Here are some of the answers:

• Petty issues that get people angry and make them shut down to cooperation
• Zoning issues and codes that don’t support sustainability
• Hyperindividuation
• Egos
• People who are unpredictable, irrational, and uncontrollable 
• The digital divide (the fact that poor and marginalized communities do not have access to the online community-building tools that many others have)
• Large communities that are hard to organize; it’s difficult to create a unified voice or vision

As usual, the general sentiment is that sharing would be great…if it weren’t for the other people. Conflict, difficult personalities, egos – it seems like everyone has a story about how they got burnt in a sharing plan or cooperative effort that went sour.  Honestly, this does seem like the biggest barrier to the sharing revolution. But those of us who are mediators, or who have taken classes in non-violent communication or powerful non-defensive communication, know the potential for any conflict situation to transform into something positive and constructive, so we feel confident that this barrier is entirely surmountable. 

While talking to Bioneers conference attendees, we also brainstormed ideas about ways to manage our differences, including:

• Hear people out. Even if you think they are “unpredictable, irrational, and uncontrollable,” they will probably be much easier to talk to if they feel they are being listened to.
• Remember that what we interpret as “unpredictable, irrational, and uncontrollable” may actually just come from a miscommunication.
• Remember that most people are well-intentioned. Most of the time if someone is acting “unpredictable, irrational, and uncontrollable,” it’s because they feel their needs aren’t being met.
• Use meeting facilitators to talk through difficult topic.
• Postpone discussion of issues that tend to trigger people, and start by finding common ground on other issues.

Of course, whole books could be written on this topic. For now I just wanted to share some of the thoughts we collected at Bioneers.

Living Green

But the other day, I had tea with writer Jennifer Fosket who has co-opted the C phenomenon and created “The Ten Cs of Social Sustainability.” In her book, Living Green: Communities that Sustain, she and co-author Laura Mamo, both sociologists, look in depth at ecovillages, cohousing, affordable housing communities, and even single-family housing neighborhoods around the country and explore how those communities have made sustainability a way of life.

The questions they ask go far deeper than questions about how to recycle, use green energy, etc. They ask: What
motivates people to change their lifestyles? What factors affect the choices people make in their homes? How does the built environment affect the way people live? In what ways do people connect with each other and how does this contribute to the strength of the community? What helps communities to endure through time?

In many ways, these are the most crucial, yet most challenging questions to explore in building a more sustainable world. The Ten Cs of Sustainability came out of Fosket’s and Mamo’s observations in the communities they visited, and begin to answer the question of what makes a sustainable community successful. The Ten Cs are practices and considerations that could apply in any development or community. They include:

• Culture
• Context
• Citizenship
• Commitment
• Collaboration
• Connectedness
• Care
• Contact
• Commons
• Continuity

Anyone who is currently working to build community around living sustainably could benefit from reading Fosket’s and Mamo’s book. The communities described in each chapter provide inspiring examples, and the Ten C’s are a great framework around which to structure discussions about what it means to build community, connect with one another, collaborate in designing the community, and commit to long-term sustainably.