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Name: Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities: Christian, Diana Leafe, Adams, Patch: 9780865714717: Amazon.com: Books
Rating: 4.7 (166 reviews)

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Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities Paperback – January 1, 2003

by Diana Leafe Christian (Author), Patch Adams (Foreword)

4.7 166 ratings

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Everything you need to know to create an intentional community from scratch

An intentional community is a group of people who have chosen to live or work together in pursuit of a common ideal or vision. An ecovillage is a village-scale intentional community that intends to create, ecological, social, economic, and spiritual sustainability over several generations.

The 90s saw a revitalized surge of interest in intentional communities and ecovillages in North America: the number of intentional communities listed in the Communities Directory increased 60 percent between 1990 and 1995. But only 10 percent of the actual number of forming-community groups actually succeeded. Ninety percent failed, often in conflict and heartbreak. After visiting and interviewing founders of dozens of successful and failed communities, along with her own forming-community experiences, the author concluded that "the successful 10 percent" had all done the same five or six things right, and "the unsuccessful 90 percent" had made the same handful of mistakes. Recognizing that a wealth of wisdom were contained in these experiences, she set out to distill and capture them in one place.

Creating a Life Together is the only resource available that provides step-by-step, practical "how-to" information on how to launch and sustain a successful ecovillage or intentional community. Through anecdotes, stories, and cautionary tales about real communities, and by profiling seven successful communities in depth, the book examines "the successful 10 percent" and why 90 percent fail; the role of community founders; getting a group off to a good start; vision and vision documents; decision-making and governance; agreements; legal options; finding, financing, and developing land; structuring a community economy; selecting new members; and communication, process, and dealing well with conflict. Sample vision documents, community agreements, and visioning exercises are included, along with abundant resources for learning more.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Before aspiring community builders hold their first meeting, confront their first realtor, or drive their first nail, they must buy this essential book: it will improve their chances for success immensely, and will certainly save them money, time, and heartbreak. In her friendly but firm (and occasionally funny) way, Diana Christian proffers an astonishing wealth of practical information and sensible, field-tested advice."
―ERNEST CALLENBACH, AUTHOR, ECOTOPIA AND ECOTOPIA EMERGING

"Wow! The newest, most comprehensive bible for builders of intentional communities. Covers every aspect with vital information and dozens of examples of how successful communities faced the challenges and created their shared lives out of their visions. The cautionary tales of sadder experiences and how communities fail, will help in avoiding the pitfalls. Not since I wrote the Foreword to Ingrid Komar's Living the Dream (1983), which documented the Twin Oaks community, have I seen a more useful and inspiring book on this topic."
―HAZEL HENDERSON, AUTHOR CREATING ALTERNATIVE FUTURES AND POLITICS OF THE SOLAR AGE .

"A really valuable resource for anyone thinking about intentional community. I wish I had it years ago."
―STARHAWK, AUTHOR OF WEBS OF POWER , THE SPIRAL DANCE , AND THE FIFTH SACRED THING , AND LONG-TIME COMMUNITY MEMBER.

"Every potential ecovillager should read it. This book will be an essential guide and manual for the many Permaculture graduates who live in communities or design for them."
―BILL MOLLISON, COFOUNDER OF THE PERMACULTURE MOVEMENT, AND AUTHOR, PERMACULTURE: A DESIGNER'S MANUAL

"Creating a new culture of living peacefully with each other and the planet is our number one need―and this is the right book at the right time. Creating a Life Together will help community founders avoid fatal mistakes. I can't wait to tell people about it."
―HILDUR JACKSON, COFOUNDER, GLOBAL ECOVILLAGE NETWORK (GEN); CO-EDITOR, ECOVILLAGE LIVING: RESTORING THE EARTH AND HER PEOPLE

" Creating a Life Together is a comprehensive, engaging, practical, well-organized, and thoroughly digestible labor of love. Hopefully scores of wannabe community founders and seekers will discover it before they launch their quest for community, and avoid the senseless and sometimes painful lessons that come from trying to reinvent the wheel. This book is a gift to humanity―helping to move forward the elusive quest for community, fueling a quantum leap towards a fulfilling, just, and sustainable future."
―GEOPH KOZENY, PRODUCER/EDITOR OF VIDEO DOCUMENTARY,"VISIONS OF UTOPIA: EXPERIMENTS IN SUSTAINABLE CULTURE"

"While anyone can build a village, a subdivision, or a housing development, the challenge is filling it with people who can get along, who can reach agreements, and who can achieve far more together than they ever could alone. If your aspiring ecovillage or intentional community gets even this far ― and this awesome book will show you how ― then maybe you have a realistic chance of living sustainably and, by example, of changing the world.My appreciation grows daily for this thorough, practical, and engaging guide."
―ALBERT BATES, DIRECTOR, ECOVILLAGE TRAINING CENTER, AND INTERNATIONAL SECRETARY, ECOVILLAGE NETWORK OF THE AMERICAS.

