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previous posts

our blog
The Footnote: Post-Grad Advice for Graduate Architects
about a month ago
What does resilience look like at Schemata?
about a month ago
Welcome to the Team Kriti & Astrid
about 2 months ago
Spotlight: Local Organization That Are Advocating for Their Communities
about 3 months ago
Schemata’s Commitment: MLK Day of Service at Everest Park
about 4 months ago
Schemata Workshop's Vision for the Next 20 Years
about 5 months ago
The Origin Story of Schemata Workshop
about 6 months ago
Celebrating 20 Years of Schemata Workshop: Building Communities Through Design
about 7 months ago
Schemata Workshop Project Spotlight: Multicultural Village (Kent, WA)
about 9 months ago
Schemata's Reflection on the Model Minority Myth
about 10 months ago

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(from left to right) Mike, Joann, Tegan, and Grace at a happy hour Schemata hosted for members of our ongoing cohousing projects

(from left to right) Mike, Joann, Tegan, and Grace at a happy hour Schemata hosted for members of our ongoing cohousing projects

Joann's Reflection on the 2019 Cohousing Conference

July 17, 2019

My experience at the Cohousing Conference is what I imagine living in a cohousing community to be like, at a GIANT scale. We had our own living spaces (hotel rooms) but were drawn toward the conference hall to share meals, exchange ideas, and socialize. The conference center was the make-shift Common House for a community on a national scale.

Everyone was actively engaged to create a sense of community. Attendees contributed in sessions and connected over similar lived experiences. Presenters gave others space to share their issues and were generous with words of encouragement but were also refreshingly direct about potential obstacles and lessons learned. Adesina Cameron’s presentation about financial literacy for the development of cohousing was especially enlightening. The way she presented the information felt like a conversation with a trusted favorite aunt.

People asked for help and were generous with a surprising ease. There was a prominently displayed community board solely for this purpose. A conference organizer offered to give me the official conference t-shirt she was wearing so the attendees in the session I was monitoring would know I was a volunteer. I was swept up in the energy and found myself enthusiastically taking on impromptu conference tasks. This sense of generosity was exemplified by the keynote speech given by Courtney Martin about the sharing of time, expertise, and community in cohousing and capped with a call to action for extending this sense of abundance beyond cohousing.

While I soaked up plenty of new technical information about cohousing design, the engagement and generosity I felt at the conference made the most impactful impression. The weekend was an inspiring reminder that we can all build stronger communities by intentionally reaching out and making connections with neighbors through shared time, meals, skills, and simply asking for help.

The main hall at the 2019 Cohousing Conference

The main hall at the 2019 Cohousing Conference

National Cohousing Association

National Cohousing Association

Conference Homepage

Conference Homepage

Courtney Martin’s Keynote Speech

Courtney Martin’s Keynote Speech

read more conference reflections here
← Grace's Reflection on the 2019 Cohousing ConferenceAttendee Reflections on Community for the Health of It →
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