Segundas e Quartas - 1/8/2022 a 7/12/2022 - 18h às 20h
INTERNATIONAL COHOUSING COURSE. WHY?
Brazil and the world are aging.
With the increase in life expectancy of the population, changes in family life models, and the dispersion of families, there is an increasing need for new ways of housing and living with quality of life in the post-maturity times.
Looking carefully and attentively at these opportunities and needs becomes both a necessity and an opportunity.
The aging society seeks housing solutions that take into account quality, security, identity, bonds, and meaning. Solutions must address isolation, encourage the conservation of integral health, and provide ways to live richer and more stimulating lives.
Among the solutions that appear on the world stage, especially in Europe and North America, is cohousing.
The concept of cohousing combines privacy within the individual homes with community at each doorstep. It is in this duality that its greatest strength resides. It is this combination of the privacy with which we are accustomed and the community that we yearn, that makes cohousing a most successful model of housing and life in the world. This success can be measured by the life expectancy of its residents.
Among the pillars of the Blue Zones concepts (longevity hotspots on the planet), what stands out the most, for a healthy longevity, is friendship and mutual support connections, a basic element of the cohousing communities.
In view of these facts, needs, and the potential market, Free Aging decided to bring a cohousing course to Brazil, with North American specialists experienced in the development, design and management of cohousing. Each of these specialists has lived in cohousing and is eager to share information about that as well.
The International Cohousing Course is aimed at all professionals who are somehow linked to housing creation processes for mature people, in addition to lay people who are actively planning a cohousing community or, interested in living in one.
We especially invite the following professionals: architects, urban planners, engineers, real estate developers, group facilitators (psychologists, gerontologists, sociologists, mediators, leaders, etc.),
The International Cohousing Course will be taught online, through the Zoom platform, in weekly classes. The language will be English, with sequential translation into Portuguese.
In aggregate, the teachers / instructors / facilitators leading this course have a diverse experience in the planning, creation, implementation and daily experience of cohousing, totaling more than a hundred years. This experience covers cohousing community created by the initiative of real estate developers, groups of stakeholders themselves and future resident / developer partnerships.
At a time when Brazilian society is undergoing such a change with the potential for healthy aging, it has become necessary to pay attention to new types of housing and life that meet their real needs and desires.
Getting ahead in relation to this issue, so that professionals can see solutions that transcend traditional housing concepts can make a big difference for their future and that of society.
The course's proposal is to bring to light the essential points that make cohousing an icon of good living, so that planners can take their own readings, develop their own solutions, to ultimately enable diverse projects, with several formats and models of professional - client (resident) interactions. Whether they are the initiative of real estate developers or they come from the initiative of groups interested in forming their own cohousing, or hybrid (mixed) models.
Free Aging sees, with satisfaction, responsibility, and commitment, its opportunity to create and bring this course to the Brazilian people. Their track record in this area has developed over time. Among its initiatives are the creation of the 1st Housing Forum for Longevity, in partnership with Secovi and Estadão (2008), lectures on cohousing, and international trips with those interested in the theme, participating in international cohousing symposia and visiting cohousing communities in the USA.
Registration is already open.
THE COURSE
A course taught by North American, Canadian and New Zealand cohousing experts and Brazilian professionals in NVC, sociocracy, and group decision making facilitators, land and legal matters experts, in order to cover the most relevant topics related to starting, developing and implementing a successful cohousing community. Classes will be aimed at architects, real estate developers, urban planners, mediators, gerontologists, psychologists, cohousing leaders and trainers, and people interested in creating and living in their cohousings.
Classes last 2 hours, twice a week, in the evening, on Mondays and Wednesdays, from 6 to 8pm, Brasilia time.
Classes will be taught through the Zoom platform, some in Portuguese and others in English, with simultaneous translation into Portuguese.
Some of the sessions will be expository, illustrated with images and cases, and some will be interactive, with questions, answers and discussions.
