Introduction Our Services Who We Work With The Four Essential Characteristics Our Vision -- In Words & Video Who We Are & How We Operate In the News Contact Info

One of the greatest challenges in manifesting our vision of transformational communities is the question of how to create communities that do not simply replicate the norms of the broader society and that address the deepest needs of this time. This will require an intentional commitment to certain principles and practices. Everyone who lives and works in the communities will commit to being part of the larger experiment of creating and nurturing a community that reflects the kind of world we wish to live in. And beyond that, there are four essential characteristics of Common Fire communities, characteristics that we believe are critical for the time we’re living in.

• Ongoing Personal Growth and Dialogue – Common Fire has partnered with Be Present to provide training in this critical area. “Be Present recognizes that the effectiveness of our collective movement is only as effective as the individuals themselves. For change to occur on a larger scale, each person must first uncover their true self by understanding their past experiences and personal barriers. From self-knowledge, people can make conscious choices, develop a practice of positive change, and work through historical barriers to build partnerships and healthier communities.”
• Engagement of a Diversity of People -- Diversity allows us to create visions of the world and strategies for change that better reflect the needs of all of us, and that better reflect our collective wisdom for how to address those needs. We are creating communities that are accessible and meaningful to a broad range of people.
• Aligning Our Lives with Our Beliefs -- Much of the violence and destruction in the world today arises not from malice, but from people being invested in the current systems and contributing to them in small ways that add up and give the systems power. We’re committed to helping people within these communities weave integrity into the many facets of everyday life – continuing our commitment to green building; eating local, fair trade, organic and cruelty-free foods; being in partnership with indigenous people; exploring alternative financial models; and more.
• Bridging Transformation in the Community to Transformation in the World – These communities will not be places where people retreat from the world, but ones that allow them to more powerfully step into the world. And in the traditions of the “tipping point”, the “butterfly effect”, “emergence”, and “field theory”, we never know at what point the number of people affected or the quality of deeply-rooted transformation will cause massive shifts on a larger scale.