Workshops & Seminars

Fri Jul 25 2008
NICA Annual Summer Gathering | More Info
http://www.ic.org/nica/
It begins Friday night with a "Finding Community" Community Seeker's Fair featuring Diana Leafe Christian at Multnomah Friends Meeting Hall, 4312 SE Stark Street, Portland, Oregon 7 - 9:30 pm. In addition to tables hosted by Northwest intentional communities (eco-villages, cohousing, community houses and cooperatives) seeking new members, we once again have the pleasure of Diana Leafe Christian as our guest speaker. As the author of Finding Community: How to Join an Ecovillage or Intentional Community and Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities, her presentation will offer us an overview of how to gracefully join an ecovillage, cohousing, cooperative or any other kind of intentional community.
Suggested Donation: $10. Communities interested in tabling, please contact nancy [at] songaia [dot] com
Saturday and Sunday festivities at The Farm at Columbia Ecovillage, Portland, Oregon
NICA's (Northwest Intentional Communities Association) theme for this summer’s gathering of communitarians and community seekers will follow along the lines of Diana Leafe Christian’s workshop called “Heart of Healthy Community: Communication, Process and Dealing with Conflict.” See www.creating-a-life-together.org for more information on Diana’s work. An adept facilitator, Diana has offered to hold a workshop and join our other planned community festivities that will include sharing stories, singing, meals, dancing, ritual and celebration. Pre-registration required for food planning and sleeping accommodations 30 tent spaces available/camping facilities (no showers) bring your own marked plates, utensils, cups for meals and lawn chairs/blankets for program gathering. Cost for the weekend (includes simple meals): $25 minimum per adult & youth/children under 12 free Childcare available during program time at cost. Special Needs? Questions? Contact alline.thurlow [at] gmail [dot] com or see http://www.ic.org/nica/ for more info. Further details will be posted as they evolve. Keep checking the site. Thank you.

Saturday September 6 - Sunday September 7, 2008
“Getting It Built” Cohousing Workshop – Redwood City | More Info

CoHousing Partners is delighted to offer its introductory workshop for forming cohousing, to be held in Redwood City, CA (south of San Francisco). This is an important resource for early stage groups seeking to understand the fundamentals of the development process.

The event will be held Sept 6-7, 2008: Saturday 9:00-5:00 and Sunday 9:00-1:00. We will focus on cohousing development, providing a comprehensive overview and a roadmap for forming communities. As background, we encourage participants to have read the book /Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves/ and to have visited or toured completed cohousing. We encourage early registration, as class size will be limited.

Registration: The early registration fee (through Tues, Aug 5) is $250 per person, and then will increase to $300. We have agreed to offer half rate for the second member of a household (spouse, partner, etc.). To register, contact Nisanda Albaugh at CoHousing Partners, 530-478-1970 or email nalbaugh [at] cohousingpartners [dot] com. Registration is complete upon receipt of check for payment -- please mail to CoHousing Partners, 241 Commercial Street, Nevada City, CA 95959.

Kathryn McCamant and Rick Mockler of CoHousing Partners will be the presenters. Participants will receive a binder with supporting materials; coffee will be available in the mornings and lunch on Saturday.

Friday September 26 through Sunday September 28, 2008
Creating Your Own Cohousing Community with Katie & Chuck at Esalen | More Info
Facilitated by Kathryn McCamant and Charles R. Durrett, who brought cohousing to the US, this hands-on weekend workshop has propelled thousands of people toward the successful creation of their own cohousing communities. It offers practical information about organizing, planning, and designing a cohousing community: from site acquisition through group process, development and design construction, and management – enabling participants to take the next steps in making their dream community a reality. Isolation, childcare crises, chronic time crunches and senior living issues are but a few issues experienced by today's households. A sense of family, community, and of belonging – once taken for granted – must now be actively sought out. Cohousing communities are a way of addressing these needs.
Initiated by residents themselves, cohousing communities are made up of private dwellings complemented by extensive common facilities, such as a dining hall, children's play areas, workshops, guest rooms, and laundry facilities. Each dwelling is autonomous, yet the common house, with the opportunity for shared dinners and other activities, is a focal point of the community.
This hands-on workshop has propelled untold numbers of people toward the successful creation of their own cohousing communities. It offers practical information about organizing, planning, and designing a cohousing community: from site acquisition through group process, development and design construction, and management – enabling participants to take the next steps in making their dream community a reality.
Required reading: Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves. For those interested in senior cohousing, read Senior Cohousing: A Community Approach. Available from Amazon.com or our Berkeley office (510-549-9980).
For more info, visit Esalen or phone 831-667-3000. Guests can arrive after 2:00 pm on Friday; rooms becoming available at 4:00 pm. Check out time is 12 Noon on Sunday.

Other Events Offered by Our Partners

Friday, June 20
Spirit, Service, and Community in the Second Half of Life
San Luis Obispo: Friday, June 20; Oakland/Berkeley: Sunday, June 22; both from 9 am - 4:30 pm

As we live longer, we are asking: How do we best use our extra years? How do we open ourselves to inner work, so our longer lives become more meaningful lives? What calls us to work in the world? How do we gather companions? How do we create new communities and new models?

Join us for a daylong workshop with Second Journey's Bolton Anthony (2006 national cohousing conference speaker), The Institute for Eldering Options' Chris Kennedy (Senior Cohousing contributing editor), and Living Large author John Sullivan with Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (From Age-ing to Sage-ing) by video. A World Cafe-format afternoon session will be facilitated by Nancy Margulies, artist and Mind Map author. This exclusive appearance in the region is hosted by Northern California Cohousing organizer Raines Cohen and Coho/US Research Director Betsy Morris, both of Planning for Sustainable Communities. [This event is especially relevant for people interested in senior cohousing/aging in community.] A full version of the event description you can copy from is in the paid classified ad or visit Second Journey.

This event is for conscious aging advocates and practitioners creating community around new models of aging, spiritual deepening, and care at the end of life; educators, activists & healing arts professionals associated with a variety of teaching/learning centers; architects, developers and smart-growth advocates committed to sustainable design, new 'neighborhoods' with a sense of place (i.e. cohousing and other forms of intentional community), and revitalized urban space; social entrepreneurs and other cultural creatives; writers and visionaries; and passionate elders.