Oak Cottage is a three bed, end of terrace, eco barn conversion in a co-housing community in a quiet rural setting about a mile from Gillingham, Dorset which has good rail connections to London, Salisbury and Exeter. Recently completed it is in excellent decorative order and very well insulated with energy and water saving features. This is a rare chance to rent a 3 bed cottage in the Threshold Centre Community.

A recent article titled "Huff as hard as you like - you can’t blow a straw house down" features LILAC's plans to build 20 homes built of straw, timber and lime in Leeds. See http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7130995.ece

CoHousing in Oxford and surround?

Meeting to explore and gather energy to possibly take action in and around Oxford. Please join us.

• Garden Room at Oxford Quaker Meeting House (http://www.oxfordquakers.org)
• Wednesday 23rd June 2010, 7-9pm.
• Hosted by Fiona Mullins and Fran Ryan.

• e: f...@peopleincharge.co.uk (click on 3 blue dots to get full email.)
• t: fran on 07889 209448
• Admission: £3 to cover room hire costs.

Read about their project on their page. Land is bought in Stoke Newington and project is barrelling along. Although currently closed to new members, they're keen to talk to others.

See below for two perspectives on the recent UK cohousing events. Were you there? If so, it would great to hear your comments - you can add them by clicking 'add new comment' at the bottom of the page, or clicking here. What worked, what didn't, what did you gain from the events?

Maria Brenton, Older Women's cohousing, London:

Creating Cohousing Together and other events - a shot in the arm for cohousing in the UK!

The series of conferences, workshops and seminars organised by the UK Cohousing Network in conjunction with Hanover Housing Group in the last week of April were a resounding success. Warm thanks go out to all who contributed to making it happen and all those who participated. Thanks are particularly due to Hanover and the Tudor Trust, whose financial backing was key to all the events.

Environment Minister, Hilary Benn, presented LILAC with the 'Best Emerging Social Enterprise Award' at a recent ceremony. www.thebusinessdesk.com.

A selected list ...

Voices of cohousing (2007, 37 minutes)
http://notsocrazy.net/cohousing.html
trailer at http://www.youtube.com/user/mlietaert

Designing a great neighborhood: behind the scenes at Holiday (2004, 54 mins)
Comprehensive look at process used by Wild Sage Cohousing with lots of
excellent examples.
http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/dagn.html

Cohousing in Madison (2009, 20 mins)
informative voice over of slide show by Lou Host-Jablonski
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8izHx9A1tk

... A great story to help get a feeligg of what cohousing is all about. The full Guardian story is here.

The conference will provide a forum for researchers, housing companies, politicians and activists to meet and discuss experiences of different models of collaborative living. The conference is intended to give an overview of current international praxis and knowledge and to strengthen existing international cooperation.

The last 20 years have seen a growing interest in cohousing and other alternative forms of living in Sweden as well as internationally. The search for a sense of community remains an important driving force behind demands for cohousing. During the last ten years new aspects have been added, such as housing for the “second half of life” and planning for more sustainable lifestyles.

Collaborative housing networks in a number of countries have taken an inte-rest in the Swedish cohousing model, which is characterized by a strong involve-ment by municipal housing companies and by political initiatives combined with efforts from independent non-government organizations. The fact that these com-panies offer rental housing means that cohousing is accessible also to single parents and retired people with limited incomes.

Against this background, the association Kollektivhus NU and the Division of Urban and Regional Studies of The Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) invite interested persons and organisations to an international conference on col-laborative housing, to take place in Stockholm 5-9 May 2010.

Venue & language

The conference will take place at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm. The conference language will be English (except for two work-shops, which will be carried out in Swedish).

Registration, conference fee

The conference fee is Eur 200 when registering before 1 March 2010. After that date the fee will be Eur 275. The conference fee includes access to keynote lectures and workshops, snacks in coffee breaks, lunches and a conference package. After the conference, additional study visits to cohousing units in West and South Sweden will be offered to interested participants. The dinner Saturday night and the study tours are to be paid separately. Find a registration form at http://www.kollektivhus.nu/eng/index.html. Recommendations for accommodation will be sent out upon registration.

Documentation

The conference will be documented in a report to be disseminated electronically. It will consist of keynote lectures and conclusions from workshops.

Address:

International Collaborative Housing Conference 2010, Div. of Urban & Regional Studies, the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), SE-10044 Stockholm, Sweden. Email: koll...@gmail.com (click 3 blue dots to get full email), telephone +46 706559483, or fera...@infra.kth.se, telephone +46 8 7908988

See attached leaflet below for full details of programme and speakers.