Community Discussion: Exploring the Joys, Challenges and Importance of Communal Living

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The Weaving the Future Podcast aims to foster conversation and tangible insights on how we can live and work in ways that are aligned, sacred, equitable and joyful. Every month, we start by taking some time to frame and get some shared understanding of a topic, followed by a group discussion centred around questions that are emerging, interesting or challenging.

This episode kicks off a regular monthly schedule of community discussions, which are also live recordings for the podcast and YouTube versions of these episodes. We focus on the questions: What would a different economic system look like? How would that look and feel different in our everyday lives?

I start by sharing takeaways from attending the Ownership Matters conference in Victoria, BC in early May 2024. The model of Community Ownership presented in this work presents one of the most exciting and promising ideas for how we might shift our economic system from something abstract into something that brings our hearts, everyday lives and sense of empowerment back into how we talk about economics.

We then had a group discussion focused on these questions:

What is a vision for a different economic system?

We do we want our everyday lives to look like? If we could create the perfect life for yourself and your community, what would that look like?

What needs to happen to support this way of living? This includes the question of what economic system would support the everyday lives we are hoping for.

You can find the video version of this episode here: https://youtu.be/atZgl0Cc1ms

Links for Weaving the Future and Robyn McLean:

https://weavingthefuture.net/ - Information about the podcast, courses and other opportunities to connect

https://tapestrycollectiveco-op.com/ - Information about consulting services of Tapestry Collective Co-op

https://calendly.com/robyntapestry/weaving-the-future-initial-consult - Book a free initial consult to talk about what would support you to make meaningful change in the world

Links and resources for this episode, including a few examples of community ownership in BC and Canada:

https://ownershipmatters.ca/ - Report and resources about building community wealth in Canada, part of a larger research project of Royal Roads University and Scale Institute and is supported by funding from the Vancouver Foundation and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

https://www.propoliscooperative.com/bond-campaign - Chance to invest in a community bond campaign to build affordable green homes in Kamloops, BC. This is a community ownership project spearheaded by Tapestry team member Lindsay Harris.

https://www.communityimpactrealestate.ca/ - social enterprise property management company in Vancouver, BC. Income generated by the market-value leased units, allows leases to non-profits and social enterprises at below-market rates in exchange for the impact created through their services.

https://salishseaind.com/ - An Indigenous-owned and operated business in Victoria, BC, offering pile driving and dredging services.