Dates
Mondays and Wednesdays - 6 to 8pm
MODULE I
8/1/2022
8/3/2022
8/8/2022
8/10/2022
8/15/2022
8/17/2022
8/22/2022
MODULE II
8/24/2022
8/29/2022
8/31/2022
9/12/2022
9/14/2022
9/19/2022
9/21/2022
9/26/2022
MODULE III
9/28/2022
10/3/2022
10/5/2022
10/17/2022
10/19/2022
10/24/2022
10/26/2022
MODULE IV
11/7/2022
11/9/2022
11/21/2022
11/23/2022
11/28/2022
11/30/2022
12/5/2022
12/7/2022
Program
Module I - Understanding Cohousing
What is Cohousing - Housing Solution for Active, Healthy and Happy Aging. International Experiences - Living in Cohousing with Privacy and Community
Module II – Creating and developing the cohousing community
Attracting the right people - Forming a vibrant and aligned group - Decision making processes. International experiences.
Module III - Design and participatory design
Designing the Cohousing - Project and design of the common house land - Participatory project. International experiences.
Module IV – Making it happen
Choosing the terrain. Financial planning. The legal/legal models. Continuous marketing to attract the right people.
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Module I - Understanding Cohousing
What is Cohousing - Housing Solution for Active, Healthy and Happy Aging. International experiences.
1st Meeting - Study Group - 8/1
Welcome - Presentation, Proposal and Group
Course objectives. What to expect from this program and study groups. Presentation of the participants / sharing of the personal goals of each one (architects, interested in knowing the concept, interested in starting a cohousing, interested in living in cohousing, etc.), with their personal presentations. Starting to form a group. Knowing each one's talents.
(Edgar Werblowsky - coordinator)
2nd Meeting - Class - 8/3
What is cohousing ... and what is not cohousing...
Origins, purposes, the whys, benefits, evolution, connections, cooperation…
(Laura Fitch, Architect, Fitch Architecture & Community, Founder, Pioneer Valley Cohousing, Amherst, MA)
3rd Meeting - Study Group - 8/8
Cohousing initiatives in Brazil
What has already been done, challenges and lessons learned. Learning from the experiences of the groups.
(Bento José Carvalho Jr, Neusa Carvalho, Norival Oliveira, Ricardo Pessoa Gomes, Tania Kopruszinski - the groups that are working in Brazil)
4th Meeting – Study Group – 8/10
Dragon Dreaming
Dreaming your cohousing together. Aligning desires, goals and expectations.
(coordination by Edgar Werblowsky)
5th Meeting - Study Group - 8/15
Discovering Cohousing. From the life with the navajos to living at the cohousing The Commons, Santa Fé, NM, USA. Thirty years with a meaningful life in an cohousing preciously located in the middle of the desert. Combining integrative medicine with na active membership at the cohousing.
(Erica Elliott – integrative medicine doctor, author of the book Medicine and Miracles in the High Desert: My Life Among the Navajo People; 30 years member of the cohousing The Commons Cohousing, Santa Fé, NM)
6th Meeting - Class - 8/17
Cohousing: From dream to reality. Maintaining resilience. Challenges and achievements. How cohousing changed the lives of its members for the better
(Robin Allison - architect and founder of Earthsong Cohousing, Auckland, New Zealand, author of Cohousing for Life)
7th Meeting - Study Group - 22/8
Cohousing, its benefits for Longevity, through a more meaningful, more cooperative life, providing integral health
What is comprehensive health? Prevention of diseases. Longevity and the Blue Zones of the planet. The importance of the “community” factor as a counterpoint to isolation and loneliness.
(Edgar Werblowsky - coordinator)
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Module II – Creating and developing the cohousing community
Living in a Cohousing with Privacy and Community - Attracting the right people - Forming a vibrant and aligned group - Decision making processes. International experiences.
8th Meeting - Class - 8/24
Introduction to the formation of a cohousing group. Developer and group roles and responsibilities. Marketing. Establishment of governance. Strengthening the emotional health of the community.
