A thriving community is one that facilitates the flourishing of each individual and of the collective. More specifically, this means that the coliving space, the events, the interactions, the food etc., are all geared towards nurturing the highest potential in each human as an individual and in the community as a whole. A thriving community is one in which every resident is able (and encouraged) to share their gifts with others.

Taking a pro-environmental approach (defined as taking actions to promote a sustainable environment) to coliving plays a big role in enabling this kind of thriving. This is because inherent in self flourishing is a realisation that we are all connected – not only with each other as humans, but also with nature and the environment that surrounds us.

We are nature – fully embedded in the world around us, consuming it through our food and water. We are connected to its changes and cycles. In every inhalation of air, we breathe in the world. Once we realise (or rather, remember) this, we can understand how important it is to take care of our environment. Indeed, it is our source of life and is inseparable from us.

That said, coliving operations can integrate sustainability measures to support the flourishing of their communities and environment through a variety of ways. In this article, we discuss three ways which particularly inspire us:

1. Community asset mapping
2. Community gardens
3. Impact strategies and frameworks

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1. Pooling Resources Through Community Asset Mapping

A key component of a thriving community is the natural exchange of skills, talents and resources. This can
be facilitated through “Asset Mapping”, which the Permaculture Action Network defines as “a strength- based approach to community development”.

An asset map is an interactive document or graphic which enables community members to easily see the skills, resources, gifts and needs within the community, empowering them to find connections and synergies. There are many ways to represent an asset map.

It can be physical (e.g. a board with sticky notes in a common area) or digital (e.g. a shared document or a part of a coliving app). What is important is that it is accessible, interactive and ‘alive’, which means actively engaging the community in this practice.

Asset mapping is closely tied with the success of sustainable/regenerative communities. Firstly it lowers consumption and waste because it encourages people to share. Instead of automatically going to a shop or buying something online, residents can often have their needs met with resources already available within the community.

Secondly, and on a more fundamental level, the experience of exchanging gifts and skills to meet others’ needs is a powerful way of feeling more aligned with our sense of purpose. For most people, alignment with purpose simply means being able to consistently help others via our natural gifts, passions and learned skills. When on this path, we typically feel more inner peace and fulfillment. This in turn can free up lots of emotional and mental space and energy, and remind us that we are connected to something bigger than ourselves. This larger-than-self thinking naturally and easily may extend to the environment, with practices such as communal gardening.

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2. Community Grows if You Give It a... Garden!

Our desire to connect with nature has only grown during the restrictions of the last year and a half. A community garden offers coliving residents and members of the wider community a way to connect with each other, enjoy the restorative benefits of nature and care for the environment.

The sustainability effects/benefits of having a communal garden are numerous. The food grown will have a much lower environmental impact than food from a supermarket. It has not been transported long distances, or grown using artificial light or heating. You can choose to forgo harmful pesticides. It is also likely to reduce food waste, as residents can harvest what they need rather than be forced to buy in bulk. Any activity residents engage in at home potentially replaces an activity that occurs off-site, which may reduce travel emissions. The practice of growing food also helps residents to become more aware of where their food comes from, which can inform the other food choices that they make.

Communal gardens also enhance wellbeing. Gardening may serve as a meditative activity, and enables residents to physically engage with nature. It may also offer space for residents to engage with each other in a natural and relaxed way.

Opening up the garden to the local community also facilitates wider engagement and connection, while spreading the benefits of growing food to a wider circle of people.

One example of a coliving space with a communal garden is Urban Campus in Madrid. Residents there started a project to grow plants with aeroponic and hydroponic techniques in common areas. Residents took the lead in learning the basics of plant-caring and are able to enjoy the home-grown veggies and herbs in community dinners.

Another example of a communal garden can be seen in the cohousing community, LILAC. They have shared gardens and allotments throughout the development, which are even open to the public. Not only do they support wildlife habitat and biodiversity, but they also enrich their local neighbourhood through the sharing of their natural capital.

How to start your own communal garden? Involve your community from the get-go. By empowering them, you engage them. Don’t be afraid to use some creativity to excite people. Greenpop and Gardening Know How offer excellent short guides on how to get a community garden started. IKEA’s Home of Tomorrow is another great reference. This project teaches people how to live with full respect for nature; showing how best to grow plants, insects and fungi in a sustainable manner.

If you don’t have access to outdoor space, are there any local gardening initiatives that your community could become involved with? Or is there perhaps some unused public space which your community could help revitalise? Urban gardening provides a comprehensive and practical guide on creating urban gardens and involving volunteers and other stakeholders.

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3. Strategise Your Social and Environmental Impact

A flourishing coliving community often goes hand in hand with pro-environmental outcomes, as sharing spaces, objects and resources naturally occurs. Yet, if we take a strategic approach and use joined- up thinking, our positive impact – upon both the community and the environment – can become so much more powerful. This is why we always recommend having an impact strategy, which is a plan for creating positive changes (social, environmental,economic or otherwise), and measuring its success. As seven out of ten people identify climate change as “a very, or extremely serious problem”, it is highly likely that your residents care about this issue and will appreciate knowing that you care about it too. The first stage we recommend in developing an impact strategy is listening. What can you learn by starting a conversation about sustainability with your residents? Even better, what can you learn by asking the same questions to the local community?

Having this conversation as part of a wider conversation about the community’s needs, will show your community that you are responsive to them. Your impact strategy can be informed by what inspires residents and local stakeholders, which in turn will create a more engaged and thriving community.

Once you have listened to your community, you can take those learnings and incorporate them into your own desired outcomes. What positive social and environmental impacts are you aiming for? Then, it is a case of working backwards and putting a series of steps in place to achieve those goals. Finally, it is important to measure what you have done. Not only does measurement allow you to assess and improve upon your strategy, but it also enables you to communicate your positive impacts with your residents, local community, municipality and potential or existing investors. This is another way to create engagement, by showing your residents and local community that they are part of something positive and inspiring.

At Conscious Coliving, we want to enable the coliving sector to further embed impact and shout about its successes. We are currently developing an open- source Coliving Impact Framework to encourage coliving operators to set targets, measure and celebrate their positive impacts.

Authentic community and environmental sustainability in coliving are intertwined. At their nexus is the sharing of resources in a way that fulfills the needs of the community, as well as community members’ highest sense of purpose in a way that supports the planet: now that is what we call thriving!

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