Underlying Principles/Strategies of the Fernwood Urban Village
1. Cohousing/Intentional Community
Members of the Village understand cohousing as a collaborative, intentional community. The Village is designed in a manner to facilitate social networking, sustainability and personal security.
2. Participatory Governance Process
All members of the Village have the right and responsibility to participate in the social environment, management and decision-making of their community using a proven consensus decision-making model. This contributes to the friendly, helpful interactions of everyday living.
3. Green Transportation
We reduce reliance on fossil fuels using green transportation approaches including car-share, ride-share, bike-share, transit passes and other methods to allow members to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels. Automobile parking spaces will be very limited on-site.
4. Energy Efficiency /Alternate Energies
We desire to lessen our environmental impact and everyday costs using energy efficient and alternative technologies, wherever possible.
5. Equitable Division of Labour and Participatory Management
Members of the Village share responsibilities equitably. Committees manage operations and invite members’ participation in tasks for which they have energy, expertise or an interest in learning.
6. Inclusiveness
The Village embraces diversity of membership and to be inclusive with respect to, but not limited to, the following: age, race, colour of skin, national origin, social class, religion, gender, sexual preference or identity, ability/disability, and national origin.
7. Separate Finances and Individual Ownership
Members of the Village will have fee simple legal title as owners of their homes as defined by the Strata Act of BC.
8. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
Food growing, recycling, water conservation and minimizing our reliance on carbon based fuels is a shared direction and allows members an opportunity to live with a lighter environmental footprint as well as with a lower economic cost of living.
9. Permaculture
The Village members will strive to follow the principles and practices of permaculture. A permaculture based site shows how human-made features will mimic nature and enhance and mutually reinforce the needs of the land, its living creatures, and its human inhabitants. Gardening organically is expected both in the common and the private areas of the Village.
10. A Learning Community
Members are encouraged to promote education and learning in their community, including continuous learning about cohousing as a collaborative intentional process, and using methods of effective communication.
11. Affordability
The Village members desire to make the purchase of units, the annual strata fees and unit operating costs as affordable as possible, so as to include members with a diversity of income from modest to ample.