Purchase Tickets
Conference Forum
Main Menu
Conference Menu

Shopping Cart

No products in the cart.

Shopping Cart

No products in the cart.

Thursday 1st Aug

Friday 2nd Aug

Saturday 3rd Aug

Sunday 4th Aug

Saturday 8/3 - Schedule

7:30am - 8:15am

Coffee & Donuts with the Seniors in Cohousing Committee

Location: Tavern Upstairs

Join the Seniors in Cohousing Committee for an informal gathering to ask questions about Senior Cohousing and Aging in Multigenerational Cohousing. Coffee and donuts provided.

Newcomer Coffee

Location: Tavern Upstairs

First time at a cohousing conference? We’d love to welcome you with coffee and donuts in the upstairs lounge of the Tavern (above the registration tables). Come with your questions and connect with other newcomers.

Session 1: 8:30am - 10:00am

The paradox of being a cohousing community and a Homeowners Association

Location: Tivoli 320A

Theme: Practical skills for the life cycle of a community

Ronnie Rosenbaum

Johanna Miller

The paradox of being a cohousing community and a Homeowners Association

General information will be presented about the differences between a traditional Homeowners Association (HOA), governed by the laws of each state, and an intentional cohousing community. The presenters will share lessons learned and the continuing challenges faced by a cohousing community that has been in existence for 27 years. Attendees will discuss their related experiences of trying to balance these two different structures.

SESSION DESCRIPTION

Financing your Cohousing Development

Location: Tivoli 320B

Theme: Cohousing Development

Katie McCamant

Financing your Cohousing Development

Understanding the basics of real estate financing and how communities finance their developments.

SESSION DESCRIPTION

Bozeman Cohousing: The first year in a “Net-Zero-Energy” community

Location: Tivoli 320C

Theme: Environmental Sustainability

Jesse Sherry

Erik Bonnett

Bozeman Cohousing: The first year in a "Net-Zero-Energy" community

We will look at the development of Bozeman Cohousing over its first year post-construction. This will include an overview of the community as well as preliminary data from surveys of residents about their environmental activities, specifically energy use and transportation.

SESSION DESCRIPTION

Whole Community Meetings: What for if not Decison-Making?

Location: King Center 210

Theme: Group Process

Jerry Koch-Gonzalez

Whole Community Meetings: What for if not Decison-Making?

Whole community meetings are often simply focused on decison-making. What if we used them also, or primarily, for other purposes? We will demonstrate and participate in three other ways to use whole communtiy meetings: feedback to proposals, education, and most importantly, communty building. Isn't that why we have come together? We will also touch on how to distribute decision making out of whole communty meetings.

SESSION DESCRIPTION

The Future of Cohousing for People with Disabilities

Location: Tivoli 444 (Lorraine Good)

Theme: Diversity, equity and justice in cohousing

Rajesh Voddiraju

The Future of Cohousing for People with Disabilities

This session will look to the future of cohousing for people with disabilities. Raj will discuss the trends and developments that are shaping the cohousing movement, and offer his vision for a more inclusive future. We will also explore the importance of creating a more equitable and diverse cohousing movement. Raj will discuss the challenges and barriers that people with disabilities face in cohousing, and offer strategies for making cohousing more inclusive for everyone.

SESSION DESCRIPTION

Affordable Communities – Creative Solutions

Location: Tivoli 640 (Zenith)

Theme: Innovation in pursuit of Affordability

Brad Gunkel

Affordable Communities - Creative Solutions

For decades we have been searching for the holy grail of affordable cohousing. Though reduced unit sizes, mid-range finishes, and a sharing economy can yield some savings, cohousing is often market-rate by nature. Individual cohousing units might be slightly smaller than other market-rate condos in the same neighborhood. However, community amenities in cohousing are typically more extensive than they are for traditional condominium developments of the same size (how many 30-unit condo developments have club house?). As such, the savings and costs associated with cohousing typically offset one another.

It is slightly outside the traditional cohousing model where we find many creative solutions to affordability. In this workshop, we will explore multiple cohousing-related community models, the opportunities they offer for increased affordability, and the potential compromises associated with each.

