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Finding Community: How to Join an Ecovillage or Intentional Community
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
Important questions to ask (of members and of yourself) Signs of a healthy (and not-so-healthy) community Cost of joining (and staying) Common blunders to avoid 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.
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
Important questions to ask (of members and of yourself) Signs of a healthy (and not-so-healthy) community Cost of joining (and staying) Common blunders to avoid 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.
- GenresNonfictionSustainability
264 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 2007
17 people are currently reading
197 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
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February 1, 2026Wow. I've been studying this book for the past 4,5 months, so at this time I have no idea how to rate it. But I do know that it's full of useful information. It made me never want to live in a community ever and laugh at myself for ever thinking I could. And then it made me long for it like never before. Which coincidentally also seems to be the phases you go through once you're joining a community. I still think, more than ever, that this is exactly how most of us are supposed to live. But I also think that it comes with a lot of challenges and I am fearful of how I might handle some of them. I've had a little taste of community living in the past and years later I still consider it the happiest and most memorable time of my life. Everyone was so considerate, inviting, real. When I got back to the real world I was so confused by people just passing on the street, not noticing each other for a second. If you, like me, have a dream of joining a community (one day), read this book.
One tiny but important critical note: This book is dated and though that didn't bother me for the most part, there is one part that did. There's an example about a guy who's socially awkward and the author advises you, if you're like him, to talk as little as possible and just work during the trial membership phase, to get through it. While I found that a bit dishonest, the main problem is that masking for prolonged periods of time can cause burn-outs and meltdowns. So while I get that trying to blend in is hugely important especially at first, please try to speak up if you feel pressured to disappear, because you don't want to live your life behind a mask. No matter how great community life can be.
"Instead of living our lives through televisions or computers, we desire real, face-to-face conversations. Rather than living vicariously through fictitious characters or silently stewing in cynicism, we choose to attempt to resolve our difficulties and work together. We choose not to play it safe, to find a way to not be ignorant and to be blissful, and to meet basic human needs that are seldom met in our culture.”
One tiny but important critical note: This book is dated and though that didn't bother me for the most part, there is one part that did. There's an example about a guy who's socially awkward and the author advises you, if you're like him, to talk as little as possible and just work during the trial membership phase, to get through it. While I found that a bit dishonest, the main problem is that masking for prolonged periods of time can cause burn-outs and meltdowns. So while I get that trying to blend in is hugely important especially at first, please try to speak up if you feel pressured to disappear, because you don't want to live your life behind a mask. No matter how great community life can be.
"Instead of living our lives through televisions or computers, we desire real, face-to-face conversations. Rather than living vicariously through fictitious characters or silently stewing in cynicism, we choose to attempt to resolve our difficulties and work together. We choose not to play it safe, to find a way to not be ignorant and to be blissful, and to meet basic human needs that are seldom met in our culture.”
December 23, 2019
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.
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.
May 11, 2021
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.
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.
April 22, 2025
Full of lots of information. Answered questions I would not think to ask.
September 30, 2025
Very good and inspiring, last chapter abt peak oil gave me the scaries tho... were all kinda fucked arent we
November 4, 2013
Interesting. Covers co-houseing
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews