This exhibition is developed by Bernard Smits (Cooplink, www.cooplink.nl ) and Yvonne Witter (ZorgSaamWonen, www.zorgsaamwonen.nl ) and travels through the Netherlands. The exhibition aims to show the added value of collective living arrangements, through anecdotes of residents living in collective living arrangements throughout the country.
The exhibitions changes frequently to show the diversity and strength of collective living arrangements.
NAME:
Centraal Wonen Zevenkamp
NUMBER OF HOMES:
60
SINCE:
1982
SPECIAL:
The nicest village in Rotterdam does together what can be done together
For more than half of his life, our Thijs (80) has been living in CW7.
For a large part of that time, he worked for more than 60 hours a week and has been paying a lot of attention to his family. Besides that, he has always enthusiastically been committed to and worked for our living community. Not because he had to, but because it’s nice and actually quite normal to be involved with your neigbours.
Recently, he was in an accident with his mobility scooter. When released from hospital, he was in bad shape. We all nearly lined up to take care of him. Neighbors, who were nurses, helped with care, others cooked meals and many simply came by for support and a chat.
According to Thijs, asking for help is much more difficult than offering help. Fortunately, the latter almost happens naturally here. Thijs: “I have been giving support for decades, and now, unfortunately, it’s my time to receive support”. Meanwhile, Thijs has recovered quite well and is back in the kitchen for our Wednesday dining group.
NAME:
Woongroep AAFIA
NUMBER OF HOMES:
13
SINCE:
2024
SPECIAL:
Growing old together pleasantly, helping and supporting each other
Aafia, means ‘wellbeing’ in Arabic. This fits in perfectly with our living community for older people with a Moroccan background. Living at Aafia makes us less lonely and increases our wellbeing. We eat together, share the same background and memories, and help each other when necessary.
Most of us were living in homes that were no longer suitable: many stairs, in porch houses (also known as staircase entrance flats) and often too big.
Now, we live in our familiar neighborhood with comfortable homes. Before these homes were built, we had already formed a community. That is because it took a very long time before we found a suitable location that was also affordable: nearly 10 years. For many of us are on a tight budget with a low income, because we have incomplete state pension, and therefore we take that into account.
But now we love where we live, and that gives us and our children a lot of peace of mind.
NAME:
Casa de Pauw
“House of the Peacock”
NUMBER OF HOMES:
43
SINCE:
1990
SPECIAL:
10 different living groups together form a close community
Former convent Casa de Pauw (squatted in 1985, a housing cooperative since 1990) is a headstrong living community. We use unit rents for all residents and prefer to do everything ourselves. During the renovation, that lasted from 1988 to 1990, we did 25% of the work ourselves, worth 800,000 Dutch guilders. To enable that, we all provided the community with our private tools, unfortunately mostly of poor quality. Yet, with these tools, we managed to get that gigantic job done.
We even decided to renovate the chapel ourselves, which the housing association had excluded from the renovation. For that renovation, the municipality gave us a subsidy of 50,000 Dutch guilders. After the renovation, carried out completely with that same bad quality tools, 10,000 Dutch guilders of subsidy were left.
The municipality granted us permission to use the rest of the subsidy to buy professional tools. Not to distribute among the residents, but to set up a tool loan that still functions perfectly to this day. So, no more tinkering!
NAME:
Buurtschap Waaranders
“De Kastanjetuin”
NUMBER OF HOMES:
48
SINCE:
2021
SPECIAL:
A green, inclusive and socially sustainable community
In the ‘Buurtschap (Neighborhood) Waanders’ project the Kastanjetuin (Chestnut Garden) in Zwolle, where people with and without disabilities live together, we launched a special initiative: we invited residents to present ideas for a healthy, nice and connected neighborhood. We set up a think tank that passed around four cookie jars among the neighborhood, to be filled with ideas. The cookie jars were returned richly filled with ideas like a flagpole, a sunshine fund, flower beds and a shared electric car. All ideas were about coming together and improving the neighborhood. Favorable ideas were a team of handymen and a bowling green. We’re looking forward to making a go of it! Engagement and sociability have always been around: summer drinks, community barbecue, glühwein around the fire pit. Every Wednesday, a group of residents take a 6 km walk, which in good weather is wrapped up with a cup of coffee under the chestnut tree. A weekly boost for positive health.
