Dear Cohousing Friends
I am delighted to see the new season of Cohousing Cafes launched bringing together groups from across the UK.
Last month’s online cafe for established communities discussed cohesion, conflict and mediation amongst intentional communities. Overall, most groups are satisfied with how they function day-to-day but are keen to find ongoing training and resources around difficult conversations, resolving disputes and building inclusive cultures.
Our monthly Cohousing Cafe for developing groups celebrated the Bridport Cohousing community shares offer, as well as discussing the new Practical Guide to Cohousing and exploring some of the keys to success in building a cohousing community.
A number of UKCN members have come together to explore issues of inclusion and diversity with a view to producing a guide and sharing findings for the Autumn. Last month, Yael Arbel of CHACO, shared findings from her survey of cohousing groups which is part of her PHD on diversity in the sector. We have submitted UKCN’s submission to the independent review into scaling up self-build and custom house-building being led by Richard Bacon MP. We emphasised the need for community-led, custom-build models to be better understood by local authorities and the relevance of this to the Right to Build register obligations councils have.
We also pointed to the fantastic recent examples, like Marmalade Lane in Cambridge, and argued that far more can be done to help initiate similar opportunities. In particular we identified the need for more suitable permissionable land to be set aside for community groups to develop housing solutions on small sites, or within larger developments.
Don’t forget to join us at our first online AGM next Wednesday 30th June for more news about the Network! Link reminder here
Hope to see you there.
Owen – UKCN CEO