Together, we will delve into examples and development strategies for each model including the organic growth model (starting small with an eye toward growth), adaptive re-use (conversion opportunities), and co-living (it’s not just sharing a house). We will also discuss recent regulatory trends that incentivize the development of such communities and what it takes to get started.

SESSION DESCRIPTION

Matters of Membership: Orientation, Resales, and Inheritance

Location: King Center 201

Theme: Intergenerational connection & aging in community

Dyan Wiley

Lew Bowers

Are We a Fit? Educating Buyers and Managing Resales

Are you a forming community trying to attract exploring members?  Do you have a structured orientation to help them (and you) understand what cohousing is about, especially senior communities?  Orienting prospective members during a community’s formation as well as prospective buyers for an existing unit is a crucial component to successfully incorporating new members into the community.  What about new homeowners buying a unit for sale?  Is your community involved in the sale or watching from the sidelines? Another component of resales is handling inheritance.  All communities—senior and multi-generational--should think about how to handle a unit that will be inherited after a homeowner’s passing. This session will explore how communities utilize orientation approaches to educate future buyers/residents to cohousing,  if it will be a fit in terms of expectations and hoped-for living arrangements.  We’ll also share strategies communities are developing to handle resales and issues around inheritance.

SESSION DESCRIPTION

Creating a National Cohousing Support System

Location: King Center 203

Theme: Cohousing Research

Wendy Reid Fairhurst

Creating a National Cohousing Support System

Through federal funding, Killick Ecovillage (formerly Cohousing NL) and Reclaim Community CDO are working to set up a way for groups across Canada to share expertise, knowledge, information, tools, feedback, and help one another be more successful in achieving the goal of affordability, accessibility and inclusion. This session demonstrates the work and research behind the support network, its structure and goals for the future, and a call to action to participate, reciprocate and collaborate across the cohousing movement towards building on the successes of the past to become more inclusive, relevant, and a key part of solving the housing crisis.

SESSION DESCRIPTION

The Local & National Political Advocacy for Cohousing

Location: King Center 206

Theme: Building a Movement

Charles Durrett

The Local & National Political Advocacy for Cohousing

There is lots of potential for new national policy that will assist it in getting built more affordably (that are not through subsidies). But we’ve found that changing local codes does not necessarily help, in fact, it usually hinders the quality of cohousing. Though, cohousing groups have been extremely effective at making new projects cheaper and better using local advocacy.

SESSION DESCRIPTION

Intergroup Dialogue (IGD): an opportunity for transformative dialogue

Location: Tivoli 440 (Adirondacks)

Theme: Designing and fostering spaces of belonging

Grae L. Wason

Intergroup Dialogue (IGD): an opportunity for transformative dialogue

In this session participants will learn about Intergroup Dialogue (IGD) and its applications in Co-Housing. IDG is a face-to-face facilitated conversation between members of two or more social identity groups that strives to create new levels of understanding, relating, and action. Participants will also have the chance to practice dialogue skills with a taste of IGD during the second half of the session.

SESSION DESCRIPTION

Session 2: 10:15am - 11:45am

What it Takes to Develop a Cohousing Project

Location: Tivoli 320B

Theme: Cohousing Development

Ronaye Matthew

Margaret Critchlow

What it Takes to Develop a Cohousing Project

An overview of the practical steps that need to be taken to develop a cohousing project.

SESSION DESCRIPTION

Natural and Healthy Building Technology for Cohousing

Location: Tivoli 320C

Theme: Environmental Sustainability

Jesus Bendezu

Kristen Uitto

Natural and Healthy Building Technology for Cohousing

This session will discuss strategies and challenges that come with incorporating alternative building materials and energy use implications in all-electric multifamily design

SESSION DESCRIPTION

Getting to “Yes, and…” Using Improv in Community

Location: Tivoli 329 (Senate Chambers)

Theme: Group Process

Sally Kimberly

Getting to "Yes, and..." Using Improv in Community

Sometimes all the meetings, and life in general, can get you down. Improv games help with bonding, can be intergenerational, and they are fun.
Folks interact, use their imagination, lift their voices, and get to know each other in new ways. The basis for Improv is "Yes, and..." Yes, I heard what you said, and I will add my thoughts to yours. It requires listening, being present, and staying in the moment. There is "no thinking" , no preparation, and no wrong answers.