"Developing a successful community requires a special blend of vision and practicality woven together with wisdom. Consider this book a marvelous mirror. If the abundant, experience-based, practicality in this book delights you then you probably have the wisdom to realize your vision."
―ROBERT GILMAN, FOUNDING EDITOR OF IN CONTEXT, A QUARTERLY OF HUMANE SUSTAINABLE CULTURE, AND AUTHOR OF ECOVILLAGES AND SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES

"So many well intended communities fail because they don't even know the questions to ask, let alone where to find answers. This book offers a wealth of detailed information that will help guide communities to finding what is right for their specific situation, and greatly increase their odds of their success."
―KATHRYN MCCAMANT, COHOUSING RESIDENT, ARCHITECT, AND PROJECT MANAGER, AND AUTHOR OF COHOUSING

About the Author

Besides editing Communities magazine since 1993, Diana Leafe Christian offers workshops nationwide on the process of forming new ecovillages and intentional communities. She is a member of Earthaven Ecovillage in North Carolina.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ New Society Publishers (January 1, 2003)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0865714711
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0865714717
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.12 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.25 x 0.7 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #138,708 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #33 in Urban Planning and Development
- #3,402 in Personal Transformation Self-Help
- #6,769 in Education & Teaching (Books)

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4.7 166 ratings

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Diana Leafe Christian is an author, former editor of Communities magazine, and nationwide speaker and workshop presenter on starting new ecovillages, on building communities, and on sustainability. She lives in an off-grid homestead at Earthaven Ecovillage in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, U.S.

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jdb

Don't miss this one if you're interested in intentional community

Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2012

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Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities

Wow. This has to be THE "mother of all books" on intentional communities. It certainly lives up to the title and subtitle on its cover. I think practical tools is a likely understatement as the book goes into much detail on many of the serious nuts and bolts of forming intentional community. I was and am beyond impressed with the information I found in Creating a Life Together; Diana Leafe Christian has done an exemplary job of bringing together a large amount of information and summarizing it into an intellectually digestive form. I am surprised at the breadth and depth of detail she has been able to bring into one volume and still maintain a level of readability that is unexpected for a book that seems like it should read more like an encyclopedia or some multi-step manual. My point; it reads very well. In fact, I read most of the book during a 3-hour flight...finding it almost as exciting as a mystery or action-adventure title on the NY Times Bestseller list. Really!

As I have already said, the book is everything it claims to be and more. The book draws on the collective experience of the author, Diana Leafe Christian, who has served as the editor of Communities magazine since 1993 and has many years of experience observing and living as a member of intentional communities. Additionally, the book also shares insight and example from a number of community models--their best and worst practices--so the reader is provided with "real world" experience to examine.

Creating a Life Together is divided into three primary sections. Part one deals with start-up issues; this section of the book is worth its cost alone. Part two is what I might refer to as the "engine room" of the intentional community and includes discussion about agreements, policy, legal advice and entity, property concerns, zoning issues, neighbors, and financing. It covers most of the mechanics involved with forming an intentional community. While this aspect of community might seem burdensome and/or boring, it absolutely cannot be overlooked and I believe Diana has done a great job of presenting this information fairly and highlighting its importance as well. Part three shares about the nature and development of the community itself...the people factor as it were, describing how people thrive, are nourished, and deal with conflict within the close confines of this type of neighborhood. There are many great examples of how it is done right and how it is done wrong in this section along with a number of very good resources. The book is rounded out with a great compilation of resource material found in the appendices featuring examples of community vision documents, sample community agreements, and information that I found extremely helpful for setting up a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. There is also a great list of books, websites, and other organizations at the end of the book that can serve for next steps or deeper study into specific areas relative to the intentional community model.

I am so very glad to have found this book. Certain aspects of it caused pangs of depression as I considered some of the aspects of community forming that aren't so exciting for me, but I am glad to have the reality check and awareness of these aspects brought to my attention, so I have both eyes open as I proceed with learning about (and hopefully becoming part of) an intentional community. If you are considering this type of lifestyle, this book is a "must have" for you. Don't miss it!

20 people found this helpful

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PostPartisan

Definitive How-to Book about Housing Communities

Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2005

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Note: Even for those who aren't interested in living in "intentional communities," there's great guidance in this book that is relevant to forming a nonpfrofit housing community.

Christian candidly explains the many ways that a group of people choosing to live as interdependent residents, whether of just one house or several houses on commonly held land, both complicates and facilitates adjusting to the inevitable quirky expectations, needs and requirements of different, even if simpatico, individuals. Although Creating a Life Together is intended for those who want to start something more like a modern-day commune, some of which qualify as ecovillages, the points and principles in this book are relevant to sharing one residence or living in separate dwellings but making a commitment to share co-owned land with multiple homes. Either way, you're sharing your day-to-day lives as an extended family bonded by choice, not by blood.

Only 10% succeed

Christian's guidance and opinions are based on many years of living in intentional communities and serving as editor of Communities magazine. She starts with describing what the 10% of communities that succeed have and in common and what tends to make the other 90% fail, over before they truly get started.

