Welcome to our website!

It doesn't matter who you are, this site has something for you. If you are just plain curious, a whole new world awaits you. If you are a student looking for information about the types of communal living, in Israel and around the world, you will find it here - or details on how to find it. If you are a member of a commune or an intentional community, the vast variety of styles of communal living around the world will give you both inspiration and encouragement.

Community Responses to COVID-19

We present here responses to a request stemming from an unprecedented international co-operation between eurotopia, the Intentional Communities Desk (ICD), and the Foundation for Intentional Community (FIC), in asking communities around the world to share how they are dealing with the challenges brought by the corona virus.

 

Please keep coming back to see more responses - we will be adding more to our homepage as we receive them.

Communities Directory

Thanks to the Foundation for Intentional Communities, there is an Online Communities Directory website here! This is a free searchable database of intentional communities around the world. You can browse through the alphabetical community list or search for communities based on location, keyword, and various aspects of community living that are important to community seekers.

Our supporters!

Who are our affiliates?
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yadtabenkin

Our main supporter is Yad Tabenkin, which enables us to continue our work. Yad Tabenkin is the archival and research center of the kibbutz movement.

ICSA, which holds international conferences every three years, shares our desire to increase our knowledge of community living.
The FIC is a sister organization in North America, which also offers information, support and networking.

1. MEETINGS

The ICD meets bimonthly, usually at Yad Tabenkin near Tel Aviv, to learn about the contemporary communal scene

2. PUBLICATIONS

We publish KOL, our hebrew publication, once a year. C.A.L.L., our English publication, is published twice a year.

3. SOCIAL MEDIA

The ICD is active online: apart from our website, we have a presence on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram

4. NETWORKING

We attend community conferences, host visitors at our communities and visit communities all around the world

Members of the Desk

Anton Marks
Anton MarksGeneral Secretary & Editor of our publications
Anton Marks is a British-born Israeli and a founder member of the largest urban kibbutz in Israel, Kibbutz Mishol, situated in the northern city of Nof HaGalil. He has been an informal educator for the last 25 years and has a passion for kibbutz and intentional communities generally, Zionist education, Tikkun Olam, the Jewish world, Jewish history, identity and culture.
Amnon Shifman
Amnon ShifmanMember at Large
Born in Petach Tikva in 1938 and attended the agricultural school Mikve Yisrael. Amnon is a graduate of the Machanot Haolim Movement, having once been its General Secretary and is now the chair of the Machanot Haolim Alumni NGO. He has previously held the position of General Secretary of his kibbutz, Tzuba. He is also Archeology graduate having studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Michael Livni
Michael LivniTreasurer
I was born in Vienna 1935 and grew up in Vancouver, Canada. Joined Habonim (now Habonim-Dror) in 1950. Graduated M.D. (In Israel I do not practice – or even malpractice). Made Aliya to Kibbutz Gesher Haziv in 1963. I'm Involved in the interface between kibbutz and Reform Judaism and in 1986 I moved to Kibbutz Lotan, a Reform Kibbutz in Israel's far South. Three children, six grandchildren on Kibbutz Gesher Haziv. Active in informal education, ecology.
Elisha Tzurgil
Elisha TzurgilMember at Large
Born in Israel 1945. Member of Kibbutz Sde Boker in the Negev desert since 1964. Married to Hava Rosenbaum - Zurgil plus 4 children. Believes in contact between people and between communities, out of curiosity and the desire to get to know others. Keen on languages.... "For me, agriculture is not only a profession but also a hobby, which enables me to travel the world, both as an advisor and as a learner.... The future of the kibbutz depends mainly on adapting its social and economic framework to a reality which is changing."
Moshe Hai
Moshe HaiMember at Large
I was born in 1952 in Tel Aviv and joined Kibbutz Dvir permanently in 1974. I have been the Culture Co-ordinator of the kibbutz for the last 12 years, having previously worked in a variety of jobs, including in the fields, irrigating, gardening and in the animal petting zoo. I am very active politically: Having been on the politics committee in the kibbutz, involved with both Peace Now and Meretz, and on the management committee of Hashomer Hatzair. Since 2000, I have led the fight against the changes on my kibbutz. I have also studied History and Kibbutz Studies at the Oranim College.
Gabe Freund
Gabe FreundMember at Large
I grew up in Perth, Western Australia where I first encountered the idea of collective living in the stories of the kibbutz told wistfully and longingly at weekly meetings of the youth movement Habonim Dror. Nine years ago I moved to Israel to participate in the building of a network of urban kibbutzim. Today I live in an educators kibbutz in Akko.
Yuval Etzioni
Yuval EtzioniMember at Large
Yuval, born on Kibbutz Tzora, lives in an educators kibbutz of Dror Israel in Petach Tikva. Today, he works in the Histadrut, the national Trade Union of Israel
Gideon Eshel
Gideon EshelMember at Large
Kibbutz Tzora

OUR AIMS

Aims of the Intentional Communities Desk include:

• To foster links with intentional communities from around the world, in order to learn about their life styles and activities, to exchange information, opinions and ideas for mutual benefit.

• To provide an address for people from all over the world, who are seeking advice and information about the kibbutz in its different aspects and about communities the world over (including help in making contact for those wishing to visit a community or join one).

• To encourage and inspire those in the Kibbutz Movement, in Israel, and the world at large, by acquainting them with the various forms of communal living that exist around the world.

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