Boligministeriet i Danmark har skapat en arbetsgrupp som ska undersöka hinder och möjligheter för att skapa bygg- och bogemenskaper- Arbetsgruppen ska vara klar under 2021 och lämnas förslag till åtgärder som sedan kan användas för att formulera lagförslag.
Arbetsgruppens medlemmar Advokat med speciale indenfor kollektiver og bofællesskaber, Line Barfod fra Foldschack & Forchhammer Nina Kovsted Helk, filantropidirektør, Realdania Christian Heebøll Hammer, chefkonsulent, Finans Danmark Anna Brandt Østerby, strategisk byudvikler, Roskilde Kommune Ole Nielsen, direktør, Himmerland Boligforening Stine Klingenberg Madsen, kontorchef i Transport- og Boligministeriet Louisa Bisgaard, forperson, Foreningen Bofællesskab.dk
Boligministeriet har skapat ett sekretariat, som stöd för arbetet och som ska bidra med att formulera lagtexter med mera. Arbetsgruppens uppdrag Det överordnade syftet är att undersöka vilka hinder och möjligheter som finns för att skapa bogemenskaper med statligt stöd (almene bofællesskaber)och med blandade upplåtelseformer. Arbetsgruppen ska ta vara på erfarenheter och synpunkter från startargrupper och boende i befintliga bogemenskaper. Arbetsgruppen ska klargöra vilka regler som gäller för olika typer av bogemenskaper och med olika upplåtelseformer och projekt med blandade upplåtelseformer. Även regelsysstemet för byggemenskaper ska stuceras. Byggemenskaper är hewlt enkelt brukardrivet byggande, dvs de blivande boende är med och formar sina framtida bostäder och boendemiljöer.rfarenheter från Tyskland visar att bygg- och bogemenskaper med fördel kan vara en del av stadsutvecklingsen, eftersom de bidrar med mångfald, våde socialt och arkitektoniskt. I Danmark är erfarenheterna begränsade och det finns anledning att undersöka varför det inte finns fler projekt redan nu
Arbetsgruppen ska också avlägsna de hinder som upplevs med att skapa bogemenskaper som ”allmänna/subventionerade bostäder” vare sig det handlar om en upplåtelseform eller blandade. Även hinder och förutsättningar vad gäller gemensamma anläggningar för energi, vatten- och avlopp ska ingå.
Kollektiv har funnits runt om i Europa sedan minst 50 år sedan. I en artikel i The Guardian beskrivs varför de växte fram och hur de fungerar femtio år senare: Is the boom in communal living really the good life? Intressant läsning, inte minst om vad som händer när ett kollektiv ”åldras” och nya medlemmar ska samarbeta med äldre!
I Danmark fanns det kanske 10 000 kollektiv eller fler när det begav sig på 1970-talet. Ett av de första och ett av de mest kända är ”Kollektivet 100 blomster” i Köpenhamn. Kollektivet skulle haft en stor fest under 2020 för att fira sina första femtio år – men det gick inte att ordna på grund av pandemin. I stället blev det en bok som beskriver livet i kollektivet och utvecklingen i omvärlden från 1970 och fram till idag. Boken kan beställas för 300 DKR via e-post till sisvanemollevej94@gmail.com (se nedan). Ev kan porto tillkomma!
The Modern Museum of Warzaw has prepared an exhibition about living in community, Warzaw under Construction. Part of the exhibition are 18 interviews (presented in Polish) with cohousing activists, initiators and cohousing members from many countries (Denmark, England, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Spain, Canada and the US). Due to the pandemic, the exhibition had to close in advance.
The exhibition stirred quite an interest through webinars, pod-casts, debates and articles in journals. – Co-housing is THE THING in Poland now. Ever since the publication (of the interviews), people talk about it and want to form groups, says Aleksandra Zbroja, who has made several of the interviews.
Three of the interviews have been translated to English:
Den 28 november genomförs en marknad för självbyggeri av alla slag i Amsterdam digitalt. Välkomna är alla som vill bygga själva eller tillsammans i bygg- och bogemenskaper.
Nära 1200 deltagare har anmält sig. De har möjlighet att lyssna på sju olika kortkurser och möta 88 olika utställare. Arrangör är Amsterdams stad. När gör en svensk stad något liknande?
