2008 Pre-conference Tours & Workshops
Tours
Thursday, June 12: Full Day Bus Tour, Western Massachusetts
Visit Pioneer Valley Cohousing (Amherst, MA), Pathways Cohousing (Florence, MA), Rocky Hill Cohousing (Florence, MA) and Treehouse (Easthampton, MA) communities in the beautiful Berkshire mountains!
Friday, June 13 Morning: Half Day Bus Tour, Boston Area I
Visit Jamaica Plain Cohousing (Boston, MA), Cambridge Cohousing (Cambridge, MA) and Cornerstone Village Cohousing (Cambridge, MA) communities.
Note: The second half-day tour duplicates two of the three communities visited in the morning tour.
Friday, June 13 Afternoon: Half Day Bus Tour, Boston Area II
Visit Cambridge Cohousing (Cambridge, MA), Cornerstone Village Cohousing (Cambridge, MA) and New View Cohousing (Acton, MA) communities.
Pre-conference workshops
The schedule of the workshops is shown at the bottom of this page.
Aging in cohousing: Building, Living In, Professionals
Retooling cohousing for aging in place
Ruven Liebhaber and Chuck Durrett
This workshop will open by introducing participants to senior cohousing and to the Danish model for Study Groups. Next, using a World Café-style format that is interactive and highly empowering, we will invite participants to engage in progressive, deep discussions on a few key questions.
The wisdom generated from our discussions will be harvested right at the workshop. Participants will be given a usable format to bring information back to their communities, where they can facilitate retooling to accommodate the aging-in-cohousing population.
Development: Professionals, New, Forming
Developing cohousing communities
Zev & Neshama Paiss
This workshop will give you an overview of the steps involved in taking your cohousing project from vision to reality, all the way from developing the core group to marketing; working with professionals to get it designed and built; and finally, moving in. We will define various cohousing types and explore the many ways that they are developed. Our presentation will describe three models of cohousing development; the respective roles of developers and groups; and the most important aspects of project feasibility, site selection, marketing, design, finance and construction. If you are new to cohousing – as a professional, a group member, or both – this session will put you on track.
Development: New, Forming
The Cohousing Timeline Game
Presented by Cohousing Collaborative, LLC
Soft costs...hard costs...feasibility studies...project manager...construction manager...bid...estimate...escrow...value...appraisal…variance...bylaws... governance...partnership...workshare...marketing...end loans...What do these terms mean? How are they related? How can I find out? Is cohousing development something my group and I can realistically do? Before my group gets in too deeply, is there a way we can quickly find out? If you are asking these or other questions about the cohousing development process, come test drive The Cohousing Timeline Game!
In our highly interactive session the participants will see the arc of the development process. Working in teams we will also discuss, debate, and question a selection of the more than 150 major tasks that every development project must go through. We will actually create a timeline for the fictional (but based on REAL life!) "Living in Complete Harmony Cohousing Community”.
Bruce Coldham, originator of the Cohousing TLG, will participate in this workshop.
Development: New, Forming, Professionals
Survey of Legal Issues for Cohousing
Jonathan Klein
This workshop will be a comprehensive overview of the legal issues that arise in a typical cohousing development, including: a) choosing an appropriate development entity; b) drafting an operating (or similar) agreement; c) understanding and choosing long term ownership options; d) assembling (and contracting with) members of a development team; e) site control and acquisition agreements; f) zoning and permitting; g) architect and construction contracts; h) financing and related documents (predevelopment, construction and permanent); i) choosing and working with your lawyer, and; j) negotiation of fee arrangements.
The workshop will be participatory, and will focus on particular questions and issues raised by the participants, who will be encouraged (but not required) to frame and send in their questions in advance.
Files: Legal Issues Presentation, Operating Agreement Example
Management: Professionals
Best Practices in Project Management
Katie McCamant & Jim Leach
A project management primer from top cohousing professionals who will share lessons learned from a decade plus of working with dozens of cohousing communities. This workshop is for members of cohousing groups that will be working with design and development professionals, as well as aspiring cohousing professionals. Topics will include construction and financial management, options and upgrades, partnering with developers from a distance, and project managers who are also group members. Participants will have the opportunity to raise questions and discuss issues they are facing.
