Communities using sociocracy

[Francois Knuchel]

A message from Diana Leafe-Christian:

Hello,

            I specialize in teaching Sociocracy to intentional communities -  from ecovillages to cohousing, spiritual communities, secular communities, and so on. 

            Here's a list of some communities I currently know of who are currently using Sociocracy, or using just some aspects Sociocracy, or, a modified version of it.

            I assume there are more communities using it that I don't know about yet. If you know of some, please let us know.

             I'm doing an article series for Communities magazine about using Sociocracy in communities, which is also the basis of a booklet I'm writing about it.

            * Ängsbacka Ecovillage, Molsun, Sweden

            * Bergen Ecovillage, Bergen, The Netherlands

            * Econids Community, on the Atlantic coast of France

            * Les Choux Lents Cohousing, Lyon, France

            * Bridport, a forming cohousing community near Weymouth, England

            *  Some committees and organizations in and/or related to the Findhorn Foundation, Scotland, and in the wider community of friends and neighbors in the area.  For example, the New Findhorn Association and Moray CarShare use Sociocracy.

            * Aldeafeliz Ecovillage, in the mountains near Bogotá, Colombia

            * Baja BioSana Ecovillage, near La Paz, Mexico

            * Cohabitat Québec, Québec City, Canada

            * Champlain Valley Cohousing, Charlotte, Vermont, US

            * Katywil Community Farm, Colrain, Massachusetts, US  

            * Pioneer Valley Cohousing, Amherst, Massachusetts, US

            * Hart's Mill Ecovillage, a forming ecovillage near Chapel Hill, North Carolina US

            * Colombia Ecovillage, Portland, Oregon, US

            * Lost Valley Educational Center, Dexter, Oregon, US -- they use a modified version of it

            The following communities have taken workshops on Sociocracy, and/or some of their people have studied it, and/or these communities are considering maybe using it in the future:

            * Cranberry Commons Cohousing, Burnaby (Vancouver), BC, Canada

            * Belterra Cohousing, Bowen Island, BC, Canada

            * Windsong Cohousing, Langley, BC, Canada

            * East Village Cohousing, Burlington, Vermont, US

            * Belfast Cohousing, Belfast, Maine, US

            * Cornerstone Cohousing, Cambridge, Massachusetts, US

            * Cambridge Cohousing, Cambridge, Massachusetts, US

            * Jamaica Plain Cohousing, Boston, Massachusetts, US

            * Narara Ecovillage, Sydney, Australia

            At my own community, Earthaven Ecovillage near Asheville, North Carolina, US, some community members have taken one of two workshops I've done there. Now we use the following parts of Sociocracy.

                        * Sociocracy Elections for electing our annual officers.

                        * In our bimonthly business meetings, usually doing rounds instead of calling on people who raise their hands. Some committees are use rounds too. This was a cultural change; it wasn't officially decided. 

                        * Now committees can decide who joins their committees; people can't just volunteer anymore. A cultural change.

                        * The official steering committee uses the policy meeting (circle meeting) four-step format and uses rounds. 

                        * About 15 people (of 52 members ) are interested in switching to Sociocracy once we complete our legal and financial restructuring process. 

 

            If you know of any other intentional communities that use Sociocracy, please tell us. Thank you!

            Diana         Contact Diana

2 October 2014