Just nu vet ingen hur många bogemenskaper som finns i Danmark. Svaret kommer under 2021. Den danska bogemenskapsföreningen Bofællesskab.dk har fått stöd från Realdania för forskningsprojekt för att svara på följande frågor (beskrivningen är hämtad från deras hemsida):
Hvor mange bofællesskaber er der i Danmark? Hvor er de henne og hvordan er de indrettet i forhold til f.eks. antal beboere, den fysiske indretning, økonomisk og juridisk organisering mv.? Hvilke former er de mest typiske?
Mange spørgsmål trænger sig på, efterhånden som interessen for bofællesskaber vokser og der kommer stadigt flere nye fællesskaber til. Det mærker vi i Foreningen Bofællesskab.dk gennem et stigende antal henvendelser fra bl.a. kommuner, boligudviklere, journalister og bofællesskabsinteresserede. Desværre bliver vi dem ofte svar skyldig, bl.a. fordi bofællesskaber ikke lader sig entydigt definere i statistikker over boligformer i bl.a. Danmarks Statistik.
Derfor har en gruppe forskere fra BUILD sammen med konsulentfirmaet Falkenstjerne og Foreningen Bofællesskab.dk med støtte fra Realdania søsat et nyt forskningsprojekt, som skal kortlægge bofællesskaber i Danmark. Kortlægningen tager udgangspunkt i den database, som Foreningen Bofællesskab.dk har etableret, og som rummer ca. 300 bofællesskaber. Omfanget af bofællesskaber i Danmark er dog langt større end databasen – måske er der reelt op til tre-fire gange flere. Derfor pågår i efteråret/vinteren 2020-21 et omfattende opsporings- og registreringsarbejde for at danne et bedre overblik.
På baggrund af kortlægningen, som Bofællesskab.dk er primus motor på, vil forskere foretage en række tematiske analyser af bofællesskaber i Danmark. I sammenhæng med eksisterende viden om bofællesskaber og data fra Danmarks Statistik om f.eks. beboere, bygninger og lokalområder kan vi hermed få langt større indsigt i, hvad der karakteriserer bofællesskaberne og deres udvikling over tid, om bofællesskaber er mere bæredygtige end andre boformer, om beboerne er mere eller mindre sunde – og meget mere. De statistiske analyser vil blive suppleret med surveys og interviews.
Den slags nye viden vil kunne anvendes i mange sammenhænge, bl.a. til at kvalificere den fremtidige planlægning af bofællesskaber. Projektets resultater formidles via rapporter, artikler, konferencer/webinarer – som bliver tilgængeligt på bofællesskab.dk.
Bilden överst visar bofællsskapet Skråningen i Lejre, arkitekt Vandkunsten.
Just nu pågå en utställning på Moderna museet i Warzawa på temat ”gemenskap”. Den 24 november ordnade museet ett videosamtal mellan journalisten Ada, Maria Brenton, Senior Cohousing Ambassador hos UK Cohousing Network och Mette Kjörstad, ordförande i kollektivhuset Färdknäppen.
Tegnestuen Vandkunsten har just publicerat en ny skrift ”Byggefaelleskaber. Grundlag for en udvikling av en dansk model”.
Tre viktiga frågor diskuteras som kan bidra till fler byggemenskaper i Danmark – finansieringen, rådgivningen och markanvisningar och rapporten avslutas med en handlingsplan för fortsatt arbete. Många erfarenheter i rapporten kommer från den första byggemenskapen som just nu byggs i Köge Kyst, med Vandkunsten som arkitekter.
Ideskiss till byggemenskapen i Köge Kyst från Tegnestuen Vandkunsten.
Danska byggemenskaper byggs inte för att säljas på marknaden utan överlåtelsevärdena är begränsade för att göra bostäderna tillgängliga för många.
I rapporten finns exempel från bland annat Tyskland och Nederländerna och ett svenskt exempel, Vänboendet Kvarten i Gerlesborg.
Författaren Silje Eröy Sollien forskar om bygg- och bogemenskaper i Danmark med särskild inriktning på landsbygden och mindre orter.
