Chances are high that you came across the buzzwords coliving, coworking, and maybe regenerative living, or regenerative villages. Most of the time those terms are mentioned in combination with community, seemingly the key ingredient of all those concepts. I want to share my impressions and experiences first hand and introduce you to the concepts behind those terms. Furthermore, I want to invite you to take part and form an active community and co-create a conscience intentional global community for housing and living.
Please see the paragraph Terminology further below to learn more about the terms used in this article. You can sign-up to get updates delivered to your inbox.
My impressions from the outstanding event in the Netherlands
The Re:Built event was organised by Dea Retzou and Anton Chernikov from re:build together with Camp Common Grounds. The event draw a crowd just short of 100 people, and I find it really surprising to learn that so many people are either interested in creating sustainable living places or want to live in such places. All of the participants, as well as the organisers are driven by the community focused and sustainability approach. I am delighted that I had the chance to get to know so many likeminded souls who are currently working hard to create more sustainable places that offer much more than just a roof and a living room.
The in-person event, managed to attract Innovators, builders, developers, architects, and many more shared their experiences and isights. The event took place between 21. and 24. of April and visitors could learn about the newest projects and had the chance to learn from the experiences which have been shared by speakers and participants alike. The event was divided into two parts: a) a normal conference style part and b) also an unconference part where participants could organise sessions themselves. The event was very cosy and had an almost intimate feel. Especially the very personal experienced that were shared, around the campfire on the first evening of the event, were very impressive and reminded me of camping trips with friends and family.
Camp Common Grounds provided a natural environment that seemed very suitable for the regenerative aspect of the event. What really amazed me, was the conscious aspect of the participants of the event. People danced, meditated and celebrated together. The feel was like visiting family or friends rather than participating in a conference.
Impressions from the Co-Liv Summit
The Co-Liv event, is a one day hybrid-marathon-event that is currently hosted in the town of Bansko, Bulgaria (2. May), and live-streamed. The combination of in-person and online event amazes me and I am surprised that the majority is remotely connected, and so is a great part of the speakers and panelists. The feel is different and the focus is clearly on coliving and it seems to be more data driven. My impression is that the community feel is less dominant in comparison to the Re:Build event. The Co-Liv is more focussed on the pure coliving aspect and the community rather than the environmental aspects. The program is very organised and besides the chat ability of the online participants does not offer an unconference part for the in-person participants. For me, as I participated in-person, I had the feeling I am missing out on the online part. However, I have the chance to talk to the speakers and the organisers directly, and have time to hang out with them at the dinner table and the afterparty.
Impressions from a recent coliving experience
Marc Förster from Karisma organised a coliving experience in Fuerteventura. In my humble opinion and from my experiences so far: The crowd of such experiences is key! The program was a bit vague and Marc was very supportive and spared no effort to deliver an exquisite experience. The twelve participants in the first week of the event were all hand selected and contributed to an unforgettable coliving event. The smaller the crowd the deeper the connections. Marc was in his testing and learning phase and thereby the organisation was more instant and spontaneous. I had a great time, connected with very interesting people who are pure gold and institutions in their industries, as well as their projects they currently manage. All in all a very nice experience with great dining, cooking and celebration sessions.
Coliving as a DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization)
Daniel Aprea from ColivingDAO.io explained me first hand what they are offering to the world. The innovative model of ColivingDAO.io is very inclusive, and offers an alternative solution to the current (or default) systems we know of now. Their approach is to include Web3 solutions to solve real estate ownership challenges. Including block chain technology as a means to bridge gaps that eventually allows and enables people and users of a living space to co-own a regenerative real estate property, that is free of debt and carries the values of the community. In Daniel’s words it reads as follows:
“ColivingDAO enables renters to become owners on day one, and to have a real voice in how the community is shaped.”
From my perspective this is the way to go and I think the potential is huge. However, the new technologies, the shape of the company and the distribution of shares makes it hard to understand and I can feel that there is a hurdle to overcome when it comes to trusting such new and innovative concepts. It is only a question of time that we adapt to the new, to get used to how we will do things and solve challenges in the future, but for now it is a mystery for many people and the learning curve is steep, at least in my opinion. That means we need to look deeper and open up to new possibilities to form companies and trust in the new legal, as well as in the new Web3 systems. If you are interested, you can browse the white paper and their website and see for yourselves what https://colivingdao.io has to offer. And even better, you can join their Telegram group to get all the updates in an instant.
My personal conclusion
I can see a lot of potential from the projects and plans that I have seen from the aforementioned events, as well as from the projects that are currently popping up all over the world. Though, there are already many good examples of regenerative village (or coliving) projects that are either in their planning phase or already in development. I believe, it is possible to build such community villages far more affordable and with real ownership (rather than renting places).
My impression, from the current landscape and projects that I came across so far, I can see that some amazing ReGen projects are still in the concept phase and/or are driven by financial aspects, or have a bunch of obstacles to overcome when dealing with governmental institutions that reject plans and concepts that are questionable (or too innovative) in their eyes.
What I miss is the co-creation aspect that is driven by the benefits that will ultimately accumulate in the greater good for the community. I miss the approach of such a project where the goal is to support and benefit the end-user, the individual, the family and the people who use and live in such a places. Don’t get me wrong, I love the projects that have been presented and the people who are currently planning or curating a coliving space, ReGen village projects, or participate in community building. However, I think if we choose to go the usual route, we most likely end up with mortgage from a bank, investors money, or alike. That means we will do the same old game over and over again, and we will not be able to cut the ties with percentage hungry players who’s sole interest are the balance sheets. As nice as the projects might be, the financial aspect still comes with a bunch of culprits and seems to spoil even the most desirable projects.
