Networking Communities

Just as no person is an island, no intentional community is an island. ICs are connected to other communities and cooperative groups locally, regionally, nationally, internationally—whether those connections are actively cultivated or simply present in shared participation in a cooperative experience.

Intentional cultivation of those ties—the fostering of networks—can make each participant group stronger and more resilient.

In Communities’ “Networking Communities” issue (Fall 2018, #180), authors share their journeys in exploring and creating networks—among communitarians, among communities, even among networks of communities and among communities researchers.

Authors discuss the joys and benefits as well as trials and tribulations of organizing networking gatherings, of attempting to address social justice, ecological, and related challenges through collective visioning and action, of working toward an equitable and regenerative future in concert with others, of exploring the edges of cultural evolution, of learning from others’ experiences as well as their own. They talk about the potential of further networking to help us create the future we want to see.

We hope you’ll draw helpful information, inspiration, and insight from their stories in this Networking Communities issue. Once again, the issue is available via free/by donation digital download at ic.org/communities.

**The digital version of this issue is being offered on a by-donation basis. With the “digital download” option selected above, you can enter any amount, including $0. While producing each issue has costs, we want to spread this content as widely as possible and are experimenting with a gift economy approach. Please share and support as you can, and enjoy!**

Articles in “Networking Communities”

• Publisher’s Note–Everything Is in Someone’s Backyard by Sky Blue
• Notes from the Editor–Won’t You Be My Neighbor? by Chris Roth
• Answering the “Call of the Mountain” through a Spiralling Network of Sustainability by Thomas Macintyre
• Leading Edges of Collaboration: GENNA Alliance by Cynthia Tina
• Networking through the Mandala: Finding and Binding Common Values by Evan Welkin
• Communities of Intention in Peru, Ecuador, and Beyond: A Summer of Travel and Rediscovering Communal Roots by Renay Friendshuh
• Connect: Now More Than Ever by Setesh FreeMan
• Communities: Better Together by Bruce Perler
• European Day of Sustainable Communities, 22 September: A Celebration of the Diversity of Grassroots Action by Iva Pocock
• On the Potential for an IC Business Network by James Collector
• The Federation of Egalitarian Communities and Community Networking by Sumner Nichols
• Liberation, Networks, and Community by Yana Ludwig
• Inclusivity and Disability by Allison Tom
• How to Help One Another: Connecting Cohousing Communities ina Regional Network by Jude Foster
• The Cohousing Research Network: A Community Approach to Communities Research by Angela Sanguinetti, Heidi Berggren, Neil Planchon, Diane Margolis, Robert Boyer, and Chuck MacLane
• The Gifts of Gathering by Laura Lasuertmer
• Perennial Lessons from Historical Communities by Amy Hart
• Linked by Love and Transparency: The Need for Human Connection by Satyama Ratna Lasby
• From Holism to Community by Dan Schultz
• Reclaiming the “We” from Ancient Wisdom by Pegi Eyers
• It Takes a Village: The Journey to Build a Lifesharing Community in New Orleans by Amy Syracuse
• Our Community Can Change When We Work Together Well by Paul Born
• Dancing between Network and Community by Paul Freundlich
• Review–The Parents’ Guide to Climate Revolution by Sharon Blick