{"id":120414,"date":"2025-10-02T07:10:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T10:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ufrgs.br\/jornal\/?p=120414"},"modified":"2025-09-30T14:30:51","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T17:30:51","slug":"the-desire-for-more-accessible-supportive-and-closer-to-nature-lifestyles-stimulates-the-creation-of-new-residential-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ufrgs.br\/jornal\/the-desire-for-more-accessible-supportive-and-closer-to-nature-lifestyles-stimulates-the-creation-of-new-residential-communities\/","title":{"rendered":"The desire for more accessible, supportive, and closer-to-nature lifestyles stimulates the creation of new residential communities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Society | Cooperative housing experiences are growing in the opposite direction of individualism and real estate speculation, aligning necessity, utopia, and cooperation\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

*First published April 4th, 2024<\/em><\/em>
*Photo: Founded in 1992 by a group of education workers, Cootepa is currently the residence of 30 families who search for tranquility and contact with nature (Photo: Marcelo Pires\/JU)<\/em><\/em><\/em>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

A healthier life, a shared utopia, or cost reduction through collective labor \u2014 these are just some factors, among many others, that seem to explain the growing number of groups comprising people of different ages, connected by some kind of social bond. They come together to achieve a common goal: to live in new and diverse ways of collective housing, far away from market-driven, gated communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the case for the Housing Cooperative of Workers in Private Education Institutions of Porto Alegre Ltd. (Cootepa). Cootepa was founded in 1992 by a group of education workers, based on the popular housing movements that emerged in the 1980s in the Metropolitan Region of Porto Alegre. Covering just over two hectares, the property is located in the East Zone of the Capital, about 17 km from the city center, on the border with Saint-Hilaire Park. Surrounded by greenery, the land stands out for its tranquility and natural diversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe started looking around Porto Alegre for housing models that embraced more of a cooperative spirit, and we came here to check it out. This place didn\u2019t exist at all, it was all dirt floors. But we started taking part in the assemblies, and here we are, 12 years later,\u201d recalls teacher Maria Alessandra Tinos as she returned from walking her dogs, her hands carrying a bundle of vegetables from one of the cooperative\u2019s gardens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maria Alessandra is part of one of the 30 families living at the location, and she also works at the cooperative\u2019s Fiscal Council. The land for the project was acquired in 1994, at a time when it was open and vacant. Through planning and fundraising among the participating members, sanitation, lighting, and roadworks were carried out for the subsequent construction of the housing units. Nowadays, the location features sports courts, both open and enclosed social areas, vegetable gardens, and parking.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Homem
Maria Alessandra Tinos and Roque Grazziola, Cootepa residents. \u201cThis place didn\u2019t exist at all, it was all dirt floors,\u201d says Maria (Photo: Marcelo Pires\/JU)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Life and dignity<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The motivation to design and share a housing project may comprehend deeper meanings. Maria Helena da Silva Bandeira, 55, knows this well \u2014 she is a recycling worker from the streets of Gravata\u00ed, or an \u201cEarthcare doctor\u201d as she often introduces herself. For the past 10 years, she has been a part of the project \u201cOrqu\u00eddea Libert\u00e1ria: learning and creating with our own hands,\u201d organized in the city of Gravata\u00ed, in the Metropolitan Region of Porto Alegre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raised in a quilombo community and making a living from domestic work across the suburbs of Canoas, Porto Alegre, and Gravata\u00ed, Maria\u2019s reaction upon being introduced to the initiative wavered between doubt and uncertainty. \u201cI had four children and didn\u2019t have much confidence in myself. Were they really going to build houses for us recyclers? It was hard to believe,\u201d she tells students filling up a classroom at UFRGS School of Education. \u201cOver time, we got to know each other and became more familiar with the idea of planning things together with the technicians and doing everything collectively, which, for us, also felt very strange. How were we supposed to help the architects?\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Orqu\u00eddea Libert\u00e1ria project was made possible through the acquisition of a 1.2-hectare area, funded by the Brazilian federal government with resources from the Minha Casa, Minha Vida (My Home, My Life) program. Between planning and execution, the building project has been underway for nine years and aims to deliver housing units to all 50 registered families. The project features a 30,000-liter rainwater tank, outdoor lights powered by solar panels, a vegetable garden, and an environmental preservation area. In addition, a community center, a bakery, and a confectionery are still under construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is the only cooperative that never charges a membership fee; instead, we exchange that money for hours of work. All maintenance tasks are carried out by the families. Legally, I\u2019m the president, but I work just like everyone else,” says Eduardo Solari, the project’s mentor and a veteran of other cooperative initiatives, such as the Urban Settlement Utopia e Luta in Porto Alegre\u2019s city center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maria says she found in the project a gateway to recognition, strength, and hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cWe have been told that ‘we have no rights,’ but the cooperative came to show that we do have rights. We have just as much right as any of you here in this room\u2026 the right to our own free territory. Free from violence, prejudice, racism. Free from everything.\u201d<\/p>\nMaria Helena da Silva Bandeira<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Paradigms and Challenges<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