NAME:
VvE Boekhuis
NUMBER OF HOMES:
23
SINCE:
2017
SPECIAL:
Doing things together; nice to meet spontaneously
Living in a story. That’s what we, residents of Het Boekhuis (The Bookhouse) in Amersfoort, do. Because previously, where our residential community is located, the library used to be. And that shows! Plenty of reading material is always around at Het Boekhuis. The large bookcase is the eye-catcher of our living community. The house is entered through the library, so books are not overlooked. The Bieb (short for library), as we call it, is also the place where we gather, for Friday afternoon drinks for example.
For a small fee, acquaintances of our group can play bridge here, sing together, or give a presentation. For those who prefer something else than reading, there is a workshop where drawing and painting is possible. Het Boekhuis has something extra, of which we are very proud: on top of the building ‘Het kroontje’ (little crown) is located, where guests can stay.
NAME:
Hoeve Steinhagen
NUMBER OF HOMES:
10
SINCE:
2021
SPECIAL:
10% connects!
Polleke, Henk, and Buurman & Buurman can roam around as much as they want. These two donkeys and runner ducks have all the space they need at our living community Steinhagen in Sevenum in Limburg. Here, we live with sixteen people, in 10 homes. All sale contracts state that residents own 10% of the common areas and land in addition to their home. We also take care of the vegetable and flower garden and the rest of the yard together. The same goes for our “Groene Kamer” (Green Room), the workshop, and the guest room. We’ve noticed that 10% connects! And that is the reason why we love to live here. Being a VVE (Owners’ Association), we have house rules of course, but only with a minimum of regulations. We strive to deal with each other and situations as organically as possible. Does that work? This year, we celebrate our first lustrum, still with the same group, with appropriate pride but, above all, gratitude.
NAME:
Hoeve Steinhagen
NUMBER OF HOMES:
10
SINCE:
2021
SPECIAL:
10% connects!
Polleke, Henk, and Buurman & Buurman can roam around as much as they want. These two donkeys and runner ducks have all the space they need at our living community Steinhagen in Sevenum in Limburg. Here, we live with sixteen people, in 10 homes. All sale contracts state that residents own 10% of the common areas and land in addition to their home. We also take care of the vegetable and flower garden and the rest of the yard together. The same goes for our “Groene Kamer” (Green Room), the workshop, and the guest room. We’ve noticed that 10% connects! And that is the reason why we love to live here. Being a VVE (Owners’ Association), we have house rules of course, but only with a minimum of regulations. We strive to deal with each other and situations as organically as possible. Does that work? This year, we celebrate our first lustrum, still with the same group, with appropriate pride but, above all, gratitude.
NAME:
Extrapool
NUMBER OF HOMES:
5
SINCE:
1990
SPECIAL:
Living and working together in the creative sector
After the evacuation of the ‘Westland’-squat, we discovered, with the cooperation of the municipality of Nijmegen, a warehouse that was bought by the housing association in 1990 and converted into living and working space “Extrapool” where we as a coliving community of 5 could live.
In 2005, this building no longer complied to house all our creative group’s activities. A stencil print shop, a graphic studio, a guest house, a hall for performances: the building burst at the seams. Having sufficient creativity ourselves, an architect in the family and with a subsidy from the municipality, we have reconfigured the building with a new layout and provided it with new facades and an extra floor.
On condition that we would arrange the necessary permits for our creative outbursts ourselves, we could realize this renovation, together with the housing association. “And should you want to give your facades a new coat of paint, we will give you the budget. Use that to create something beautiful!” That didn’t fall on deaf ears…
NAME:
Hugo’s Tuin
NUMBER OF HOMES:
138
SINCE:
2023
SPECIAL:
different generations, families, singles, and people with a disability or care need
Even before Hugo’s tuin (Hugo’s garden) was built, my husband Jan and I (Irene) got in touch with care organization Philadelphia and Heliomare, a school for special education. We very much wanted to mean something to our future neighbors. The outcome is that I often and with pleasure go for a walk or cycling tour with residents; we go shopping together, I support daycare activities and enable fun activities, such as wheelchair dancing with Heliomares students. Meanwhile, Jan helps with small jobs, such as mounting cabinets and assembling furniture. Because of our support, residents and students receive some extra attention, structure and fun, and caregivers can have a bit of a breather during their workday. Meanwhile, Hugo’s tuin’s petting farm is partially run by the day care participants, and Philadelphia is setting up an outdoor team, for maintenance of the gardens around the homes. In this way, the connection between all residents—with or without care needs—grows naturally.
