Our country’s first completed cohousing development, West Auckland based Earthsong Eco-Neighbourhood is increasingly inspiring others to develop new contemporary cohos.
Earthsong’s founders were committed from the beginning, in 1995, to building a neighbourhood that was as socially and environmentally sustainable as possible, and to sustain an educative role in nurturing cohousing in Aotearoa.
The site layout is designed to work in with the existing landform, vegetation, and climate to create a beautiful and flourishing ecosystem, and to encourage a sense of community while safeguarding privacy and autonomy.
All homes at Earthsong are oriented north and use passive solar design. Building materials and components fulfil sustainable architecture criteria, considering embodied energy, toxicity, environmental impact, durability and recyclability.
The services harvest the natural resources of sun and rain to reduce reliance on bulk supply and to reduce waste shipped off-site.
The physical design of systems not only reduces environmental impact, but adds to quality of life and a flourishing eco-system
Education and Consultancy
Community building resources and documented experience is publically available.
The Earthsong Centre Trust oversees the educational outreach, including tours and presentations run by the Earthsong Education Collective, and seminars on cohousing, permaculture, eco-design and community organisational structure. Workshops can be tailored, ranging from tools for group effectiveness and community governance, to collaborative design, project planning and development issues.
Professional consultancy and facilitation for intentional community projects is also available on request.