of making a video series.
Find the first episode of the story of how Lisa first came up with the idea and the way in which she is guiding the co-created process. Subscribe to the Common Ground channel to get alerted with the next episode is released.
You are invited to learn more about The Housing Innovation Society which is an advocacy, education, and networking body dedicated to supporting innovation in housing development. You will also find an invitation to attend the AGM and even to nominate yourself or someone else to serve on the board.
I’ve been on the board of THIS for over a year and now’s a good time to become a member or be on the board as we have made some real progress in advocating for the collective housing sector — even getting a mention in the new Housing and Urban Development statement and many connections have been established with those at the top levels of government. If you want to be a part of a large movement of people who believe housing is a human right and that we need to diversify our housing options and make it easier for people to create their own housing solutions, then check out THIS and the AGM section to make a nomination.
Enabling Housing that is for, by, and with Women and Ethnic Women
I have been contracted by Shama Hamilon Ethnic Women Trust to assist with a research project to discover what would enable more housing that is for, by, and with women, particularly ethnic women, and what are the challenges.
Shama feels called to make a positive impact within the housing sector that will result in better housing and living outcomes for women and particularly ethnic women. As such, we will embark on a feasibility study to identify the barriers, enablers and solutions that have a good chance of rapid success, that can be scaled, and that address the most pressing and urgent needs of women and ethnic women.
The hypothesis is that the current housing development process, end product of housing design and neighbourhood layout, and the current options for renting and buying does not best suit the needs, aspirations, and skills of women and ethnic women.
The hypothesis is also that if women and ethnic women are included from the inception of housing, at the design level, as co-design participants and professionals, that the resulting housing developments will better reflect the needs, culture, aspirations, and skills of women and ethnic women.
We are inviting women to participate in sharing their housing aspirations, what are the challenges experienced to being able to create or live in housing that is in alignment with those aspirations, and exploring what could enable achieving better housing for and by women and their families.
We are looking for women (especially ethnic) to participate in this research through filling in a survey and then having discussions (live or by Zoom) to go deeper into understanding.
Participant Criteria:
• Living in the Waikato
• Do not currently own their own home
• Feel constrained in being able to achieve their housing aspirations
• Be in part-time or full-time employment or owning their own business (earning some income)
If you fulfil the above criteria, please fill in the form below as an expression of interest to participate in this research project. Personal details will be kept confidential.
We are also looking to have conversations with people working within housing organisations, community organisations, ethnic organisations, other housing research projects, and government who could give perspectives and insights on the systemic barriers and enablers of collective housing for women.
Author: Zola Rose
Date: October 26, 2021
We've got a place for you to shine!
I have just added a section to the Common Ground website called “Inspiring Communities and Housing Projects” which is to shine a light on the great housing idea you’re forming or the already formed housing community where you live.
There’s not really any one place where you can find about what’s going on around the country, and even the world, with great communities/neighbourhood/villages to live, work, play and that add value to the wider community. Common Ground wants to make it easy for you to find a great place to live or find others to create your housing community dream.
Each week I’d like to highlight a local community — some emerging, some established — that can inspire us as to what’s possible and some can even give us a roadmap to emulate.
This week’s spotlight is on the emerging community called Raglan Ecovillage. What I love about this community is the way in which it’s emerging using a regenerative design process, including its focus on involving the Raglan community in its co-creation and making a positive, regenerative impact socially, culturally, ecologically and economically. It’s taking a whole village approach, drawing upon Global Ecovillage Network principles and the Sustainable Development Goals to include agriculture, education, wellness, micro-enterprise, and affordable housing. It’s big on partnerships which hopes to include the three tiers of government, iwi, community housing providers, universities, impact investors, and many others.
Past communities that Common Ground have interviewed include Lotus Ecovillage in Paraparaumu. Find our interview with Ralph here and what is unique about their community.
We have also spotlighted the Urban Habitat Collective’s co-housing apartment project in Wellington — see Bronwen’s interview here and what makes them unique.
Update from Zola
I’m now settled into my new home in Nelson and really loving my new community and environment. I’m living in a home-share arrangement with my 16-year-old son, renting two rooms in a large house along the Maitai River on the outskirts of downtown Nelson and close to the Centre of New Zealand.
Since I’ve been here I’ve participated in two dance events, lunch with a new friend from the neighbourhood, breakfast with Kindra of Community Action Nelson to get the scoop on local housing and community initiatives, a home-school teen and mum meet-up with my son, dinner with friends at the delicious vegan restaurant East Street Café, and a delightful walk up the Maitai River.