A concept that has also been used to refer to alternative communities is that of intentional communities: \u201chuman settlements made up of people who share common purposes and ideologies and who have, therefore, chosen to live together.\u201d This definition serves as a framing point in a recent study on the growing academic research concerning this phenomenon in Brazil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The article \u201cAs pesquisas brasileiras sobre comunidades intencionais e ruralidades: notas explorat\u00f3rias<\/a>\u201d (Brazilian research on intentional communities and ruralities: exploratory notes), published in the journal Contribuciones a las Ciencias Sociales, reports that, between 2004 and 2018, the number of publications on this topic increased eightfold. The same study highlights ecovillages as the most prominent form of intentional living among the various organizational models of this kind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ecovillages are \u201crural or urban communities of people who seek to live in a social environment that ensures a low-impact ecological lifestyle [\u2026], including ecological design, permaculture, low-impact buildings, green production, alternative energy, community-building practices, and more.\u201d Both the Global Village Network and the Brazilian Ecovillage Movement endorse this definition.
Choosing to live in an ecovillage is a complete change in lifestyle according to L\u00edvia de Mello Trindade, who holds a master\u2019s degree in Rural Development from UFRGS and in December 2023 defended her thesis on the Arca Verde Ecovillage, located in S\u00e3o Francisco de Paula.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her research, Trindade highlights that the city is too noisy and polluted, and many people are caught in a frenetic, consumption-driven lifestyle. For her, individuals come together through affinity, driven by a desire to be close to people who share things in common and want to create a supposedly sustainable way of life. However, regardless of the chosen model of collective housing, organizing a communal life always requires negotiation and consensus building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Cooperative administrative and financial systems do not rely on external resources: everything here is collective. We had to define a project and set a timeline for the installation of the sewage system and paving. It took us five years to build up a fund to cover the costs,” says Roque Grazziola, administrative coordinator of Cootepa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Quadra<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Planta\u00e7\u00e3o<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Galinhas<\/figure>\n
Sanitation, lighting, and roadwork projects at Cootepa were funded by its participating members. Today, the infrastructure includes sports courts, social areas, vegetable gardens, and a chicken coop (Photos: Marcelo Pires\/JU)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Eduardo Solari, legal president of the Orqu\u00eddea Libert\u00e1ria cooperative, bringing a group of people together around a collective cause is a challenge nowadays. \u201cWe live in a society that is becoming increasingly \u2018liquid,\u2019 which may lead to a failure in recognizing the collective. A community is not just a group \u2014 it carries a much deeper cultural meaning. Rebuilding that meaning is our goal,\u201d he says.
Similarly, Trindade draws attention to the importance of understanding individual differences and practicing patience when building shared goals. \u201cIt is crucial to cultivate an environment of idea exchange, aimed at identifying what benefits everyone. This approach would not only strengthen the community but also provide a solid foundation for future decisions and related aspects,\u201d she concludes.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

Initiatives and Data on Ecovillages<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Rio Grande do Sul<\/strong>
According to the 2022 Mapping of Ecovillages and Regenerative Communities in Brazil, conducted by the Research Circle of the CASA Brazil Network (C\u00edrculo de Pesquisa da Rede CASA Brasil), by that year, there were 207 ecovillages or regenerative communities in the country. The same study revealed that the largest concentration of these communities (103) was in the Southeast region, while the smallest (6) was in the North region. The South region had 39 such organizations, with 9 in Paran\u00e1, 14 in Santa Catarina, and 16 in Rio Grande do Sul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Brazil<\/strong>
In December 2022, Casa Brasileiro \u2014 the Brazilian branch of CASA Latina, which in turn is the Latin American branch of the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) \u2014 submitted to Lula\u2019s Transition Team the proposal for the creation of a National Policy to promote and support Ecovillages and Regenerative Communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around the World<\/strong>
The Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) is a network of communities and regenerative initiatives that connects different cultures, countries, and continents. Based in Scotland, GEN is made up of five regional networks, with approximately 10,000 communities and related projects worldwide.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n


Glossary<\/strong>
Intentional Communities: <\/em>Human settlements made up of people who share common purposes and ideologies and who have, therefore, chosen to live together.

Alternative Communities:<\/em> Communities that are based on traditional knowledge and social technologies, and that prefer traditional values over new technologies.

Sustainable Communities and Ecovillages: <\/em>Communities with a sensitive view on the socio-environmental crisis, seeking collective housing models that are environmentally friendly.
Self-sustaining Condominiums:<\/em> Ecological businesses and condominiums that embrace the concept of sustainable growth.

Conventional Condominiums:<\/em> Housing developments that operate according to the old, unsustainable housing paradigm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n


Translated into English by Brenda Bressanelli Marcon<\/strong>, undergraduate student enrolled in the course \u201cSupervised Translation Training I (English)\u201d of the Undergraduate Program in Language and Literature, under the supervision and translation revision of Professor Rozane Rebechi (P.h.D.) \u2013 IL\/UFRGS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

:: Read in Portuguese<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Anseio por modelos de vida mais acess\u00edveis, solid\u00e1rios e pr\u00f3ximos da natureza estimula forma\u00e7\u00e3o de novas comunidades habitacionais<\/a><\/blockquote>