(Danny Milman - Development Manager at Urban Development + Partner in Sacramento, Calif. Danny directed the construction of cohousings in the US, among several other real estate developments) – to be confirmed
9th Meeting - Study Group - 29/8
How to create your cohousing group
The step by step. And strategies to maintain interest.
(Edgar Werblowsky – coordinator)
10th Meeting - Class - 8/31
CNV- Non-Violent Communication - as a basis for the formation of the group and its decision-making processes. Transforming the Reactivity we are used to in Cooperation, vital for the formation of a healthy community
(Marisa Santos Souza - collaborative lawyer, specialized in conflicts management and mediation)
11th Meeting - Study Group - 9/12
Conflict is Natural - Systems to Support our Communities
When we have systems in place for when the inevitable problems arise, we can relax and get the support we need.
Starting with a listening ear, we can restore relationships and carry on with our interconnected cohousing lives.
(Gina Simm – Pioneer Valley Cohousing – Amherst Massachusetts)
12th Meeting - Class - 9/14
Sociocracy as a tool to develop communities and build effective decision-making processes
And how and why it was chosen by US cohousing communities
(Jerry Koch-Gonzalez - Sociocracy Consultant and Certified Trainer - Pioneer Valley Cohousing - Amherst - MA)
13th Meeting - Study Group - 9/19
Sociocracy. Decision making by consent applied to cohousing. Equivalence, effectiveness and transparency. The CoreGroup. Circles and roles.
(Coordinated by Edgar Werblowsky)
14th Meeting - Study Group - 9/21
Practice of sociocracy. The rounds. The circles needed at the beginning and their organic expansion as needed. Practicing with the group.
(Coordinated by Edgar Werblowsky)
15th Meeting - Study Group - 9/26
Conflict is Natural - Exploration of Examples
All kinds of conflicts arise in cohousing communities, from the interpersonal to group decision making, from barking dogs to parking spaces and beyond.
Let’s examine some real examples to see what can be done to restore connection.
(Gina Simm – Pioneer Valley Cohousing – Amherst, MA)
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Module III - Participatory Design
Planning a Cohousing - Project of the area, common house, units - Participatory project. International experiences.
16th Meeting - Class - 9/28
Participatory Design Process
(Laura Fitch, Architect, Fitch Architecture & Community, Founder, Pioneer Valley Cohousing, Amherst, MA)
17th Meeting – Study Group – 10/3
Defining the characteristics of your cohousing
Discuss program elements that are important to you, such as:
- Senior x Multigenerational - pros and cons
- Age and health barriers at entry
- Urban x Rural
- Houses x Apartments
- Vegetarian x Traditional
- Accepting pets x Not accepting pets
- Definition of the Degree of Openness and Interaction with the surrounding community
(Edgar Werblowsky - coordinator)
18th Meeting - Class - 10/5
Designing cohousing (wide area plan) - urban, suburban, rural
(Laura Fitch, Architect, Fitch Architecture & Community, Founder, Pioneer Valley Cohousing, Amherst, MA)
19th Meeting - Study Group - 10/17
Tropicalizing the concept. Adjusting to Brazilian standards. Values already defined by the Core Group. Opening design to greater possibilities for the third stage of life. What can and what do we want to do in the next 30 years? An inspiring break for this new life project.
(Edgar Werblowsky - coordinator)
20th Meeting - Class - 10/19
Designing the common house and outdoor areas
(Laura Fitch, Architect, Fitch Architecture & Community, Founder, Pioneer Valley Cohousing, Amherst, MA)
21th Meeting - Study Group - 10/24
Lessons learned from working with the architects and the group in Brazil
(Edgar - coordinator, José Bento Carvalho Jr and Neusa Carvalho - Cohousing Vila Conviver)
22th Meeting - Debate - Questions and Answers – 10/26
Lessons learned from Earth Song cohousing, New Zealand's first cohousing community
(Robin Allison - architect and founder of Earthsong Cohousing, Auckland, New Zealand, author of Cohousing for Life)
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Module IV - Making it happen
Choosing land. Financial planning. The legal models. Continuous marketing to attract the right people.
