On Stages of Development:
The path to bringing a cohousing community to fruition varies widely and depends on many factors. These are the key milestones that typically happen concurrently and/or sequentially:
- interested members getting together
- search for site (in partnership with developer)
- financing & legal structure
- assembling professional team
- developing governance structure
- design workshops for schematic design
- construction drawings
- securing financing for construction
- construction + marketing
- co-housers sustaining social cohesion
On Governance and Self-Management:
Sociocracy for All • Sociocracy • Introduction to consensus and cooperative culture • Consensus oriented decision-making
On Sustainability:
There are a number of ways that the design and development of cohousing can be sustainable. The Canadian Cohousing Network highlights here the social, economic, and environmental sustainability potential in cohousing.
On Design and its Impact on Social Engagement:
The design and layout of spaces greatly impacts the way people interact, especially in a community-minded residential setting where greater social engagement is encouraged. Through participatory design workshops and many discussions, these are some key issues for cohousers to explore with professionals, so that intentionality is manifest in the built community:
- layout of private units in relation to each other and to (semi)public areas
- design of shared spaces for communal gatherings and activities
- efficiency and sustainability