SESSION DESCRIPTION

Lessons Learned: Diversity and Inclusion Strategies of Existing Cohousing Communities

Location: Tivoli 444 (Lorraine Good)

Theme: Diversity, equity and justice in cohousing

Nadthachai Kongkhajornkidsuk

Lessons Learned: Diversity and Inclusion Strategies of Existing Cohousing Communities

This session will outline the different means and methods that existing cohousing communities have used to promote diversity, inclusion, and equity within their communities, how effective they are, and what we can learn from them moving forward.

SESSION DESCRIPTION

“Community Land Trusts Building Complete Neighborhoods”

Location: Tivoli 640 (Zenith)

Theme: Innovation in pursuit of Affordability

Aaron Martinez

"Community Land Trusts Building Complete Neighborhoods"

Community Land Trusts (CLT) are a tool for building complete neighborhoods, including housing and commercial space, that work for all. These organizations acquire land to support their communities through education, healthcare, youth programming, growing and distributing food, providing essential services, and much more!

SESSION DESCRIPTION

Mutual Support Approaches: Exploring co-care, co-healing, and other ways to support each other

Location: Tivoli 320A

Theme: Intergenerational connection & aging in community

Dyan Wiley

Senior Cmt

Mutual Support Approaches: Exploring co-care, co-healing, and other ways to support each other

Supporting our neighbors when they need help can go by several terms such as co-care, neighborly care, mutual care, co-healing, and mutual support. In this interactive and engaging workshop, we look at several models and strategies—formalized and informal—for how members are caring for one another – in senior and multi-generational communities. For seniors, this is an essential component for aging in place successfully. It can also be a critical support mechanism for temporary health conditions of any age neighbors such as recovery from an injury or surgery, birth of a baby (or two), or being treated for short-term illnesses. Communities need to also be proactive and have agreements about how they will deal with a neighbor who needs to go beyond informal support and get outside assistance or even move out. Communities try to be make clear with newcomers and exploring members that they are NOT assisted living entities.

This workshop will be facilitated by members of the CohoUS Seniors in Cohousing Committee with guest panelists from senior and multi-generational communities.

SESSION DESCRIPTION

Coho-CCRC Prototypes: Case Studies on Coho Neighborhood and Housing Design for Aging in Place from 9-99

Location: King Center 210

Theme: Cohousing Research

Jane Nichols

Cohousing Post-Occupancy Evaluations: Spatial Programming Hits & Misses ​

With Jane Nichols

SESSION DESCRIPTION

Innovative housing arising out of African American communities

Location: King Center 206

Theme: Building a Movement

Hermine Ngnomire

Bryan Bowen

Innovative housing arising out of African American communities

Explore what housing and neighborhood options would look like if they arose from and represented, rather than displaced, people of under represented communities.

SESSION DESCRIPTION

Building Stronger Communities: Accountability in Cohousing

Location: Tivoli 440 Adirondacks

Theme: Designing and fostering spaces of belonging

Crystal Byrd Farmer

Building Stronger Communities: Accountability in Cohousing

Strong and vibrant communities rely on trust, empathy, and open communication. However, sometimes issues related to identity can emerge and cause harm. Repairing this harm is essential for the health and growth of these communities, particularly in the context of fostering inclusivity and respecting individual identities.

Join Crystal Byrd Farmer to learn about a simple way to address these issues in cohousing communities. Together, we'll explore an accountability process that addresses harm without shame, guilt, or ostracization, helping communities foster a culture understanding and growth. By the end of the workshop, attendees will be equipped with the knowledge and practical skills needed to address identity-related harm, foster inclusivity, and build stronger, more harmonious cohousing communities.

SESSION DESCRIPTION

Lunch Plenary: 11:45am - 1.30pm

Panel discussion: The Future of Cohousing

Lunch Included

Join us for a dynamic panel featuring leaders, activists, and community builders as they explore the future of community housing. Engage in insightful discussions on innovative living solutions and community building while enjoying a complimentary lunch. Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with visionaries shaping the way we live together!

