Great cohousing and intentional community books, as well as a links to other fantastic resources and webinars.
Blueberry Commons Oct 2024 Webinar
Ron Berezan, permaculture expert and founder of Blueberry Commons Farm Cooperative, discusses how their vibrant, award-winning organic farm is building a cohousing community in Powell River!
Everything you need to know to achieve your dream of living in community, all in one book!
A “how to guide” that summarizes a proven approach. If founding members and their professionals follow the experience-based path we outline, they can learn how to be effective in a development context where time is money but collaboration, self-responsibility, and community connection are equally important.
Canadian Cohousing Conference 2018
Highlights from the 2018 Canadian Cohousing Conference.
Vivre ensemble | 800 000 voisins
Cohousing Communities: Design for High-Functioning Neighborhoods
by Charles Durrett
Explore a groundbreaking and holistic new approach to designing community-first neighborhoods
In Cohousing Communities: Design for High-Functioning Neighborhoods, distinguished architect and affordable housing advocate Charles Durrett delivers a complete, start-to-finish guide for designing anything where the emphasis lies with the community. This book describes the consequential role that architecture and a healthy design process can play in the success of neighborhoods, churches, towns, and more. It’s an inspiring collection of ideas that prioritize high-functioning neighborhoods.
In the book, the author draws on the success of hundreds of community-first projects to show readers how to design a project that addresses both timeless and modern challenges—from aging to climate change and racism—in its architecture and urban design. He compiles facts and concepts that are essential to the design of a high-functioning community, where people can participate in a way that reflects their values, improves their social connections, and retain their autonomy and privacy.
Building Community with Cohousing
film makers Dany Gagnon and Regan Payne
In Building Community with Cohousing, film makers Dany Gagnon and Regan Payne interview cohousing residents from WindSong Cohousing Community (completed 1996), Cranberry Commons Cohousing (completed 2001) and Roberts Creek Cohousing (completed 2005). This video is entertaining, informative, heart-warming and inspiring. It provides a general overview of the concept and can be used to help educate the general public, developers, planners, and people interested in joining a completed or forming cohousing community. The video was produced by the Canadian Cohousing Network, funded by the membership of cohousing communities in Canada.
Creating Cohousing: Building Sustainable Communities
by Kathryn McCamant and Charles Durrett
Introducing the new cohousing “bible” with many new North American case studies, design principles and sustainable design practices. With over 120 cohousing communities now in existence in North America, Katie McCamant and Chuck Durrett bring us a totally updated “must-have” book for anyone interested in creating more people-friendly neighborhoods. The new book is a fully-illustrated manual that combines nuts-and-bolts practical considerations, design ideas and real life examples – all of which are illustrated with extensive case studies of diverse communities in Europe and North America. Creating Cohousing draws on the author’s wealth of experience designing, developing and living in these cutting-edge neighborhoods, with chapters on cohousing and sustainable design principles, and illustrates how cohousing offers a uniquely rewarding type of housing for anyone who values their independence but longs for more connection with those around them.
The Cohousing Handbook: Building a Place for Community
by Chris ScottHanson & Kelly ScottHanson
As pioneers in the development of cohousing in North America, Chris and Kelly ScottHanson offer individuals and new groups a wealth of information and practical hints on how the process works. The Cohousing Handbook covers every element that goes into the creation of a cohousing project, including group processes, land acquisition, finance and budgets, construction, development professionals, design considerations, permits, approvals and membership.
Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities
by Diana Leafe Christian
This book provides step-by-step practical information on how to establish an intentional community. It deals in depth with structural, interpersonal and leadership issues, decision-making methods, vision statements, and the development of a legal structure, as well as profiling well-established model communities.
