Seeking collaborators to make bigger impact with Common Ground
Me, Zola, at my tiny home office.
Since 2019, I've had a vision and mission to advance and catalyse more affordable, community-focused and led, and regenerative housing and neighbourhoods and formed Common Ground as a means to do so and have been offering my consulting services, developed resources, and created connections.
Since that time, I'm becoming more clear as what would best serve this mission, to build capability and support this sector, that results in the creation of houses, neighbourhoods, communities.
I'm realising that I cannot do this mission alone and would like to form a not-for-profit/for-purpose entity (social enterprise, limited equity cooperative, for-purpose business) made up of a professional paid team and with a board or shared governance, so that Common Ground can be more effective and advance this mission. The niche that this social enterprise fills is known as collective or community-led housing, between charity-government-provided housing and market housing, It’s also specialised in regenerative design, not just about housing but creating positive impact.
The social enterprise would develop a set of services and programmes (such as feasibility/needs assessments, development assistance, community engagement, channelling funding, policies, training, and roadmap) that can be accessed and used throughout Aotearoa. I want to also explore what funding can support this organisation.
I'm particularly interested in advancing neighbourhoods in rural areas as I believe we need housing in rural areas that take a non-sprawl approach, that instead create circular economies, micro-villages, and regenerate the land with agro-ecological methods.
I've wanted to do a PhD on the topic as there's a lot of research needed to underpin and give credibility to this mission, showcase international models to emulate, and identify a roadmap and resources specific to Aotearoa. I'm still figuring out if a PhD is the right vehicle to accomplish this and would need to find funding to support the research.
I welcome your input and discussions.
I’m looking for professionals who want to work on this mission and explore the best structure for impact and financial viability. I welcome housing/community development professionals and people with board experience to meet with me to discuss how we can work together.
If you are interested to explore working with me, book a time for us to discuss how this could work using the button below.
If you’d like to explore how I could support your council and/or community to integrate more affordable and diverse housing options into your housing and development plans, book a meeting with me.
Some of the entities that I see that are offering services for affordable and community-focused housing, on which I'm basing a business model include:
Image of an Orange Splot neighbourhood
I’m very encouraged to see the progress these businesses and organisations are making to advance different kinds housing—a mixture of services in advocacy, strategy, community engagement, capabity building, and housing development.
Communities Housing Trust in Scotland: https://www.chtrust.co.uk/
and the guide they created for community-led housing: https://www.chtrust.co.uk/routemap.html
CoHousing Australia: https://www.cohousingaustralia.au/
and the guide they created for legal and financial pathways to resident-led housing: https://storage.googleapis.com/cohousing-australia/pdfs/resources/cohousing-australia-unlocking-the-doors-cohousing-guide.pdf
Community-Led Homes: https://www.communityledhomes.org.uk/
Microlife Institute: https://www.microlifeinstitute.org/
Ecological Land Cooperative: https://ecologicalland.coop/
Orange Splot: https://www.orangesplot.net/
Square One Villages: https://www.squareonevillages.org/
Homefullness Show: Change-making conversations on housing for people and planet
In this interview with Greer O'Donnell of The Housing Innovation Society (THIS) and The Urban Advisory (TUA), I speak with her about a growing demographic in housing--the missing middle--as well the increase in people who wish to have more say in the kinds of housing that they want to create and how they want to live in that housing. The New Zealand Housing Survey was created to be able to capture this information.
We speak about the kinds of housing that we could have and how you, the listener, by taking part in the survey, can help define the diversity of the choices in housing and neighbourhoods that we can have and need in Aotearoa NZ.
We also encourage you to join The Housing Innovation Society as a member and come participate in the CoHoHui which will be held 15-17 April 2025 in Ōtautahi (Christchurch).
Links referred to in this episode:
https://www.nzhousingsurvey.co.nz/
https://www.theurbanadvisory.com/