Events

We are helping to host the launch of some interesting work by Savannah Fishel drawing lessons from intergenerational cohousing communities in the USA and Australia. Her observations reflect our experience in the UK, and help deepen our approach to Build Belonging, where we turn developments into strong communities with a sense of belonging and neighbourly living.

The launch on 16 July includes a brief exhibition of case studies. The report will draw out the conditions that contribute to social cohesion between generations, and the strategies, interventions or designs that are effective in mitigating friction and helping a community to thrive.

 

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The Summer 2025 edition of the Urban Design Journal focuses on the increasing influence of community-led organisations in delivering new neighbourhoods.

We have a piece on giving people control and belonging, without the challenges encountered in traditional approaches to community led housing. Collective Ownership offers control and security for private renters with increasing affordability over time. Build Belonging is a form of custom built cohousing where we help developers incorporate the social and design principles of CLH into their developments, and forge communities around these projects.

We also reference RUSS and NW3 CLT, and other articles consider projects we’ve supported such as Squeezed London and Surge Co-operative.

On Monday 14 July, our director, Levent Kerimol, will take part in a discussion on Community Led Urbanism to explain how we’re taking forward these approaches to a wider number of people, chaired by Paul Reynolds, UDG Chair and Topic Editor for this latest edition of the Journal.

 

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Thursday 13 June, 3pm – 5pm

Renting from private landlords exists today as the least secure and poorest quality housing tenure. This has led to a growing number of Londoners looking to take control of their housing security, and in doing so, challenging the very idea of what it means to own a home. Housing Co-operatives and new models of Collective Ownership are emerging with the aim of enabling people to come together, pool resources, and be their own landlords.

Join us for a talk reviewing how renters have taken control, and workshop on how you can do it too, taking place during the Renters exhibition of artistic practices from UAL students and recent graduates.

The exhibition builds on research carried out in the Arts Students Union’s Private Renters Report, which revealed huge levels of dissatisfaction with the private rental sector, and how it impacts students’ physical, emotional and mental wellbeing. The exhibition includes artworks by students from a variety of courses and colleges across UAL. Through sculpture, painting, photography, video, design and other multidisciplinary practices.

 

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Living in community involves meetings. For many of us meetings are a necessary evil to be got through.

We are running an experiential learning group, offering a place to practice skills that are proven to increase a more respectful, inclusive way of meeting in a group.

We will start by following the ‘Ten Components of a Thinking Environment’, and touching on other models, such as Sociocracy, and nonviolent communication. The group will be facilitated by Karen Livesey, a trained coach and group facilitator. We will meet once a month, over four 2-hour sessions, initially in person and then online.

The group is open to anyone who is interested in experimenting and learning to create a thinking environment.

The first session was on 4^th April.
The second session is planned for Thursday 23^rd May at 2:00pm online, focusing on non-violent communication.
Get in touch if you’re interested in taking part in this programme, and developing new skills.

 

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