Hello all - I’m a journalist and I’m working on a documentary about intentional communities.
It feels like we’re living a moment where ICs particularly make sense for larger groups of people – a bit of a déjà vu of what’s been seen in the 60ies: a war is on the headlines every day, nature and ecology are key as the climate emergency deepens, a global cost of living crisis brings uncertainty and disbelief, an anti-establishment sentiment echoes on social media.
I’m also interested in understanding particularly if young people, gen-Z people, are engaging with it.
I understand ICs are a large spectrum – for this doc, I’m less interested in urban collective households and more curious about experiences like ecovillages and non-commercial settlements where people leave money, salary or career behind to experiment life in a different way.
I’m trying to find good stories of people who identify with the topics above and decided a place to visit.
Would be great to hear your thoughts!
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I am Gen Z and honestly - about 75% of peers my age are looking for an intentional community to live in. The issue is not everyone has the ability to contribute to building one, and even less of us have the funds to do it. We are all anxiously waiting for the chance to find a place to plant roots - but there is nowhere, at least right now, that we can afford. Even if we were to join one, they often have costs such as buying in, renting, or monthly community bills that are not accessible to someone without a trust fund.
I belive that the previous post said it best. The biggest struggle is finding a group to be a part of, and in addition to this the other issue concerns having the kinds of skills that can be useful for such communities. Somthing I belive that Gen Z is currently struggling to obtain.
I can only speak for myself in that I wanted to find a sense of belonging to a group, The appeals of an intentional community were appealing, especially as it addressed concerns with housing and easing economic concerns.
As far as other people in my generation are concerned, I belive that intentional communites are still fairly unheard of, otherwise I would expect them to be more widespread, if they havent already.