If you’re on the top of the South Island, let’s meet up or if you’re passing through, come visit.
Author: Zola Rose
Date: October 15, 2021
Creating vitality in the spaces between houses
When it comes to housing, it’s just as important to pay attention to the spaces between as it is the housing itself and to plan, design, and value these in-between spaces. In permaculture, we speak about the importance of the relationships between things-how one thing relates to another and the reciprocal value that comes from that relationship. The permaculture principle integrate rather than segregate also speaks to this.
The value of these “between” spaces is both physical and invisible and should be considered highly in the design of our housing and neighbourhoods to enable more wellbeing and abundance for residents and the wider community.
These between spaces are what I also refer to as the because they are filled with the physical elements of soil, water, air, and other natural things that we share in common with all of life. And where social interactions with others occur that create a sense of community. In community development speak, we call this “bumping spaces.”
There is a focus now on developing more and better housing and, if we are going to create socially resilient, ecologically regenerative, and economically thriving communities, that housing development must include design and development of the Commons around and between the houses.
Houses are static but the Commons, if designed well, are alive and dynamic, a place of possibility, of vitality, of magic. We need places to interact with nature and where nature can flourish and us along with it. We need places where we can connect with others, to feel less isolated, and have shared experiences.
If we don’t pay attention to the creation of the Commons, we risk creating static neighbourhoods which lead to degeneration of our environment and our social fabric.
Here’s an invitation for you to develop a Commons right where you are:
I invite you today to walk around your neighbourhood and work environment paying close attention to those between spaces-the Commons — and observe how those spaces are either serving life, vitality, creative engagement, abundance, and are ripe with becoming or do those between spaces have dead, dull, or static energy.
If you put on a designer lens, how could those areas have been better designed to enable thriving Common spaces?
Some ideas to try right away to create more of a Commons in your own area:
· Plant out your verge with wildflowers, fruit trees, or herbs like rosemary and lavender
· Make a submission to Council on their parks plan-to include a community allotment garden and/or food forest.
· If you get along with your neighbour, talk to them about taking down the fence between you and them and creating an edible or wild garden or sitting space in between.
· Make a picnic on the front lawn and say hi to all that pass.
An invitation to connect and learn more
Whether you are a housing developer, land owner, community pioneer, or resident-be in touch with us to get more information on this topic and notice of upcoming courses, workshops, and resources on this topic.
Common Ground offers support to housing projects and teams to design, create, and maintain a vibrant Commons for housing development, that creates better places for people and nature to thrive (and could save money, mitigate climate change, increase biodiversity, and create food security)
Visit us at Common Ground to learn more about what our social enterprise is about and sign up for the Planning Guide for Impact-Focused Housing and our newsletter.
I leave you with a fun music video by the Formidable Vegetable Sound System that creatively expresses these concepts, the permaculture principle of integrate rather than segregate and the value of cultivating relationships in community.
Redefining our relationship with land, community, and home
Māori speak of the wairua (spirit) of the land and home is expressed through connection to mountain, river, and hapu (extended family, community). We find in many traditional cultures, such as the Zulu culture where I lived in South Africa, land is considered a part of the community. Land is not privatised but rather is a community resource, where someone can be given permission to occupy, build, and steward a section of land for the greater good of the community.
So how did we get to this place of speaking about land only in terms of its monetary value and ability to gain financial wealth when it comes to housing? Would we be able to better solve our housing crisis if we considered land as having spirit? If we saw lands as more than a means to an end but an integral part of the relationship that we have with where we live and how we live?
Last week, as part of the Women Revolutionising Housing network, we had a lively discussion with Zola Ndimande from South Africa sharing her experiences of going back to her ancestral land in KwaZulu Natal to build relationships and a home.
We discuss the African world view and experience at the intersection of spirit, land, traditional knowledge, local economy, natural building, women building, reciprocity, and what it means to take one’s place on land and build one’s home in a community.
There were so many parallels with the traditional Māori understanding of relationship with land, spirit, and community. We recognised that this world view, which is common to the Māori is really what many of us are striving for with the housing we desire-a home that is in relationship with land, with our community, and with our spirit.
Check out the video recording by clicking on the link below:
Designing Communities & Housing for Regenerative Community Living
Are you interested in exploring how your community (at any stage from idea to long-established) could be more resilient, low-impact, peaceful, inclusive, equitable, and collaborative?
As a GEN Ambassador, I am assisting community leaders, groups of people who want to create a community, or anyone wishing to incorporate regenerative principles and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into the design of where they are living.