Process: General
Nonviolent Communication
Jerry Koch-Gonzalez
So many decisions. So many relationships. And so many feelings, opinions and variety of communication skills and styles. Can we really listen to each other and work through conflicts? Nonviolent CommunicationSM (also known as NVC and Compassionate Communication) is both a skill-based technique and a spiritual consciousness aimed at increasing the quality of connection among all of us so that everyone’s needs can be considered respectfully and even joyfully. In this experiential workshop, we will learn the basic four steps of the NVC process (observations, feelings, needs and requests) applied to our personal and cohousing experience. NVC is being taught and practiced widely in contexts of schools, prisons, mediation, counseling, personal growth, social change, and yes, cohousing.
Process: General
The Essentials of Dynamic Facilitation: How to get through the agenda and build energy at the same time
Laird Schaub & Ma’ikwe Ludwig
Good meeting facilitation can make the difference between pain and gain. We'll look at the basic qualities needed to become a full-service facilitator, the process agreements needed to spread your wings, and how to recognize those magic moments when passion can be harnessed to transform binding into bonding. Participants will get the chance to test drive the principles with role plays based on typical cohousing dynamics. This workshop is a taste of what Laird offers in a two-year facilitation training.
Process: Living In, Building
Keeping the Flame: Tools for Living and Growing Together
Kristen Gardner
Does your community feel bogged down? Once communities have been established for a number of years, the original excitement can wane and the reality of living together can feel like hard work. One key is to become a community that can learn and grow together. In this workshop we will explore concepts and processes that help groups work together to identify and address issues such as: differences in vision, getting the work done, improving decision-making, and increasing enjoyment of each other. The workshop will be tailored to address key issues identified by the participants.
Process: General
Antidotes to Five Common Sources of Community Conflict
Diana Leafe Christian
This lively presentation will address five typical kinds of conflicts within communities. Effective, field-tested remedies will be demonstrated through experiential exercises such as role-playing and musical skits. The workshop will consider the conflicts arising when a group hasn’t put crucial organizational structures in place, such as: the distrust and hurt feelings that can result from differing communication styles; the resentment and demoralization that can occur when some don't keep the group's agreements; minor conflicts becoming inflamed due to lack of trust and connection, and; the presence of someone so challenging that some people leave the group (or want to!). The material is based on Diana's 14 years of research about what tends to work well in communities.
Green Design: New, Forming
The Right Site
Chris ScottHanson & Laura Fitch
Choosing the right site for your community. How do you know what will work? This workshop will explore the process of searching for sites, recording your efforts to share with others, and evaluating sites for actual development. Do the sewer and water work? Do you have adequate access - for fire trucks, delivery vehicles, and to meet local design standards? And most importantly, does your vision of community fit on this land, and can you see yourself living there?
Following presentations we will lead you through two hands-on exercises that will show you how to find and then test a site. If you already have a site that you would like to test, bring a 1:20 scale plan to the workshop and we'll help you
Green Design: New, Forming
Common House Design Workshop
Mary Kraus
The Common House is the heart of every cohousing community. How can you design your common house to enhance your community? What spaces should you include? What spaces can be combined to achieve economy? What will your kitchen and dining room feel like? How will kids and adults enjoy the building simultaneously?
This workshop will answer these and many other questions. We'll take you on a virtual tour of many successful common houses, and point out what works about them. Most importantly, we will show you an important hands-on exercise that will allow you to start thinking about special relationships and design!
Green Design: New, Forming
Green Building: Agenda for Sustainability Priorities
Mark Kelley, The Hickory Consortium
This workshop will examine the issues involved with sustainable, healthy, energy efficient construction and the methods for achieving success. Green building has the attention of nearly everyone involved in construction. However, particularly for residential construction, there are conflicting goals that must be addressed to apply green-building standards successfully.
Participants will learn about the costs and benefits of sustainability and how they can be successfully integrated. Sustainability provides an organizing principle that must be used to plan for stable future, vibrant communities, and durable, affordable buildings. Green building envisions a supportive community living within the carrying capacity of our environment as well as better health, a more pleasant living environment, lower use and occupancy costs, and increased environmental equity and responsibility.
