I had the incredible opportunity to participate to the National Cohousing Conference last week in Durham. This kind of event really helps you to understand how big the movement now is that Katie and Chuck started in the 80’s. Like me coming from France, people from all around the world have been attracted by the successful development of cohousing projects.
I had the chance to meet young adults that grew up in cohousing communities. By speaking with them, you understand the benefits of growing up in a safe environment, where dialogue with adults is re-established, and where you learn cooperation, working together, and tolerance through games.
From farmsteads to urban cohousing, from villages in South Africa to neurodiverse cooperative housing (https://www.cohousing.org/node/3084); the solutions to live better together are as diverse as the cultures that created them, and the communities formed.
Of course, developing a cohousing project still takes work. Because it’s innovative, because it gives citizens the possibility to be actors in the development of their cities, because cooperation has to be reintroduced in most cultures. But communities that may have to face some difficulties can, undoubtedly, count on the support of the thousands of professionals and cohousers that form the solid network of American cohousing.”