Then she explains how and where to start and what steps to take in what order - and that is not jumping right into looking for the ideal land or property, despite how tempting that is when you're full of dreams and enthusiasm. Before you even get to that stage - or at least before you make an offer on any kind of property - you'll need to learn a lot about zoning, financing, housing and land trusts perhaps, and certainly what kind of legal entity will work best for what your group has in mind and exactly what each of you have in mind, from contributions of money, time and labor to what's acceptable and what's not in day-to-day living. You'll need to decide going in what happens when someone wants out, so you can protect everyone, both legally and emotionally.

First 6 crucial steps

She calls these six elements "crucial" to address in the formative stages:

Identify your community vision and create vision documents.
Choose a fair, participatory decision-making process appropriate for your group. If you choose consensus, get trained in it.
Make clear agreements - in writing. This includes choosing an appropriate legal entity for owning land [or a dwelling] together.
Learn good communication and group process skills. Make clear communication and resolving conflicts a priority.
In choosing cofounders and new members, select for emotional maturity.
Learn the head skills and heart skills you need to know.
Not a dream for dilettantes

Christian also offers fair warning that if you have a burning desire to start a new intentional community, you'll need that kind of passion and more: "It takes enormous amounts of time to pull off a project of this magnitude. Even if you meet weekly, you'll still need people to work on various committees that work and/or meet between scheduled meetings - gathering information, calling officials, crunching the numbers, drafting proposals, and so on - for at least a year, or even two years or longer, " she says. "The larger your group and/or the smaller your assets, the longer it'll take."

103 people found this helpful

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Jaji

Creating Communities Bible

Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2014

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As of this writing, "Creating a Life Together" has received 18 reviews, all 5 stars, and all well deserved. This book is very thorough in its breadth of topics, and goes into good detail. Add to that an easy to read writing style, humor, and poignant real-life examples, and you have a guide that will set you up for the reality of what it takes to create a viable community. There's a LOT involved. This book will help you discover whether pursuing your vision is the right thing for you to do. By the end you will feel either intimidated or excited. And that's exactly the clear type of signal that you want before even taking the first steps in such an endeavor.

Update, February 2016: It's been almost two years since I first read this book, and since then I've purchased land, created a web site and networking site, visited another project like mine that I found in the book, had a few special events, have gotten the first stages of our site plan county approved, negotiated with neighbors, began improvements on the land and existing structure, and have broken ground on our first residential cabin. I have all serious potential members of my project read this book, and we go over the most important topics together. Curious? Check out Ingenium Expressive Arts Village at www.expressiveartsvillage.com We're still in the beginning stages, but with resources like Diana's book and careful, meticulous planning, I do believe IT CAN BE DONE! :)

27 people found this helpful

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Amazon Kunde

Ein tolles Buch

Reviewed in Germany on January 16, 2023

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Sehr informativ und hilfreich . Man lernt viel aus dem Buch.

One person found this helpful

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David sepkowski

Five Stars

Reviewed in Canada on December 31, 2016

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intelligent and thourough

Michael Layden

Herding Rabbits.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 20, 2011

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One of the great problems of Environmentalists,Alternative types and sustainability gurus are that they are often the greatest individualists and independent thinkers. This can make them unsuitable for establishing working communities which have to cope with simple everyday concerns.

Almost by definition anyone who is able to look at their society and understand the insanity of the world is not a group thinker. Starting a community with hyper individualists who are natural contrarians is a lot like herding rabbits. Impossible in an open space but somewhat possible if there are some boundaries to channel their hyper activity.

This is what the book is about. It discusses some of the ground rules and strategies successful communities use. It also discusses why intentional communities fail (90%!!! of them) and why others succeed.

It fills in enough detail that gives you a sense of the extreme frustration of the breakups. Not exactly "war of the roses" but you get a hint of the anguish.

Often it is the discussion of specific rules that really shows the wisdom of the groups that survived. Something as simple as how to deal with pets. For a community to survive there needs to be a strong framework in place to deal with pets.i.e How many pets an overall community is the relevant figure rather than the individual needs.I.e how do people get sleep if the dogs are barking or how do you have a nature reserve if there is a pack of cats and dogs in the community.
Similarly work load, finances, external pressures etc have all to be worked around. Who owns what, what happens if the community breaks up or people want to leave are all discussed. The delightful dictatorship of the founders, the difficulty of conflicting personalities and diverging dreams all add spice to the book.

For a very practical book, I found myself laughing quite a bit. Almost dare I say it, the book almost has the puerile appeal of a reality TV programme

8 people found this helpful

ecodeva

Good guide for community builders

Reviewed in Japan on March 2, 2010

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This book is really helpful for the people who are planning to build a community or ecovillage. A lot of suggestions and advices come from actual experience of community members. Necessary contents to establish a community is presented in organized manner.
The author, Diana also lives in an ecovillage as well as a former editor of Communities magazine. Her insight and observation may come through her experience.

A. Lau

Great Reference

Reviewed in Canada on April 13, 2015

Verified Purchase

Nice overview on what it takes to build a Co-housing Community.

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Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities Paperback – January 1, 2003

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