I recently received the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) Design Cards that I’d ordered from GEN online. They are a great tool for exploring the many pathways to regenerative community living. There are 32 cards covering the social, cultural, ecological and economic, and integral design of what makes a community regenerative. Each card can used as a topic for whole workshop or project in itself for a community to work on or the pack can be used as an ongoing means to assess and design a whole community or housing project. The card deck comes with suggested activities that are participatory and dynamic and have been tested in many countries around the world.
Could your project be considered an ecovillage? It could if it has these three core practices:
Rooted in local participatory processes
Integrates social, cultural, economic, and ecological dimensions in a holistic design approach to sustainability and regeneration
Actively restores and regenerates life systems
For instance, in the Economy dimension there is a card that says:
Ensure equitable access to land and resources.
Statements relating to this practice are:
We own, hold or share land in ways that promote equitable access to all community members
We value, safeguard, and expand the natural and cultural commons
This practice is aligned with SDGs: 1 No Poverty, 2 Zero Hunger, 10 Reduced inequalities
How could or is your region or community able to put this into practice? What needs to change or done in order to increase equitable access to land and resources where you are living?
How would our housing and neighbourhoods look if they were in service to life? In service to human lives — the social and cultural needs of people, in service to nature and the other life forms on the planet, in service to the livelihood and resilience of the community.
It might seem obvious that housing should be for life but if one looks at the dynamic of how neighbourhoods are designed, the car gets first priority with roading and garages. Trees are removed from new sites for ease of construction and natural contours are flattened. Water is directed out and treated not as as a living entity but as waste. Land is built upon for maximum profit rather than biodiversity or natural commons and food gardens are usually nowhere to be seen around houses.
We know how it feels, if we allow ourselves to really tap into our intuition and deep knowing, when a housing community/neighbourhood has a vibrant life essence and we know when we feel like it’s missing. Many of us are living in the latter, with feelings of a loss and loneliness we can’t quite put our finger on.
What makes the difference in housing that is created in service to life and has that essence, is that these are places usually created by the people who will be living there — by a collective of people, also referred to as community-led housing or collective housing.
So, why don’t we have more of these kinds of places if they feel so good, look beautiful, and make such sense for the wellbeing of people and the environment?
Well, the status quo, the powers-that-be, the systems in place are quite geared to speculative and profit-driven, developer-led housing development. It is not geared to accommodate the more creative and innovative housing types and tenures that people actually want and are trying to create.
Some lucky groups manage to create connected and sustainable housing communities but it usually results in battle scars and only the tough or well-resourced make it through.
How would our housing and neighbourhoods look if they were in service to life? In service to human lives — the social and cultural needs of people, in service to nature and the other life forms on the planet, in service to the livelihood and resilience of the community.
It might seem obvious that housing should be for life but if one looks at the dynamic of how neighbourhoods are designed, the car gets first priority with roading and garages. Trees are removed from new sites for ease of construction and natural contours are flattened. Water is directed out and treated not as as a living entity but as waste. Land is built upon for maximum profit rather than biodiversity or natural commons and food gardens are usually nowhere to be seen around houses.
We know how it feels, if we allow ourselves to really tap into our intuition and deep knowing, when a housing community/neighbourhood has a vibrant life essence and we know when we feel like it’s missing. Many of us are living in the latter, with feelings of a loss and loneliness we can’t quite put our finger on.
What makes the difference in housing that is created in service to life and has that essence, is that these are places usually created by the people who will be living there-by a collective of people, also referred to as community-led housing or collective housing.
So, why don’t we have more of these kinds of places if they feel so good, look beautiful, and make such sense for the wellbeing of people and the environment?
Well, the status quo, the powers-that-be, the systems in place are quite geared to speculative and profit-driven, developer-led housing development. It is not geared to accommodate the more creative and innovative housing types and tenures that people actually want and are trying to create.
Some lucky groups manage to create connected and sustainable housing communities but it usually results in battle scars and only the tough or well-resourced make it through.
Do you dream to create a housing community in service to life?
But do you feel like it’s a very steep mountain to climb?
Do you long to have the support and encouragement from others on a similar mission?
Would you like support to gain more traction with your housing idea or project?
What I love about my work at Common Ground is connecting with inspiring people like you who tell me about their amazing housing & community project ideas, guided by values of connection, sustainability, justice and affordability. Across the country, I hear of people coming together to explore possibilities of how to create meaningful places to live.
What makes me sad is that many such visionaries are feeling confused, burnt out, frustrated, or disillusioned because you’re working in a system that is not set up for collective housing to succeed and it’s also daunting to work on such a big dream when many taking on this mission are not trained in how to do housing or community development.
