Coho US has gone international with this interesting WebChat about cohousing in Berlin, Germany.

Michael LaFond, and architect raising in the US who lives and works in Germany, shared his experience of both living and working in cohousing in Berlin. Like all cohousing, these communities are self organized, community led, and sustainable. Unlike the most common cohousing communities in the US, they exist as part of larger housing units, occupying a couple of floors in a larger building, and they include homes that may not have a private kitchen.

With forming communities wanting to be as diverse as possible, the topic of Housing Segregation and its Impact on Cohousing couldn't be more important. Crystal's recent WebChat describes the history of segregated housing in America, the ways in which federal policy created and maintained segregation, and the ongoing impact of those policies and ongoing racist practices still today.

Strong facilitation makes for effective and efficient meetings. One ticky part is the balance between the need for strong leadership and the need to be an equal member of the community. This is where contracting comes into play. A facilitator needs a clear agreement with the community about their roles in the meeting and what will happen at the meeting. Good contracting helps balance power and keep participants engaged.

In this WebChat, Karen describes contracting and give examples of implementation.

Below is an excerpt from a Communities Magazine article. Read the full article at https://www.ic.org/im-not-a-racist-but-racism-is-in-me-and-in-my-community/
Author Joe Cole will be presenting at the National Cohousing Conference in Portland this June.

In community, and in life, there are many personality types and many ways for those personalities to clash despite everyone’s best intentions to get along. There is a framework from the theory of Imago Relationships that distills this down into two general patterns. I find it useful for understanding a lot of interpersonal conflict and in particular classic conflict patterns for cohousing.