Hur hanterar kollektivhus, bogemenskaper, ekobyar och andra ”intentional communites” runt om i Europa coronasituationen? Michael Würfel hos den europeiska organisationen Eurotopia har frågat:
State of emergency – what about communities?
How are people in (other) communities doing in times of contact prohibitions and distance rules? As a resident of Sieben Linden Ecovillage, I asked myself this question and assumed that our readers are interested in it as well. So I wrote to all the communities that present themselves in the current edition of the eurotopia Directory and asked about it – and was overwhelmed by the reactions. Reports kept (keep!) coming and it has been a real challenge to finish up this very long newsletter and finally mail it out because I felt that I have to add reports because every one brings new insights. I did not even include every report. It’s alot of text to read below, but I think I pick up most of the content in this here article.
Although similar regulations apply to people in communities all over the world, communtiy ”households” sometimes include dozens of people, and our contacts to ”the outside world” can often be regulated so well that a community can almost be quarantined without having to change its everyday life too much. In many communities, children are looked after together at times when schools are closed – they live together in a dense space anyway, often as if in a common quarantine. And if isolation outside school hours is not possible, it would also be pointless for home schooling.
Often the official guidelines are implemented to a large extent, but cooking continues for everyone and sometimes meetings or sports activities continue to take place within the community – sometimes at a distance. One German community wrote quite openly in their last newsletter that they ”move closer together instead of keeping their distance” – so far there have been no legal consequences to admit this openly, even though it might be against German regulations (it’s not clear if government authorities would accept communities as a household or as several households; in the latter case they would be obliged to keep a distance. Obviously, nobody wants to ask…)
One answer to my mail to the communities was: ”…I am sure that you too will continue to take each other in your arms in Sieben Linden, … maybe a little less often, but not less warmly because of that…”
In fact, we only embrace each other within the groups in which we live closely together anyway. The 1.5 m distance has already become a habit for me when I walk through the village (which I have to sometimes, because we share pantry, washing machine, mail corner and much more). At the moment I’m pondering back and forth whether I may meet a girlfriend who is not part of my ”reference group” – so you could say: We take the whole thing quite seriously at Sieben Linden. We are also affected economically. Like many communities, we offer a wide range of opportunities to get to know our community as well as seminars, which usually keeps many people in paid employment; in addition, volunteers are employed in the educational sector (Voluntary Ecological Year, Federal Voluntary Service, European Voluntary Service). We hope that we will be able to make ends meet with financial aid for which we are eligible (thank you, government!) – and the volunteers may help on the construction site of our guesthouse instead of setting up breakfast for guests. In any case, there will be enough to do for many more weeks.
Some reports from the communities are frustrated. Anton Marks from Kibbutz Mishol writes: ”I have spent half my life removing my front door, hinge by hinge. Now I have to put it back on, I haven’t got a clue where to find it, and even when I do, I don’t even know which way up it goes.
Frits from Amsterdam Catholic Worker, where anyone with symptoms is immediately isolated, feels trapped in his own community, worse than in prison. He bows to the decisions of his community and misses the freedom to deal with a possible infection as he sees fit. He feels that the ownership of a car or mobile phone ultimately kills people as well (presumably due to the consequences of the production and mining of raw materials for the mobile phone and the consequences of the operation of the car, MW), but that this decision would be left to each community member to make for himself – in contrast to the behaviour in case of a possible infection.
In my community of Sieben Linden – and obviously in most others as well – we are aware that an infection with the current Corona virus is probably not dangerous for most people, but could be fatal for some, and that the crisis with its measures and effects is simply terrible for many. But when community proves itself here, it is also an important contribution to the social discussion.
I suspect that people who live in familiar neighbourhoods and are familiar with constructive exchange are less likely to experience fear and panic. In many places, it has been shown that a community is a good place when a threat comes ”from outside”. Some even experience more community in these times, less stress and a special time in a positive sense: Many community residents seem to be doing really well. In the “Giesserei” (“foundry”) in Switzerland, community dwellers are singing from the balconies every evening, in Pendragon (England) some enjoy the peace, “because they find normal community life stressful with people coming and going all the time”, and elsewhere, travelling journeymen have stayed longer than planned and are building more than had been hoped for. Many community children are jubilant: it’s a holiday, but nobody goes on vacation, everyone is there with them, their friends, their family, and they can play with each other as much as they want (apart from some schooling). It’s paradise!