23th Meeting - Study Group - 11/7
Choosing the land
Factors to consider. Land with or without improvements. Proposal. Negotiation.
(Brazilian specialist in property and land acquisition)
24th Meeting - Class - 11/9
Legal modeling of cohousing in Brazil
How to reconcile the needs and desires of cohousers to ensure individual safety and the perpetuation of the community in line with Brazilian legislation.
(Luciana Vieira da Silva Macedo - partner and lawyer at MVTLaw, Vancouver, Canada)
25th Meeting - Class - 11/21
Financial modeling of cohousing
Building the cash inflow from the ground up. The moment of truth. Financing possibilities. Plan.
(real estate finance specialist focused on intentional communities and José Bento Carvalho Jr – Cohousing Vila Conviver)
26th Meeting - Study Group - 11/23
Marketing and Communications for Cohousing - Continuously Attracting the Right People
(Shelly Parks - has been a sales and marketing specialist for large retirement communities …. when she came to discover cohousing, by chance. It was a simple moment of epiphany. Her life changed. Katy McCammant invited her to apply for the 500 Communities Program, and in early 2017 during the program year, she left her career and founded Covision Consulting. One of her early clients, Skagit Commons Cohousing, in a lucky twist of fate, turned out to be exactly what she and her husband Charles were looking for. Shelly took the lead role on the Marketing and Membership team. Skagit Commons sold out in record time. And now she is anxiously awaiting the completion of her community and expect to move in mid 2022 when construction is complete.)
27th Meeting - Class - 11/28
Creating the Bylaws for Cohousing
(Criando os Estatutos para o cohousing
(Luciana Vieira da Silva Macedo - partner and lawyer at MVTLaw, Vancouver, Canada)
28th Meeting - Study Group - 11/30
Assigning roles to members according to desires and talents - pre-development, construction phase and living phase
Sociocracy lives in practice.
(Edgar Werblowsky - coordinator)
29th Meeting – Study Group – 12/5
International Experiences – Canada
(Margaret Critchlow – Founder of the Canadian Senior Cohousing Society – founding member of Harbourside Cohousing, Sooke, BC, Canada)
30th Meeting - Study Group - 12/7
Closing session – what are your next steps as participants? Do you want to continue to network with each other? Celebrating, learning together...
(Edgar Werblowsky – coordinator)
TEACHERS / FACILITATORS
Laura Fitch is the founding owner of Fitch Architecture & Community Design, in Amherst, Massachusetts, and has lived for 26 years in Pioneer Valley Cohousing. Fitch specializes in energy efficient construction projects for homes, institutions, and smart growth communities. She has worked in programming, schematic design and / or full architectural services in more than thirty cohousing communities across North America, for which the company has received several awards.
In 2006 Fitch received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Boston Architectural College, stating that “because of you, Laura, many people have found ways to live more friendly and sustainably. Through your work, our world is a better place”.
Laura can be reached at [email protected]
Erica Elliott, M.D. is board certified in family practice and environmental medicine, and is based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She has more than two decades of experience successfully treating people with complex and perplexing chronic conditions. Dr. Elliott has lectured extensively on nutrition, the role of hidden food allergens, environmental toxins, and infrared sauna detox. She is co-author of Prescriptions for a Healthy Home, New Society Press. She is also the author of Medicine and Miracles in the High Desert: My Life Among the Navajo People.
Erica has been a co-founder and resident of cohousing The Commons in Santa Fe, NM for 30 years.
Jerry is delighted to support an egalitarian and effective organization serving human and planetary needs. He is a CNVC certified instructor in Nonviolent Communication and an ISCB certified consultant in sociocracy. Jerry co-founded Sociocracy For All in 2016 with his life and work partner Ted Rau, and lives in the Pioneer Valley Cohousing Community.
