our Story
We are a group of Sussex residents who joined forces to live more connectedly, collaboratively and responsibly. We are passionate about protecting and regenerating our unique local landscape, sharing, supporting and creating a model for living that is affordable, nourishing and replicable.
Our dream is to create an inclusive cohousing community, supported by a mutual homeownership model, that also functions for the benefit of the wider community. We see people of all ages and backgrounds living in communities that honour their surroundings, each other and are positively engage with the world outside; our collective future.
© Lauren Goodey
© Lauren Goodey 'Cosmopoaesis + separation'
Our MANIFESTO
Future Folk Sussex (FFS) will be a not-for-profit community housing facilitator that aims to combine intentional cohousing communities with environmental and social enterprises. Our aim is to provide inclusive, multi-generational and non-hierarchical places of residence that prioritise low-impact and environmentally sustainable ways of living.
The creation of FFS is a reaction to the UK’s highly dysfunctional housing market in which supply is not meeting demand, design is not fit for purpose and prices are not affordable. The challenge is to provide affordable, well-designed housing while also reducing the building and urban communities’ ecological footprint. Large scale building companies, who dominate the housing market, are guilty of building socially isolating and unsustainable houses that fail to foster communities and reduce the built environment's climate change impact.
Our Vision
To bring together a collective of individuals to form a Mutual Home Ownership Society (MHOS), creating an inclusive, multi-generational community that prioritises low-impact and environmentally sustainable ways of living. We will benefit the wider community through environmental and social enterprises i.e. educational programmes and regenerative land management projects e.g.market gardens and eco-tourism
© Lauren Goodey 'The Three Trees'
Our values
Collaboration
We foster a sense of community and participation through non-hierarchical shared decision making (one member, one vote). Understanding we are a diverse group with our own particular histories and needs and there is the potential for conflict and hurt to arise. We will adopt a range of frameworks and practices to support resilience and healing within the group.
Regeneration
That we form regenerative relationships with nature, the land and one another, choosing non-toxic and sustainable techniques to revive and nature local ecosystems for the benefit of future generations.
Equality
We remain open and inclusive as a group to all those who wish to participate, encouraging diversity and making opportunities equally available to all.
Custodianship
We foster a connection to our natural surroundings, local community and history of the land, ensuring our decisions are guided by the needs of that land and its many inhabitants, human and non-human.
Beauty and Celebration
We strive for beauty in our design and all we create, respecting and preserving the beauty which exists around us; creating joyful, innovative and healing spaces; celebrating and playing, in alignment with the beauty of each season.