VIEW MORE INFO

Session 3: 1:45pm - 3:15pm

Three’s Company – an integrated approach to Cohousing

Location: Tivoli 320B

Theme: Cohousing Development

Grace Kim

Paul Cullen

Sam Lai

Three’s Company – an integrated approach to Cohousing

Like many forming groups, Sunnyside Village engaged a cohousing architect early on as they were considering sites. Unlike many groups, Sunnyside considered modular construction and was introduced a developer who also served as their contractor. While many things have evolved throughout the design and entitlement process, the three entities have forged a strong collaboration and arrived at some creative solutions – from site plan to financing. Hear about some of the pitfalls that were avoided and challenges that were overcome due to this collaborative approach to development.

SESSION DESCRIPTION

Creating Community and Belonging across Multiple Identities

Location: Tivoli 320C

Theme: Designing and Fostering Spaces of Belonging

Zean Dunbar

Jean East

Creating Community and Belonging across Multiple Identities

This session will be a panel of founders, Board and community members of Angelica Village who represent immigrants, refugees and community members who have committed to living in community. The panel will address questions of what community means to them, what it means to live in a very diverse community, how do they experience community, sharing symbols and pictures they have chosen to describe their experiences.

SESSION DESCRIPTION

Safe(r) Meetings

Location: King Center 210

Theme: Group Process

Karen Gimnig

Safe(r) Meetings

Living and deciding together is hard work. Building connection at the same time requires vulnerability, the opposite of safety. This session will share facilitation strategies for providing enough safety that members are able to do the vulnerable work of consensus and sociocracy.

SESSION DESCRIPTION

Growing Your Cohousing Community: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Best Practices

Location: Tivoli 444 (Lorraine Good)

Theme: Diversity, equity and justice in cohousing

Regan Byrd

Bryan Bowen

Growing Your Cohousing Community: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Best Practices

This session will be a discussion and fireside chat between Regan Byrd, an anti-oppression trainer, activist, consultant, and strategist, and Bryan Bowen, the 2024 CohoUS Conference Chair, on best practices and considerations for growing cohousing communities in anti-oppressive and equitable ways. Audience members will have a chance to ask questions and directly co-think action items, strategies, solutions with presenters.

SESSION DESCRIPTION

Community and Affordability: Innovations in the Community Housing Movement

Location: Tivoli 640 (Zenith)

Theme: Innovation in pursuit of Affordability

Sarah Wells

Community and Affordability: Innovations in the Community Housing Movement

While the cost of traditional cohousing can be out of reach for many folks, housing organizers and developers are coming together to reimagine and embrace forms of community housing that allow for everyday interaction while also preserving affordability. As we seek to become a more inclusive movement, affordability is a top strategy for achieving all kinds of diversity. This session will showcase different types of shared housing models, explore adaptive re-use as a community housing strategy, educate about opportunities and workarounds in building and zoning codes, and identify opportunities in the current market for acquiring and developing property for community use. Join us in thinking outside the box to create more inclusive and affordable spaces for all!

SESSION DESCRIPTION

Starting an “Aging in Community” Conversation

Location: Tivoli 320A

Theme: Intergenerational connection & aging in community

Dyan Wiley

Lew Bowers

Starting an 'Aging in Community' Conversation

Hear how ‘aging’ discussions are happening and aging groups are forming from members of senior and multi-generational communities, conversations that connect members with each other to learn and share about aging and our changing bodies and minds and how we can age well together. Consider the fact that everyone is aging – even parents raising children. Conversations about aging well in community benefits everyone. We’ll hear about ‘mortality conversation starters,’ lectures by local resources people, book club groups, and skills building sessions undertaken by some groups. Get connected to resources such as “Death Over Dinner” and “Death Cafes.” We’ll consider the impact of ‘ageism’ on perceptions and beliefs we hold and that hold us back!

This workshop will be facilitated by members of the CohoUS Seniors in Cohousing Committee with guest panelists from senior and multi-generational communities.

