What is an Intentional Community?
Intentional communites are those communites that have been designed with effort put towards a strong sense of community. These communites exist in many different styles, and all have different characteristics that set them apart. However, all residence of these intentional communities have come together because they want to discover and be apart of a strong community. Though many of these communities exist, this website focuses on ecovillages, co-housing and how their community works. These two intentional communities have a strong sense of impacting the environment future, and strive to make a difference through substainable living.
- ecovillages
- co-housing communities
- residential land trusts
- communes
- student communes
- urban housing cooperatives
ECOVILLAGES
Though Ecovillages tend to follow a co-housing model their are certain characteristics that set them and other moels apart. Ecovillages are communities that soul basis revolves around an ecological focus. These communities can be demonstrated in different styles including urban, surburban and rural. They differ in size ranging from small communites with only a few residences, two the largest up in the hundreds. Ecovillages are becoming a trend developing all over the world. As time and technology advances new sites are able to incorporate new green characteristics to assist the environments future.
CO-HOUSING
Communities that classify themselves as co-housing are thosing that follow the intended model. These communities allow for both private and shared facilities. Private home tend to be based upon a smaller layout offer the needs of a family home, but are able to fulfill other needs through the large common house. Their main focus is to create a shared community feeling creating a unqiue neighborhood. Co-housing communities share resources, distribute duties, participate in develop and manage their residents. The layout of a co-housing model places most of its attention on a pedestrian friendly area. Development is larger done by the residents and assigned developers, and "retrofit" communities utilize alread existing builidings.
COMMUNITY
Both of these models share the common goal of a strong community feel. Their are certain characteristics in each that allow them to be successful when sharing their neighborhoods. Those members that move into these residence do so because they want to be part of a group. Communities such as these have many benefits such as consensus decision making, sharing facilities and common goals, a unique social atmosphere benefiting social interactions in all members. Intentional communities seperate themselves from others by their unique community perspective.