About Commonground
Commonground is an intentional community and not-for-profit social enterprise that has been supporting social justice, environmental, disadvantaged and community groups since 1984. From the beginning our primary purpose has been 'to be of service to social change'.
Social change for Commonground means a societal, structural change to a more just, nonviolent and sustainable world. It does this through providing its Venue at subsidised rates for social change groups; its education and training work, in collaboration with sister organisation the Groupwork Centre; and its intentional community.
Commonground was established on land purchased by the original co-op members, and developed with financial and in-kind support from organisations and individuals who supported the co-operative's aims and objectives.
It has always been an important motivator of our work to have a social structural analysis as the basis. This stems from our values of social justice and our understanding of the roles that patriarchy and capitalism play in determining the social roles and power dynamics between individuals, groups and even nation states. This has been pivotal in determining our best work contribution.
Over the years Commonground has provided a venue and support for a huge range of groups and organisations, as well as developing training and education resources for groups and individuals, supported by a vibrant intentional residential community and members and friends based elsewhere.
As part of ongoing succession planning, Commonground is re-imagining our future, while remaining firmly rooted in radical politics. There has been successful development of the organisational structure, which is still growing. The next significant step is to support the subsequent generation of Commongrounders to put their stamp on the activities and direction of the organisation.
VISION AND AIMS
Vision: A just, nonviolent and sustainable world.
Principles
We belong to the Earth – the Earth does not belong to us
Collaborative decision making, nonviolence, anarchism and feminism are our cornerstones
Our primary focus is to support disadvantaged, community based and social change groups to work well together
We consider the needs of children and the next generation in all our practices and endeavours
Aims:
To provide a conference and retreat venue for the social change movement at the Commonground property, in the bush near Seymour in Central Victoria.
To provide collaborative education and training to help people work effectively together for social change.
To develop a vibrant Intentional Community of people living and working together at the Commonground property.
HISTORY
Commonground is an intentional social change community established in 1980. The founders were a small group of social activists exploring their best collective contribution to the creation of a just and sustainable world.
Founding members worked in the community sector and had been involved in a range of social action groups addressing a variety of social issues. Most groups were poorly resourced and struggled to work at their optimum effectiveness. In contrast, well funded organisations had access to greater services to support them, and opportunities for reflective time out, training, consultation, facilitation and other resources.
We decided to provide a resource to directly support groups and organisations working for nonviolent social change. This included many self help groups working with the marginalised peoples of our society. The focus was to help such groups maximise their practical endeavours.
In parallel to developing a resource centre and support services for the community sector and social change movement was a growing interest in the contribution of Intentional Communities to social change. We felt that, for the sake of the planet, humans needed to learn how to live more co-operatively and to share their resources. We decided to live as an Intentional Community while developing the social change resource services.
In 1984 the 95 acre property near Seymour was bought and the legal entity of 'Commonground' established. With much passion and idealism, a great deal of naïve optimism, and not much else, we began creating the realities of our vision.
We raised funds from many sources and built a 102 square building for use by both residents and guests. Alongside this, we grappled with the complexities of living in community, raising our children together, hosting groups that came to the Commonground Venue, and facilitating a wide range of workshops and training - no trouble at all! It has been, and continues to be, an incredible journey.
We developed our Vision and Aims early in this journey and they continue to reflect our intentions and practice to this day.
pictorial history
