Land Sharing - Earth Haven

Could Land-Sharing be the answer for aspiring homeowners and those wishing to get away from the rat-race of cities?

What is an intentional community?

An intentional community is a planned residential community characterised by a substantial degree of social connection and working together. The residents of an intentional community typically possess similar desires regarding lifestyle, environment, and community.

Community Types

Intentional communities come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, only limited by the imagination of the people who start them. Each intentional community has unique qualities and its own unique set of circumstances and people. One of the great things about intentional communities is that they can be whatever the people who start them and live in them collectively decide. Here is a brief overview video of some of the most common types:

Many communities have self-identified as one or more of these types. While we can’t guarantee that each community is being sorted accurately, we hope this can help you and communities to find matches for like-minded visitors and members.

Ecovillages – Displays communities with the words ‘ecovillage’ or ‘eco-village’ in their listing. Ecovillages are generally communities with a strong ecological focus.
Cohousing – Displays communities with the words ‘cohousing’ or ‘co-housing’ in their listing which also indicated that they use the cohousing model. Cohousing communities generally incorporate both private homes and shared common facilities and support neighborly connections.
Communes – Displays communities which indicated that they are 100% income sharing.
Student Co-ops – Displays communities with the words ‘co-op’ or ‘coop’ in their listing. Co-ops are cooperative, generally expense sharing, often urban, shared housing communities. Many of those listed are focused on college students.
Jewish Communities – Displays communities that identify as spiritual or religious in nature and have Judaism as their religion.
Christian Communities – Displays communities with the words ‘Christian’ in their listing.

The Rural Land Share as a model (previously called Multiple Occupancy)

Rural Land Sharing – The Original Way of Living.
Rural land sharing provides for the efficient, sustainable and social use of rural land, important in developing ‘community’ living opportunities for like and lifestyle minded residents. Rural land sharing communities provide multiple occupancies entered into as a group collective, while maintaining master allotments as a ‘single title’ to avoid dissection of land parcels. In the midst of exponentially increasing housing cost,

Rural Land Share has been earmarked as an important, sustainable and cost-effective housing option throughout Australia. This housing typology thrives in desirable and otherwise expensive locations, in particular when it is co-located and close to scenic, ecological, cultural and natural features and landscapes, such as national parks, mountain ranges, cultural landmarks, waterfalls, valleys and the like. Many of the eco communities offer this exact combination of natural landscape, cultural and environmental features.
The vision for many rural land sharing community is one of an ecologically intuitive, co-operative, organically minded and socially interactive shared living community; these vision objectives in fact become the ECO’S of these communities.

Rural land-sharing provides for the efficient, sustainable, and social use of rural land, important in developing ‘community’ living opportunities for like and lifestyle minded residents. Rural land sharing communities provide multiple occupancies entered into as a group collective while maintaining master allotments as a ‘single title’ to avoid dissection of land parcels. In the midst of exponentially increasing housing cost, Rural Land Share has been earmarked as an important, sustainable, and cost-effective housing option throughout many parts of Australia. This housing typology thrives in desirable and otherwise expensive locations, in particular when it is co-located and close to scenic, ecological, cultural, and natural features and landscapes, such as national parks, mountain ranges, cultural landmarks, waterfalls, valleys, and the like.

Note: Rural Land Share Communities are made permissible with consent by the State Environmental Planning Policy (Rural Lands) 2008. Current legislation facilitates assessment at the Local Council level with determination at either the Local Council or a Regional Panel level. They are a State Government led and backed land-use for Rural lands which allow multiple owners and dwellings (previously called Multiple Occupancy) on single lots.

The Collective Stewardship Model

Collective Stewardship is the pro-active and collaborative engagement for sustainability transformations by many complementary actors. Together, they foster transformation networks, mutually supportive strategies, and multiple pathways to enhance patterns of socio-ecological systems aliveness.

The Land Cooperative Model

A Land Cooperative is an arrangement wherein a group of people own land together and cooperatively manage its needs and resources. Sharing land, resources, & responsibilities lightens the load for all involved and offer a platform for intentional community living. A land cooperative cultivates diversity and strength through sharing of the group’s collective of experience, skills, knowledge, and insight. More is achieved, more efficiently, when a variety of people, filling different niches, come together to work in common purpose and a spirit of harmony. A Land Cooperative also makes land ownership more affordable, as the cost of shares are much less than purchasing individually titled land. Maintenance and building costs are also much lower, as these costs are shared by all of the members in the cooperative. Skills can be shared, bartered, or paid-for, within the cooperative. In this way, a Land Cooperative becomes more self-reliant, as people follow their own diverse passions.

What is the difference between a Land Cooperative and an Intentional Community?

There are many different ways of organizing an intentional community, and a Land Cooperative is one of them. A Land Cooperative may share an intentional focus, and usually does, however that focus can vary according to the consensus of the collective, and is not dictated by one individual or a centralized fixed ideal. This model offers the individual members shares of a cooperative/corporation, through which, they collectively own the land. In this way, the members are protected as individuals, and there is a clear delineation between personal and collective investments. This also allows members to create clear agreements about shared resources, responsibilities, land usage, living agreements, and profit-sharing, while guarding autonomy, privacy, and personal lifestyle choices.

The Village as a model

Exploring the nature of “community” from concept, through creation to cohabitation. How do they work, how can we improve them and how can we make them global.

The Village Matrix draws together people and communities who are re-imagining the future.

In a world demonstrating increasing disconnection disguised as connection, The Village Matrix invites communities of many shapes and forms to encourage and demonstrate genuine connection. The first step is to establish some shared basic information – informing others on the path to designing stronger communities that none of us are alone in seeking connection in a way that seeks also to preserve and protect the land, water, air, and thus our food, sustenance, and health.

The next step is by demonstration, gatherings of people dedicated to empowering their own lives and the lives of each other.

It is nothing new to seek community. Humankind has always sought social connection, yet in our industrialised era, individuation has been perverted, separating us into “nuclear families” with little genuine connection with those around us. This growing disconnection has been felt by many.

As we seek to shift direction, gatherings such as “Rainbow Gathering”, “Confest” and “The Village” provide opportunities for designing and experiencing samples of “community”, where the paradigm shifts from “me” to “we”.

As this shift occurs, the impetus is to “what can I contribute?” rather than “what can I take or get?” and the experience becomes a powerfully supportive environment rather than an insular solo journey where everyone is looking out for themselves (and perhaps their immediate family)

https://thevillagematrix.org/about/

Earth-Haven is looking for land to share with like-minded and land-partners who are interested in being a part of our ‘working’ display villages in Australia :)

We are currently working with a property in the Gold Coast Hinterland to build our first display village, as well as looking to partner / joint venture with others around Australia to help inspire people to take their sustainable living into their own hands and get out of the Matrix and Off The Grid into a new way of living as a part of a small community of folks with the same desires.

We also have our sights on a few blocks in the Canungra area of Queensland.

We are currently looking at 137 acres to develop Australias first living display village, open to the public, that is everything eco you would want to know about and see in one location.

Note: 1 hectare = 2.47 acres

Anyone in this area that has land or the Maleny, Sunshine Coast, and Natural Bridge areas please contact us to talk possibilities :)