The coliving aspect, that is included in most of the projects I came across so far, is somewhat bittersweet. I love community and I am grateful to have my privacy at same time! When ReGen projects are based on coliving and shared housing I feel it is tailored towards young singles that are starting their journey and who do not mind to share a space in an effort to lower their burn rate. I miss projects that offer private housing, a private garden, and/or a private living spaces. Whether an individual single family house is shared (e.g. fractional ownership), owned by one person, or a family does in my opinion not matter at all. If we force people to rent, we will never give them a chance to get financially independent, or for a lack of a better expression, give them a chance to escape the hamster wheel. However, I do understand that urban planning and living is a different beast. If you choose to live in a city it might not be possible to own a private house with garden.
Working on bleeding-edge concepts is always harder than using what is already existing. Many times it is easy to forget that we are in a bubble and thus we are led to believe we are all thinking the same way. Many obstacles will need attention and patience to make the new and the outlandish possible. Hang in there, seek support, many people are willing to help!
After all, with lots of quality input and many new connections I am more excited than ever and want to build a village with a vibrant community that exceeds the boundaries and allows us to afford, own, use and swap such amazing places freely.
Game A versus Game B
“What would a new operating system for society look like?” is the question that Game B is all about. I do not have any doubts, if we talk about innovative solutions for new living spaces that are community centred, we cannot ignore the Game B theory. Game B describes an approach that is more relevant than ever, and much closer to grasp as we have ever seen before. Learn more about the topic at Rebel Wisdom and watch the interview here.
In short, Game A describes the current situation that we are immersed in right now. The opposing view, namely Game B, is coined by Jim Rutt and a group of thinkers in 2013. At this moment in time, we all buy into current systems, e.g. if we purchase a house, and that means we subsequently support and participate in Game A. Alternative approaches (such as ColivingDAO.io) are meant to unplug from Game A and invest into a future that is more sustainable and that is built on a regenerative approach. The question I want to pose is: How can we create a housing community and build an environment that does not support current underlying systems, and is free, independent and affordable?
But what does that really mean? It means when you buy a house you most likely borrow money from a bank. That mortgage needs then to be paid back in instalments over a period in time, typically around 30 years. The property is owned by the bank that gave you the money in the first place (as a collateral). If you fail to pay the debts in time you will loose the property in an instant. That system is quite elaborate and if you look from a birds eye view, you might understand consequences that are included in that example. For instance, if you have a mortgage to pay, you might not consider to change jobs frequently, or you might consider situations with more care. That might lead you to live a life with a lot of compromises, as the Damocles’ sword is dangling over your head constantly. I would even go that far and call this a kind of slavery. That is why I think we need to rethink and build new systems, even if they seem far fetched from our current views, but offer an alternative solution to this issue.
Further plans
I am interested to build a community village in Bulgaria and think the time is right. With the insights of starting and running Coworking Bansko, my own coworking space, and from the many and colourful experiences of the past eight years, I think a combination of a regenerative village approach with a hard focus on an intentional community is key to get such a project flying.
Where am I now? Currently I am working on the feasibility study and a presentation deck. The numbers I have been gathering so far look very promising and I think I can offer fully detached houses with 80–120 m² living space with a surrounding private garden, on a scale of 30–50 units with a large community building and common area for the price what you would usually pay for a tiny house in a more expensive market. For affordability reasons, but also intangible reasons, like the feel of freedom, the climate, the nature, the beauty of the landscape, and many more, are driving me to build this place in the Balkan region, and more specifically in Bulgaria.
I can imagine to partner up with ColivingDAO to make the project happen, at the same time I am open to ideas and other ways to achieve an independent community village.
Currently I invite people to sign up and to see how many people are interested and what interests the people really have. A newsletter will provide updates and information around the development of the project. In parallel I form a community for builders and creators of such living spaces.
Are you interested to get involved? Sign up for the newsletter and project updates: https://forms.gle/gVB5mDyggD33PTiV8
Engage, build and live!
Yours truly, Uwe
A word about Terminology
Regenerative villages describes a concept of a self-sustaining village that provides water, food, renewable energy, housing, and community. I want to quote James Ehelich, who is a Singularity Expert and Founder of ReGen Villages at Stanford University:
“ReGen villages are the future of living in regenerative and resilient communities, with critical life support of organic food, clean water, renewable energy and circular nutritional flows at the neighborhood scale.”
Often regenerative villages are associated with a focus on environment friendly living concepts, food sovereignty, conscience living, low carbon footprint, with a focus on community and collaboration.
The term coliving and regenerative villages (ReGen villages) are often intertwined in a project, but they are generally two different things.
Coliving is a concept that is associated with a community focused living space. Often people rent a single room in a house and share a community space, such as the kitchen with a large living room where inhabitants can hang out, work, cook, and dine together or enjoy the company of the other inhabitants. Many people I know use coliving for financial reasons, but then they stay way longer as initially anticipated, as they find the coliving place so appealing, and they value the community aspect as they grow closer over time.
Coworking is work space where people are able to work and the work environment is designed to support the users. Many coworking spaces do focus on the community aspects of the place and offer a variety of events and experiences that offer people to hang out and enjoy celebrating the after hours. Coworking is often used in conjunction with coliving, as many of the coliving spaces offer a common area where people work in the same room on their own projects, or even form collaborations over time.
The definitions of coliving and coworking are often misleading and the meaning differs on the point of view of the organiser, or the group who uses or run such a place. I am not a friend of such a simple explanation, but I might elaborate on that another time.