NAME:
Stanfasti
NUMBER OF HOMES:
30
SINCE:
1997
SPECIAL:
Dinner and bingo with the neighbors every Monday evening
Our Gerda is a fixture in our Surinam-Creole community for older people. She is the treasurer and has been living here for 23 years now. She’s a big fan of our weekly bingo night on Monday. Actually, that begins on Saturday, when a group of us goes grocery shopping. Because it’s a tradition to eat together on Monday evenings as well. Bingo night is very popular and is visited by local residents as well as by people from Rosmalen.
We celebrate Keti Koti (i.e. commemoration abolition of slavery in Suriname) and Mother’s Day together, and we share a lot of laughs. Gerda hasn’t regretted selling her house to move here for a single day.
Because there are many (single) women in our group, we would love to have some men join us. Sometimes, once they’ve moved in, we unfortunately hardly ever see them. But apart from that, everything is lovely here!
NAME:
Woongemeenschap Eikpunt
NUMBER OF HOMES:
49
SINCE:
2016
SPECIAL:
Multi-generational living, sustainable, community, silence and reflection
Multi-generational living, sustainable, community, silence & reflection. These are the four pillars of residential community Eikpunt in Lent.
We already raised that point in the project development phase. At construction team meetings, we provide the chair and set the agenda. And as is the case when we have an internal meeting at Eikpunt, at external meetings we do the same: “We start with a minute of silence …” after which the singing bowl is struck and everyone closes their eyes for one minute. Contractors, installers, consultants, and project developers tried to play along, keeping quiet for a minute while looking at each other with awkward smiles.
However, we fulfilled our role as co-clients with flair, and over time, we were taken more and more seriously. And so it happened that at the messy start of one of the final construction meetings, a professional called out: “Hey everyone, shall we start with a minute of silence first?!!”
NAME:
Akropolistoren
NUMBER OF HOMES:
86
SINCE:
2017
SPECIAL:
55+ humanistic living community
Our living community not only has the most beautiful view in Amsterdam but is also located in the cleanest part of the city! We live in a 15-storey complex on Zeeburgereiland, on a corner facing the IJ. Therefore, we look out over the open water. On the top floor, the Torenkamer (i.e. Towerroom) is located, our common room with a beautiful terrace. Here, we organize card clubs, a book club, weekly movies, concerts, drinks, and stories aimed at getting to know each other even better. And we keep our complex and neighborhood clean and tidy. For instance, every day two of our residents pick up wastepaper and other litter. We even have a schedule for this. And together with the local residents, we occasionally organize a cleanup day to tidy up the neighborhood. Apart from these activities there are beautiful daily moments of meeting each other, having a quick chat, and helping one another out. We truly are so much more than just neighbors.
NAME:
Blyn Anker
NUMBER OF HOMES:
19
SINCE:
2006
SPECIAL:
50+ living group: Community reliance is so much more than self-reliance
Our slogan is: together and never alone. That’s exactly right. Our living group is the best weapon to fight loneliness. Community reliance is so much more than self-reliance. Together, we visit the theatre, museum or cinema. And we celebrate nearly all yearly holidays together. On December 5th, we play the game of Sinterklaas; Christmas is celebrated with a dinner, and on New Year’s Eve, together we raise our glasses and watch the fireworks. That way, nobody has to spend the holidays alone.
You never have to go to the theater or the cinema alone either. There are notices on the bulletin board, and someone is always happy to come along. Often, we go as a group. Sharing a cup of coffee afterward is naturally part of the activity. We share our joys and sorrows with one another. We have become a family.
This living arrangement deserves much more attention!