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Concorde Cohousing Newsletter

Dear, <<First Name>>.

And hello yet again! I'm sorry, but the Eventbrite registration link that was attached to the poster is wrong.
The correct link is HERE.

take care,
Jake Morrison for
Concorde Cohousing
e. info@ConcordeCohousing.ca
w. ConcordeCohousing.ca

October - November Events

Our next information session is:
November 4th, 2020, 7-9 pm - via Zoom

(Click poster image to register on Eventbrite)

REPLAY: September 2020 Information Session and Speaker Series with Anthony Leaning: Passive House
For those who missed it, we are doing a replay of the information session and Anthony Leaning's presentation on Monday, Oct 26, 7-9 pm. Please contact info@concordecohousing.ca if you wish to join us.

Our next business meeting is:
November 12th, 2020, 7 pm - via Zoom

Our next social is:
November 27th, 6 pm - NVC Virtual Dinner

Our next study meetings are:
November 13th, 7 - 9 pm - Private - NVC Training
We have finished an introduction to Non-violent Communication and are committed to furthering our practice.

November 7, 2-4 pm, Design Charrette #3
We are doing a paper study on the possible use of an existing building complex for cohousing. This will be the third session of the third phase of the study, The Design Charrette, where we attempt to fit what we want and need in our community into existing structures and land.

Serious prospective members are welcome to join us at
business meetings and private events.
RSVP if you would like to come.
Contact us at info@concordecohousing.ca if you'd like to attend any of these or would like any other information.

Internal Meetings
Communications, Membership, Outreach & Process (CMOP); Legal / Finance and Site Search – These meetings are open to those on the membership track. If you have a suggestion for one of these specific groups,
please get in touch!

Expert Corner

URBAN COHOUSING CASE STUDIES by Caddis PC

We often hear people wondering whether cohousing can work in an urban setting. The most famous examples all seem to be rural or sub-urban, where land is more affordable and experimenting is (slightly) easier. Here, architecture, urban design, and planning firm Caddis Collaborative shares inspiring details and photos from 8 urban cohousing groups, including North Van and Nashville!

Introducing ...

Jennifer Craven

Jennifer is a member of Concorde Cohousing.

Jennifer is a graduate of Carleton’s M.A. program in English Literature. Prior to that, she spent several years traveling to various cities and teaching English as a second language. Some of the places she has lived are Vancouver, Japan, Hong Kong, and Australia.

Much of her time away was spent living in hostels and rental rooms. She also currently shares a house with friends, so she has plenty of experience in co-living situations. She is interested in sustainable living and building stronger communities, and she sees cohousing as a strategy for achieving both.

Jennifer currently works as a receptionist in an optometrist’s office. Some of her favourite things to do are watching movies, taking long walks, and reading stories to other people’s kids.

Blog Entry of Note

Our member, Val Thacker-Smith, has written a blog entry on the medieval cohousing from in China, the Tolou,
a true village in a building (and cannon-proof!).

Concorde doings:

September 2020 Information Session with Speaker Series by Anthony Leaning: Passive House

On Sept 29 Concorde Cohousing held an information session with speaker Anthony Leaning of CSV Architects. Anthony talked briefly about the journey of Terra Firma Cohousing of which he is a co-founder. After extensive searching Terra Firma was formed with the purchase of two 3-door row houses. Six families moved in in 1997 and took down the fences for a large common yard. In 2004 they added a 7th unit and a Common House as an infill project.

(For a description of Terra Firma in Ottawa Life Magazine see Creating a Community: Cohousing at Terra Firma)

Anthony also did an excellent presentation on Passive House. This is one of the energy-efficient standards Concorde Cohousing is hoping to consider for our building down the road. One of our members is renting a unit in a passive house building to learn firsthand the qualities and the issues of this built form.

For those who missed it, we are doing a replay of the information session and Anthony Leaning's presentation on Monday, Oct 26, 7-9 pm. Please contact info@concordecohousing.ca if you wish to join us.

This was our second Cohousing Information Session using Zoom. We feel we are getting better at doing it this way but we miss meeting people in person! Please let us know your experience of the session so that we can improve.

The Prototype Study

We have been pursuing a paper exercise to see if we can envisage an existing property becoming a cohousing project. The advantages over a new-built project might be lower cost and quicker move-in (we'll see). The main disadvantage is that you have to deal with what already exists and the accessibility that we are committed to can be a difficult and expensive retrofit.