Ook in Rotterdam: Untold Stories of Community Living

The Untold Stories of Community Living is a series of conversations with members and builders of intentional living communities/wooncooperaties in the Netherlands, every Sunday in February.

The conversations are designed as spaces where curious minds can discover the core principles of communal living and the different realities that the term encompasses. We believe that personal stories and experiences are a powerful way to share knowledge. Co-living, settlements, flat-sharing communes, eco-villages, squats, collectives, housing cooperatives… So-called communal living is evermore popular – or evermore necessary. Although it comes in all shapes and sizes, communal living often challenges the mainstream individual way of life and offers fascinating housing alternatives. With the housing crisis running rampant and rental prices skyrocketing, a diversity of citizens in urban and rural areas are turning towards new and alternative forms of living together.

How is it to be part of a community? How are different communities organised? How do you build a community – physically as well as socially?

Whether you’ve never heard about this way of living before, whether you’re interested in building such a place yourself or whether you’re already living collectively, we welcome you to join the conversation! The aim of these conversations is to empower citizens to think critically about the current housing model, question their needs and desires and wonder if living in a community is something they’d like to contribute to or advocate for.

The project is developed together with and will be hosted by two Rotterdam-based collectives: The Space Coolhaven – a funky neighborhood house that strongly believes in the role of co-creation in fostering healthy, sustainable and livable neighborhoods – and CORPO Rotterdam – a community arts studio that facilitates people across artistic disciplines, social & cultural backgrounds, identities, physical & artistic abilities to learn, experiment and collaborate.

You can find more about the programme of the different days on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thespace_coolhaven/ or Facebook https://fb.me/e/3mk49YsyW.