SESSION DESCRIPTION

A Study of Cohousing Communities and Forming-Groups in the United States: Overview of the First Two Phases of the Cohousing Research Network’s Five-Year Annual Survey

Location: King Center 206

Theme: Cohousing Research

Heidi Berggren

A Study of Cohousing Communities and Forming Groups in the US

Come find out about approaches to community decision-making, the built and social environments, sustainability, and affordability as planned, developed, put into practice, experienced, and reflected upon by cohousers and members of cohousing groups across the country. We will take a bird’s eye view of these topics and more—in some cases taking a deeper dive—as shaped by analysis of survey data, both quantitative and qualitative. The data come from the first two years of the Cohousing Research Network’s (CRN) ongoing panel survey, which surveys the same residents and group members at yearly intervals for five years. A new venture in cohousing research in the U.S., a key goal of this panel design is to provide the statistical control important for supporting causal claims about cohousing. The session consists of a presentation, with Q and A at several points throughout. Finally, you can let us know what research questions you have, and we will do our best to include a small number of new items in the year-three survey!

SESSION DESCRIPTION

Theme: Group Process

One Cultural Lens to Community

Location: Tivoli 440 (Adirondacks)

Theme: Designing and fostering spaces of belonging

Hoiyee Cheung

One Cultural Lens to Community

Share the conscious and unconscious ideas of culture and how we see people. In this presentation we will explore one culture 'Cantonese Chinese' in how we see the world and understand community through words, characters and pictograms.

SESSION DESCRIPTION

Session 4: 3:30pm - 5:00pm

Are you ready to be in a relationship? Cohousers & Developers

Location: Tivoli 320B

Theme: Cohousing Development

Danny Milman

Are you ready to be in a relationship? Cohousers & Developers

You’ve had plenty of potlucks, formed an LLC and even bought a piece of land. All that’s left is the design, getting a construction loan, building it and maybe a few details along the way. What could go wrong? Working with a developer in some capacity could smooth the way to moving into your community.

This session will look at:

  • Why would you want a developer aka What developers bring to the table
  • How to be ready for working with a developer
  • What cohousers bring to the table aka
  • Why a developer would want cohousers
  • Different models for the relationship
  • Classic pitfalls
SESSION DESCRIPTION

Best Practices for Cohousing Development

Location: Tivoli 320C

Theme: Environmental Sustainability

Marty Maskall

Best Practices for Cohousing Development

We will have a panel of 3-4 people who will describe the development of their communities and respond questions from the audience. We will compare the Do It Yourself approach with getting extensive Consultant Guidance.

SESSION DESCRIPTION

Experiments from sociocracy for any community

Location: King Center 210

Theme: Group Process

Ted Rau

Experiments from sociocracy for any community

Some communities aren’t up for big governance changes - but little experiments might tweak and improve things anyway. In this session, we will play with four practical skills inspired by patterns from sociocracy that make life easier in any governance system: (1) different types of rounds, (2) an agenda-planning tool for more focused meetings, (3) simple ways to get to a yes when someone disagrees, and (4) patterns to build trust and move projects forward.

SESSION DESCRIPTION

Case Studies of Inclusive Cohousing and Cohousing-like Communities

Location: Tivoli 444 (Lorraine Good)

Theme: Diversity, equity and justice in cohousing

Kristen Uitto

Kristin Hyser

Crystal Launder

Case Studies of Inclusive Cohousing and Cohousing-like Communities

This session will present several case studies of inclusive cohousing and cohousing-like communities. Attendees will see examples of cohousing principles successfully applied to other models of housing, including affordable public housing and a mobile home park conversion, to support differently-abled persons or persons of lower income.

SESSION DESCRIPTION

Mechanisms for Creating Affordability

Location: Tivoli 640 (Zenith)

Theme: Innovation in pursuit of Affordability

Bryan Bowen

Katie McCamant

Jim Leach

Mechanisms for Creating Affordability

Affordability is a critical topic for cohousing communities around the country. Making their projects accessibility to people with diverse economic backgrounds is a widely held value in the communities we work with. This session will illustrate known approaches to creating affordability in actual completed communities and review case studies of successful cohousing and cohousing-like projects. The presenters speak from real experience over many projects and decades of what it takes to succeed in creating more affordable cohousing options.

