Once you've done some reading about cohousing and decided it may be for you, you're going to want to find like-minded folk to help make it happen. As this site develops, we'll offer more materials here for your use - particularly on the thorny aspects of explaining to officialdom what cohousing is and why they might like it.

For now, let's think about getting started on the road from 'I think cohousing's a great idea' to 'I'm moving in!' This is a long process, as you will have picked up if you've read the how-to summaries. You'll develop a lot of skills along the way. This page has a few links to help you on the path to getting them.

Meetings, meetings, meetings

Inevitably, cohousing development involves meetings. A lot of them. The first task for you as a cohousing pioneer in your area may be to set up the very first one: an open meeting, aimed at getting as many people involved as possible, and getting the cohousing idea out there. But where to start? Luckily, the lovely people at Seeds for Change have developed a set of excellent documents to set you on the path. These include guides on:

• Organising successful meetings - that includes what you might want to think about when it comes to publicising the meeting.
• Tools for meetings to help them go as smoothly as possible, and make sure you get some action points out of them.
• Facilitating meetings: for whoever will be in charge of keeping things moving smoothly along.
• Consensus decision-making: this may not be necessary for the first meeting, but as you progress you will need to think about how decisions are made in a large group. These are some tried and tested tools, though of course it's up to you to decide when voting or diktat is more appropriate than consensus! (Note: the Community Project also have a document on consensus decision-making that's well worth a read.)

Once you're past the first meeting, there will need to be plans made. For action and business planning, we'd point you towards the excellent resources at Voluntary Action Sheffield. These guides will really help you think through the project planning aspects of what you need to do.

This US document on membership and outreach for cohousing has some good ideas on keeping the process going - well worth a look.

But what to say at the meeting?

Well, here's a task for you: using the material on this site, and the websites we link to, put together a brief introduction to cohousing: maybe just one side of A4 that can go on people's chairs at a meeting, and be stuffed in the envelope when you're writing to local councillors and planners.

If and when you have a public meeting date, do let us know and we'll stick it in the news column of this site. If you think your group is a goer, contact us with a brief description and we'll give you a spot in the developing groups directory. That way, you'll be on the map and new-comers can contact you.

Aside from this, we can't really offer you a clear timeline. Each project will be different. But, working with the documents above, come up with a plan that works for you and the people you have gathered for the project. One thing we would say: your group will, in all likelihood, develop a core group who do most of the work, and a periphery who may do less, but will still be wanting to buy in when your wonderful plans come together. Plan for this, don't resent people for it - and most important of all, don't burn out.

Any questions along the way, get in touch.