Last week a friend called me and said “So this convergence thing- what is is? I’m busy, money is tight, and I don’t really get it? Is this just an extra long Communities Conference? You already live in community, isn’t that enough?”
And that felt like a reasonable question. We’ve talked a bit about our excitement for the convergence, we’ve laid out a very loose schedule and posted it online, and we’ve spent a bunch of our meeting time happily throwing out ideas for what we might accomplish. In this busiest part of the organizing season, it’s easy to forget that my friend doesn’t see those meetings or hear those conversations- they only see what we post online. So…
What could come out of a successful Convergence of Intentional Communities?
Before we tell you what success looks like, I’ll start with the event basics. Created by and for people who live in intentional communities, the convergence has two core goals- to build stronger relationships between intentional communities, and to guide the networks & organizations supporting ICs on how to best serve member communities.
This is the first Convergence of Intentional Communities (CIC) and, while the organizers have our own hopes and goals (some of which we agree on, some we don’t) the focus can and will be quite influenced by participants’ desires.
We are using a number of presentation and brainstorming tools to reveal ideas, polish different programs, and develop work groups which we plan to come out of the event. Central to the event is that several of the existing organizations and networks serving intentional communities are inquisitive about the types of networking services they should be offering, and seeking active IC members to help them define, design, and refine these services. While not all IC focused networks or orgs will be attending the CIC this year, we’re excited to say that the Global Ecovillage Network North America group GENNA will be there, as well as the FIC as co-organizer for the Convergence of Intentional Communities.
But it is not just about networks and the organizations that serve them. The CIC is also designed to get individual ICs in touch with other on-going intentional community projects so that they can help each other directly. This could be as practical as help repairing a building, or as process oriented as providing a less biased advocate or facilitator to a community struggling with a thorny issue. While not romantic, exactly, this could be looked at as an inter-community matchmaking event.
And there is a certain amount of magic and serendipity involved in this new event. The organizers have created a schedule which pushes new ideas forward and then seeks volunteers to bring them into the world. If you have often felt the communities movement could do more to help itself and make the greater world a better place, then this is your chance to actually make that happen.
Some of the positive outputs which might result from this gathering include:
We could build a robust guesting and internship network to facilitate visitation between existing ICs.
We could direct the FIC and GENNA to do what the member communities really want these networks to do.
We could build a wiki or database of useful community foundational documents and policies.
We could promote compelling volunteer opportunities in member intentional communities.
We could cooperate on member recruiting, both to alert other communities of openings and problematic visitors.
We could create (and figure out a way to sustainably fund) a rotating loan fund for startup communities.
We could create self insurance funds to be reinvested in member communities.
We could challenge ourselves collectively to make the IC movement be less about “building nice places for us to live” and focus more on how we could be building a political movement which effectively promotes cooperative living and the sharing of resources.
Want to join us? You can find more details on our Convergence page here, and if you’re already sure you want to attend- adult tickets to the CIC are available on Eventbrite for $90. These prices include 2 full days of intentional community content, food from breakfast Monday through breakfast Wednesday, a tent camp site, and all content/events during the Convergence.
Two days doesn’t sound like enough? Join us Friday-Sunday at the Twin Oaks Communities Conference (TOCC) to network and learn about communities of all kinds — co-housing, co-ops, communes, ecovillages, and more — at one of the best-known intentional communities in North America.
There are performances, tours, presentations, curated workshops on intentional community living, great food, and more!
You’ll get something out of the conference whether you’re brand new to communities and cooperatives, or have been living and working in them for decades.
If cost is a concern, there are work exchange tickets available for both events via our main Eventbrite ticket portals and additional discounts are possible. No-one will be turned away (from either event) for lack of funds. You can also register when you arrive on site if you don’t have a credit card to buy tickets online, or just decide to join us at the last minute. We hope to see you there!