While I read that in many cases those in danger isolate themselves more strongly within the community or even leave the community temporarily in order to protect themselves, I also read that the communities get involved in neighbourhood help and feel solidarity with the ”outside world”.
I read about hope that the pandemic will have lasting positive effects (Tamera) – and I read about doubts about that. It does make us impressively aware that globally coordinated action is possible despite economic losses – why are air travel and pleasure travel not restricted simply because they make a disastrous contribution to climate change, why does a pandemic need to happen? – but on the other hand there is growing pressure to make up for the profits missed in this financial year, if possible. Roger from the Pendragon Community in England writes: ”Some people think there may be a positive outcome from this situation, like the more socially responsible attitude that followed World War 2, and a relaxation of our murderous assault on our planet, but I will be surprised, generally I think the pain this is causing is likely to make people even less considerate when they are able to get back to ’normal’.”
Of course, there are also some sceptical people among the residents of the community who disagree with the governmental measures – wonderfully detached I find the mysterious text of the Saor Thoil Clan, where it is made clear ”that we as a clan do not owe allegiance to unfamiliar politicians and their laws” and that one could actually easily obtain an antiserum against the virus… Also in the Valley of Peace in Portugal people are carefree because: ”we have a member who can see the aura and he decides at the moment if and whom we take in”.
eurotopia just represents a very wide variety of worldviews (with clear limits as far as violence, racism or other violations of human dignity are concerned).
And: in each community, perspectives vary greatly. One of the challenges is to find a common ground on a subject that is just not only a private matter if you don’t live a completely private life.
In one of the reports below I read ”Lived joie de vivre is the best immunization” – and that is a prevailing argument. Often the government regulations, which of course have been drawn up quickly and must be simple to interpret, are far from perfect when it comes to the question of what is actually most appropriate at a given time and situation. Communities are often able to better implement the goals of official policies. Communities are already trained to find good regulations for themselves on a voluntary basis, and they consist of people who are just as smart as the rest of society. After all, they are part of it: sick people in communities generally want to be treated in hospital just as much as people who do not live in communities. That is why – in my personal opinion – the regulations within the community do have to deal with and correspond to the risk assessments of government agencies. And on the whole, communities seem to be very cooperative (see below), but for some regulations it makes sense to adapt them (e.g. letting children play outside together who live together anyway).
Worth reading is the report of a community project in the Algarve – where all sorts of stranded people surprised by the pandemic have been picked up and taken into the community. They’ve all been immunised there now; they’ve got the Corona threat behind them.
What I find most moving about the statements gathered below (for example at Solens Hjerte in Denmark) is the compassion and humility in many reports. I do not read arrogance about being in a better position in community than when one has to go through the crisis alone – but a silent gratitude, and a solidarity with those who have to suffer more. This gives me hope in the not unlikely event that we humans will have to cope with other states of emergency in the future. Community dwellers remain connected to their fellow human beings, and the invitation to live in community stands.
And that is what we stand for with the eurotopia Directory.
En ny studie av 7 av 49 cohousing-projekt i Bryssel-regionen i Belgien har just publicerats. Rapporten sammanfattas på engelska:
In recent years, cohousing projects have flourished in Brussels, particularly in the central working-class neighbourhoods, with the support of associations and certain political stakeholders. This article takes a closer look at the reasons for their success. Based on a two-year field survey of nine cohousing projects, it also analyses the architectural typologies associated with them and the ideological principles underlying them, as well as the uses made of them by the residents. In particular, the article highlights the discrepancies which may exist between a spatial vocabulary based on the desire to promote the creation of community life, and the uses and expectations of the targeted disadvantaged population.
Det händer mycket på bygg- och bogemenskapsfronten runt om i Europa. Ändrade lagar, nya sätt att arbeta, ökat intresse, spännande exempel finns på många håll. Nu är finns två rapporter för den som är nyfiken, en om läget i Belgien och en om allt som pågår i Frankrike.
De har tagits fram inom Vinnovaprojektet Divercity. Fler rapporter finns på deras hemsida.