I’m offering a Housing Community Accelerator Programme and Mastermind and would like to meet with you about your housing ideas to see how the programme could help you gain traction with your project and transform the system in the process.
There is no other support like this being offered to those who dream to create their own housing solutions and to build the capacity of the whole community-led and collective housing sector. This will be the first of its kind.
We have chosen a Mastermind format because of the acceleration on goals that comes with this structure. See below for all the benefits you can receive by participating in this programme.
✅ A strong network and community of practice with others on the same/similar path
✅ Create clarity on the processes involved with housing and settlement development
✅Ways to present and communicate the project idea with other stakeholders
✅Peer wisdom, support, and inspiration
✅ Exploring regenerative potential, such as the positive impact on the social, ecological and
economic part of the wider community
✅ Ability to learn from and interact with experts in the development sector who come from a permaculture or regenerative background
✅Reduce the time, frustration, and confusion in being a novice developer
✅ A one-stop-shop with an easy-to-use online portal for the knowledge, resources, and connections of the programme
✅ An in-person event, location and time TBA
✅ Cost savings by getting the right information to make better informed decisions and reduced cost of services.
I look forward to seeing you this week or next at one of the online discussion sessions.
Author: Zola Rose
Date: October 13, 2021
Housing Development Through Collective Wisdom and Reciprocity
What I really love about collective housing is that, by its nature, it develops community in a social sense while developing community in the physical realm. We have a chance to practice, while in the creation process, the values, principles and ways of being together that ultimately result in a great connected community that then reflects those values in form and function.
In most cultures around the world, housing creation is built from collective wisdom and the building of a new house is based on reciprocal energy — that we help you build your home and then you help us build ours. It’s a process that teaches the younger generation life-skills, that builds a sense of teamwork and togetherness, and where all those who participate feel a sense of accomplishment, group pride, and connection to place.
Yet, in the more modern and sophisticated world in which many of us live now, this is still new territory for those who attempt to go on this journey and there are a lot of unknowns and even obstacles in the way. We feel the calling in our bones, we know in our gut that there is a better way to live and we yearn to be a contributor to its creation but the process is daunting and the way seems too complicated.
I believe the best approach is to move from believing that this can be solved with the same thinking and mode of operating as what got us into these housing and environmental crises in the first place. We actually need to move into a mode of giving and receiving the collective wisdom of place-making, of working tightly with others who share our values, and committing to group success not just individual success.
Masterminds are purpose-driven groups that share a common goal to achieve together what couldn’t be achieved alone; to hold everyone in the group accountable to their highest aspirations and support them with encouragement, feedback, knowledge, and skills; to use the synergy of the group to accomplish great outcomes; to create rhythms of learning, doing, reflecting at a pace that accelerates each person’s and project’s development.
Common Ground is offering a Mastermind programme for those who feel called to co-create or lead a values-driven community-focused housing project. We offer the opportunity to engage in a regenerative development process that simultaneously develops self, the project, and the wider community. It’s an opportunity to be a part of systems change at the micro and macro levels. Participants will learn from and with each other, with me as a regenerative practitioner, as well as a range of expert guest presenters.
Common Ground is offering this because we believe that with empowered, resourced, and supported housing community creators, we can create the social, ecological, cultural, and economic well-being that comes from regenerative place-making.
Did you miss the Affordable and Co-housing Event yesterday? No worries recording up now on our YouTube channel. Click the link below and let us know in the comments what you think about the presentation.
Communities that are driven by principles of economic, ecological, social and cultural regeneration
(Learn about the Global Ecovillage Network Oceania and Australisian Network)
A Region of Regenerative Place-Making
The highlight of my week was participating in the Global Ecovillage Network Oceania and Australisia (GENOA) Network. It is a monthly gathering of community builders and social change champions from every country in the region who care about and are doing regenerative place-making.
As an GEN Ambassador, I’m really excited to be working with others in Aotearoa to help transition to developing housing communities that are regenerative.
There was a great presentation by Thalea Tane from our very own Aotearoa. She shared how ecovillage principles aligned so well with matauranga Māori and how she uses the GEN tools to work with Māori communities who really resonate with the values of Mana, Tapu, Kiatiakitanga, and Mauri. I have asked Thalea if she would please share her presentation with the Common Ground community next month.
To learn more about why ecovillage development is so important no matter what country, to curb climate change, create caring communities, and heal our planet, watch this short video:
To learn more about what ecovillage groups in all the countries in the region are doing to create radical transformation in a diversity of ways, check out:
