Finding Community: How to Join an Ecovillage or Intentional Community

by Diana Leafe Christian

How to research, visit, evaluate, and join the ecovillage or sustainable community of your dreams. Finding community is as critical as obtaining food and shelter, since the need to belong is what makes us human. The isolation and loneliness of modern life have led many people to search for deeper connection, which has resulted in a renewed interest in intentional communities. These intentional communities or ecovillages are an appealing choice for like-minded people who seek to create a family-oriented and ecologically sustainable lifestyle―a lifestyle they are unlikely to find anywhere else. However, the notion of an intentional community can still be a tremendous leap for some―deterred perhaps by a misguided vision of eking out a hardscrabble existence with little reward. In fact, successful ecovillages thrive because of the combined skills and resources of their members. Finding Community presents a thorough overview of ecovillages and intentional communities and offers solid advice on how to research thoroughly, visit thoughtfully, evaluate intelligently, and join gracefully. Useful considerations Finding Community provides intriguing possibilities to readers who are seeking a more cooperative, sustainable, and meaningful life. Diana Leafe Christian is the author of Creating a Life Together and editor of Communities magazine. She lives at Earthhaven Ecovillage in North Carolina.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sustainability

264 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2007

Reviews

[Horia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a treasure. I thought I knew a bit about intentional communities, but this book is structured well, gives a broad perspective and a lot of extra information on the subject.
This book is where you want to start your intentional community journey.
The only drawbacks are that it's a bit outdated and mostly focusing on North America.

[Serg · Rating 3 out of 5]

kinda dry. pretty outdated. The page on how to use the www.google.com did not age well. But very thorough.
It had interesting insight on common practices of intentional communities. (so. many. meetings.) And the importance of open communication when living with groups of people.

[Marion · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of lots of information. Answered questions I would not think to ask.

[A.L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good and inspiring, last chapter abt peak oil gave me the scaries tho... were all kinda fucked arent we

[Leonard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. Covers co-houseing