SESSION DESCRIPTION

Natural After-Death Care in an Urban Community 

Location: Tivoli 320A

Theme: Intergenerational connection & aging in community

Rahima Baldwin Dancy

Henry Kroll

Natural After-Death Care in an UrbanCommunity

There are many options after someone dies in community, depending primarily on the wishes of the family. Learn about reclaiming the practice of "caring for our own" after death and how the Silver Sage community rallied around Henry when his wife, Jean, died from Alzheimer's. He chose to have her "lie-in-honor" in the Common House for three days while "Sagers" and friends from the larger community visited and shared stories, concluding with a funeral attended by many friends from their church.

WORKING OUTLINE:

What we did at Silver Sage to honor Henry’s wife, Jean, after her death (35 mins):

  • Many options today (natural or conventional burial, water or fire cremation, body composting), but this can be done BEFORE any of those.
  • Henry’s desire: as one immediate option to bring together family, friends and community
  • Photo story (projector) of Jean “lying in honor” for three days in the Meditation Room at Silver Sage
  • Henry’s experience during the 3-day vigil in the Common House, ending with the funeral led by their Unitarian minister. Connected many friends in Boulder with Silver Sage.
  • How did we get the community on board? Showed an educational video, painted the casket together, sent a detailed explanation with freedom to participate or not. Reclaiming “Caring for Our Own” in our culture (40 Mins):
  • Historical roots: “in the parlor,” Civil War brought embalming, now not required.
  • What it entails: show 27 minute video “The Art of Natural Death Care"

Questions and sharing what other communities have done (15 mins)

SESSION DESCRIPTION

Post Occupancy Evaluation Hits and Misses (45 min) & Analysis of health, safety and social cohesion strategies in cohousing communities during the pandemic (45 min)

Location: King Center 203

Theme: Cohousing Research

Jane Nichols

LaDona Knigge

Cohousing Research

With Jane Nichols and LaDona Knigge

SESSION DESCRIPTION

Translating Cohousing Lessons from Abroad

Location: King Center 206

Theme: Building a Movement

Kyle Barker

Translating Cohousing Lessons from Abroad

The internet is full of compelling collective housing projects from around the world. With inflation, a lack of government subsidies, and exclusionary zoning those visions can feel out of reach. What, if anything, can we learn from those projects? What lessons may be relevant to the US context?

This session will walk participants through progressive collective housing models from Europe & Australia that the presenter toured in 2022 & 2023. It will distill their lessons into fifteen actionable principles for: promoting community, honoring resources, decreasing cost, & reducing maintenance in ground-up cohousing communities.

This session is appropriate for: ground-up cohousing communities in formation, architects & designers, and developers.

SESSION DESCRIPTION

At the Forefront: Cohousing, Mental Health, and Disability

Location: Tivoli 440 (Adirondacks)

Theme: Designing and fostering spaces of belonging

Mathilde Berthe

Rajesh Voddiraju

Don Reinhardt

Lisa Thomas

At the Forefront: Cohousing, Mental Health, and Disability

This panel session will share three different approaches to creating cohousing communities with special attention to mental health and disability. Lessons learned will be shared from three communities: Hope Family Village (design stage), Specially-Abled Cohousing (design stage), and Louisville Cohousing (forming stage). The session will explore issues including integration vs affinity group, non-profit partnerships, and design implications. The panel will offer perspectives on these challenges and opportunities from the diverse roles of burning soul, non-profit partner, development consultant, and cohousing architect.

SESSION DESCRIPTION

3:30 – 5:00pm BIPOC Caucus

Location: Tivoli 442 (John Good)

This is a space for BIPOC individuals only.A facilitated dialogue around the experience of BIPOC individuals in the communities movement. 

Grace Kim

BIPOC Caucus

This session is only intended for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. We will be discussing our experiences living in a community that is majority white. This will be an opportunity for BIPOC individuals to connect and develop relationships with others who have shared experiences. Share strategies for coping. Discuss ways to incorporate anti-racist practices into cohousing.

We will co-create the agenda for our time together.

To our White allies – we appreciate y’all...AND ask that you respect our need to have this one space/time to center ourselves during this conference.

SESSION DESCRIPTION

Evening Plenary: 5.30pm - 10:00pm

Reception: 5:30pm – 6:30pm
Dinner: 6:30pm

Join us for an inspiring evening plenary featuring speakers, live music, and celebration. The night includes a reception, dinner, and dancing, with plenty of time to connect with others. Enjoy an evening of meaningful conversation and fun.