Il n’est plus possible d’ignorer le changement majeur qui s’opère dans les consciences et dans le regard que les humains portent sur eux-mêmes, et sur leur mode de vie destructeur. Aujourd’hui, un nombre croissant de personnes cherchent un moyen de vivre en harmonie avec leurs valeurs et avec la nature. En plus des populaires coopératives d’habitation, saviez-vous qu’il y a un nombre croissant de projets d’écovillage ? Mais… par où commencer ? Démarrer un projet de vie en commun n’est pas simple et la majorité des tentatives échouent. Les francophones ont longtemps attendu ce premier guide pour vivre autrement. Avec ce livre, référence incontournable sur le sujet en français, vous ne partez pas les mains vides ; comme le dit Jacques Languirand en préface : « si vous avez vraiment le goût de Vivre autrement, vous avez entre les mains le livre qu’il vous faut […] sa lecture devrait vous permettre d’envisager une telle entreprise avec de meilleurs outils et plus de confiance. »
House A Home
by Susan McFee
Over the past 12 years of living at WindSong and going to Evan’s school and activities, I’ve often found that there was no simple way to explain cohousing without showing people around WindSong. That is where this idea for the first children’s book about cohousing came from. In it we playfully ask the question “What makes a house into a home?” and through Marjorie’s fantasy and reality styled artwork we find that cohousing can lead to the answer. To order please contact susanmcfee2020@gmail.com
The Senior Cohousing Handbook
2009 Edition
by Charles Durrett
Excerpt from this new edition (available in May 2009):
Currently, seniors represent a record 12.4 percent of the American population, which, with the swell of post-WWII baby boomers entering seniorhood, will increase to 20 percent by the year 2030. Clearly, action must be taken, and quickly, to correct these household and community shortcomings. But what can be done, and by whom? How can we better house ourselves as we age? I believe that the answer lies in senior cohousing communities.
Having visited many of these communities, I’m now a firm believer that 20 seniors stranded on a desert island would do better at taking care of most of their basic needs than the same 20 left isolated or in an institution.
— Charles Durrett
Living Together: Cohousing Ideas and Realities Around the World
by Dick Urban Vestbro
Edited by Professor Dick Urban Vestbro, this book is based on the first International Conference on Collaborative Housing, which took place in Stockholm, Sweden in May 2010. The book contains 11 plenary papers, three specially written papers and elaborate reports from the 16 conference workshops. It includes examples from Europe, North America, Australia, Japan and other countries. With its 234 pages and 180 illustrations it is an excellent resource for researchers, housing companies, politicians, activists and non-government organizations.
CoHousing Cultures: Handbook for Self-Organized, Community-Oriented and Sustainable Housing
by Michael La Fond
This handbook presents a selection of the most significant integrative, autonomously organized housing projects in Europe today, from barrier-free renovations of old buildings in Berlin, to communal living for the elderly in Stockholm, to zero-emissions cooperatives in Vienna. CoHousing Cultures also includes in-depth discussions and photographs of all relevant projects.
Info: Recorded June 18, 2025
This webinar explores the innovative approach to neurodivergent inclusive cohousing that fosters independent living and strengthens community ties. Offering a detailed look at the potential for neurodivergent communities across North America. Through an examination of Iceland’s most successful and flourishing community as an innovative model, Charles Durrett, AIA highlights opportunities to promote inclusion, neuro-typical integration, and sustainable living through neurodivergent cohousing efforts.
This webinar is based on the book One Life, Live It! now in its second edition titled Neuro-Inclusive Community Design by Charles Durrett, AIA
This book is an inspiring exploration of Sólheimar Ecovillage in Iceland, a pioneering community that embodies sustainability, social responsibility, and inclusivity.
Cohousing expert Charles Durrett delves into the unique aspects of this ecovillage of about 100 residents, 45 of whom include those with developmental and intellectual disabilities, who live and thrive alongside neighbors in a safe and enriching environment. Through rich storytelling and detailed first-person accounts, the book highlights the importance of creating communities that celebrate and support neurodiversity. Durrett presents Sólheimar as a model for how we can build neuro-inclusive spaces that respect and uplift every individual’s potential, fostering a sense of belonging and purpose. The book offers practical insights into the design, the principles, and the practices that make Sólheimar a standout community for inclusive living. It challenges readers to rethink conventional approaches, advocating for environments where all people, regardless of their cognitive differences, can live meaningful and fulfilling lives. Durrett also presents case studies of four other neuro-inclusive communities, including Hertha Levefallesskab, WeBUILT (We Build Unique Independent Lives Together), Creative Living Community of CT, and L’Arche International Movement. With its focus on real-world solutions and its call to action, this book is both a guide and an inspiration for anyone interested in the intersection of sustainability, community living, and neuro-inclusivity.
See more information on https://www.cohousingco.com/
For nearly 40 years, Charles has been exploring how combining design and community can help us live more sustainably, affordably, and connected to one another.
On this podcast, we explore the simple fact that better neighborhoods create better lives, a better future, a more viable society, and ultimately a healthier planet. Looking at cohousing from many angles: from the big ideas behind community living to the practical details of how these neighborhoods actually come together. Charles will be joined by guests from across the cohousing world: residents, organizers, architects, developers, and others helping shape community-oriented housing today. Join us as we dive into the history of cohousing and the legacy of village living, and what we can learn from those traditions as we design places for the future.