Page 8 - C.A.L.L. #27 - Summer 2006

Sustainable Community: Meeting with Graham
Learning from the cohousing Meltzer PhD
model BOOK REVIEW
Graham Meltzer PhD A group of fourteen attended a session of
Trafford the Communes Desk, in the company of
Graham Meltzer PhD.
Dr. Graham Meltzer’s Sus-
tainable Community: Learning from the co- Graham began by reading excerpts from
housing model is a compelling investigation of the introduction of his new book, “Sus-
the connection between intentional community and environmental tainable Community: Learning from the
sustainability. Using case studies of 13 cohousing communities in five cohousing model”, passages relating to
countries, Meltzer argues that, “the quality of our social relationships his personal history. He showed a picture
and our ‘sense of community’ are major determinants of our capacity of his childhood home in Auckland, New
for pro-environmental behavioural change”. Zealand and recalled with fondness the
egalitarian nature of the environment in
The six main factors of a cohousing community include: the partici- which he grew up in – from the social co-
patory process through which the members create their project, the hesion of the society at large to the love
neighborhood design, self-management, the absence of hierarchy and support he received from his family.
and presence of consensus decision-making and separate incomes.
The first half of the book contains “snapshots” of each of the 13 co- Graham recalled his time of having lived
housing projects Meltzer studied. Largely anecdotal, these in communes, surrounded by politically
“snapshots” describe the advent of the community, the designing and radical people – tackling issues such as
building process, formal and informal social structures (i.e. common the Vietnam War and Apartheid. We saw
meals, formalized children’s carpool, special celebrations unique to a picture showing a long-haired Graham
the community, etc.), environmental practices, challenges within the sitting on the roof of a camper van, which
community, etc. The second half contains a statistical comparison of was for a while a commune on wheels as
the communities, analyzing their successes and failures as both an he traveled, along with four others, by
intentional community and as an environmentally sustainable entity. road through Europe to Israel. He subse-
quently spent two years on Kibbutz and
Throughout the book, Meltzer successfully proves the link between fell in love with it, although the combina-
sustainability and community. The social cohesion and culture of trust tion of his pacifist beliefs and receiving his
and sharing among members cuts resource consumption drastically army call-up papers led him to unhappily
on both large and small levels. For example, common facilities leave.
(laundry, socializing spaces, kitchen, guest room, kids’ room, etc.)
allow members to have smaller, higher density dwellings and reduce He returned to Australia in 1976, and
the overall environmental impact of the community. Informal sharing joined Tuntable Falls, a self-sufficient
practices also reduce consumption of resources; a member is likely community in northern New South Wales.
to ask around the community for a tool or an ingredient he or she Graham showed a photo of himself and
does not have rather than buy a new one, for instance. Additionally, his kids at the hippy commune. His two
the close-knitted nature of the community hugely supports pro-envi- kids grew up there with the community as
ronmental action. “Green” members are able to influence the their extended family. They had the same
community through education and example, and the organizing of a freedom that he had as a kid. He then
few often makes practices like recycling and waste management showed a picture of his children now as
more convenient for the community at large. Also, the constant inter- adults – describing their values as ‘com-
action among members allows them to share tips and support for munity-orientated’, ‘willing to serve
their environmental practices. These example are only the tip of the people’ and striving “to make a better so-
iceberg – there are tons more! ciety”. Because of their communal living,
they have non-materialist values.
Meltzer’s study is extremely well-researched and based upon a
wealth of both primary and secondary sources, the majority of which * * *
are quite current. This book is scholarly, but at the same time it is
captivating and easy to read. Meltzer provides a successful analysis Graham now moved on to his PhD topic
of both the successes and difficulties of cohousing. For readers in- and his book. The hypothesis was that he
terested in either cohousing or intentional communities in general, found that 90-95% of the people he asked
this book definitely challenges us to think about the way our commu- said that they are concerned about the
nity relates to the environment and the feasibility of adapting environment, but very few actually said
environmentally-friendly behaviors as a building block of the commu- that they did something about it. Why,
nity. An A+, worthwhile read! asks Graham, if they are both intelligent
By Rachel Bergstein and well-meaning, don’t they do any-
thing? According to his research, a lack of
either social support or a social context is
the main factor.

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