One of ‘Sydney Cohousing’ objectives is to link up and form a working relationship with other cohousing groups & associations, on the national & international scene while joining the effort in establishing Cohousing Australia Association.
Iain Walker and Giselle Wilkenson are the founders of Sustainable Living Festival & Sustainable Living Foundation, one of the premier environmental groups in Victoria. Their web site, Intentional Communities Australia, aims to provide information and resource for cohousing and cooperative communities. We have contacted Iain to find out what’s happening in Melbourne. Iain suggested us to come down to Melbourne for the festival and meet some of the active people in the Melbournian scene.
So I took the night train to Melbourne to team up with the guys in the Cohousing Australia stall. I thought that it would also be a good opportunity to go to some of the interesting talks and workshops offered as part of the festival programme, such as Urban Permaculture, Transition Towns, Deep Earth and more. Some of key figures taking part were, Uncle Bob Randall [Traditional Owner of Uluru], John Seed [an Australian environmentalist & director of the Rainforest Information Centre. He is also a prominent figure in the Deep Ecology movement]. David Holgram [an ecologist, ecological design engineer, writer, he is mostly well known as co-originator of the Permaculture concept with Bill Mollison, and through the spread of Permaculture around the world ] and many others.
Eventually I didn’t go to most of the talks, as I found myself enjoying working and hanging out at the stall, helping the guys promoting cohousing and explaining to all the visitors what it is all about. The best aspect of coming down to Melbourne was getting to know all the wonderful people involved [all volunteers]: Giselle Wilkenson, SLF founder and president, Phil Bourne of Common-Ground intentional community in Victoria & Cohousing Australia, Robin Williams, the founder and Ted from ‘Pinakarri Cohousing’ in Perth, Toni, Nathan, Heidi of Cohousing Australia, Paris of Urban Coop, Peter Cook of Murra Murra community. The opportunity to discuss & learn from their experiences in forming groups & living in intentional communities was invaluable, so thank you all for a great weekend.
Finally a Special thanks to Iain for his hospitality, kindness and knowledge.