Gina Simm
Gina is a recently retired first grade teacher living in the Pioneer Valley Cohousing Community in Amherst, Massachusetts, USA. She is a member of a circle called Care & Counsel where members keep their fingers on the social/emotional pulse of the community. Through this circle, Gina has created many venues for staying connected through the inevitability of conflict. Her motto is: Conflict happens - Expect it! Gina facilitates an NVC (nonviolent communication) practice group in PVCC, consults for other cohousing communities, presents for CohoUs (www.cohousing.org) and Sociocracy for All (www.sociocracyforall.org), and most importantly wrote a book called Heart to Heart - 3 Systems for Staying Connected - A Manual for Parents and Teachers. (www.teachingfromyourheart.org)
Luciana Macedo studied Real Estate Law, and then Systemic Law at Hellinger Schule, Germany. She specialized in Positive Conflict Management and mediation. Studied Legal English at the University of New South Wales – UNSW/Australia. Went on studying Post-Jungian Psychoanalysis. Under the precepts of Systemic Law she works especially structuring businesses, projects and companies in the corporate, real estate and patrimonial areas, as well as in social and third sector businesses. She is the founder and creator of the JusLaw network.
Margaret, anthropologist, studied non-profit cooperative housing in Canada and produced, with Matthew Cooper, the book New Neighbors: A Case Study of Cooperative Housing in Toronto (1992). Critchlow also published "Empowering Place: Multilocality and Multivocality" in American Anthropologist (September 1992), one of her most cited works.
Critchlow was president of the Canadian Anthropological Society and created the Canadian Senior Cohousing Society. Margaret is the founder of Harborside Cohousing, the first senior cohousing in Sooke, British Columbia, Canada, completed in 2016, where she still lives.
Robins Allison is the founder and development coordinator of Earthsong Eco-Neighbourhood, the pioneering cohousing in Auckland, New Zealand.
She is an architect, educator, writer and speaker on community, and on environmentally and socially sustainable housing. She is also a catalyst for the growing cohousing movement in Aotearoa and a consultant and mentor to cohousing groups across the country. Robin is the author of the book Cohousing for Life.
Marisa Souza is a collaborative lawyer specializing in conflict management, mediator, speaker, teacher and facilitator of comprehensive solutions and dialogues. She is a partner at Maat Consultoria e Soluções em Mediação Ltda.
Shelly Parks has been a sales and marketing specialist for large retirement communities …. when she came to discover cohousing, by chance. It was a simple moment of epiphany. Her life changed. Katy McCammant invited her to apply for the 500 Communities Program, and in early 2017 during the program year, she left her career and founded Covision Consulting. One of her early clients, Skagit Commons Cohousing, in a lucky twist of fate, turned out to be exactly what she and her husband Charles were looking for. Shelly took the lead role on the Marketing and Membership team. Skagit Commons sold out in record time. And now she is anxiously awaiting the completion of her community and expect to move in mid 2022 when construction is complete.
COORDINATOR AND TRANSLATOR
Edgar has been dedicated to spreading cohousing in Brazil. He created the Housing Forum for the Longevity, with Secovi and Estadão, when he brought Laura Fitch to Brazil. He is a speaker on cohousing, having taken groups of Brazilians interested in the topic to visit cohousings in the USA. He visited cohousing communities in the US, England and Israel. He attended the New England Cohousing Conference (2018).
Edgar is the creator of Free Aging, a healthy aging event platform. He created Longev Week, the Health Promotion Week, in partnership with FMUSP, the Grey Talents Forum, in partnership with FGV and the Communication and Consumption Forum for the Grey Market, with ESPM.
Edgar is the founder of Immaginare Experiences and Freeway Viagens.
He received the ECO award, from Amcham, for the Campaign against Sexual Exploitation of Children in Tourism. He was a member of the board of the TOI (Tour Operators Initiative for Sustainable Tourism Development - UNESCO-UNEP-WTO).
Edgar is a civil engineer from Poli-USP, with a specialization degree in business administration from FGV.
He currently lives in the Serra da Mantiqueira, in the southeastern mountains in Brazil, from where he creates his projects and travels.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Certificate
Certificates will be provided to students who participate in a minimum of 80% of online classes
Ficha de Inscrição