Cohousing & ecovillages
Decision-making for communities that share a place
Loomio gives residents and owners one place to discuss shared issues, make transparent decisions, and keep the reasoning on record — alongside the meetings and relationships that hold your community together.
One shared decision process, whatever your legal structure
Cohousing projects and ecovillages take many forms: housing cooperatives, intentional communities, strata schemes, body corporates, owners’ corporations, condominium associations, resident boards, and neighbourhood clusters. Loomio works with the governance structure you already have.
Shared homes create shared decisions
The work is broader than running a building. It includes the property, the community, and the way people govern both.
Property and shared assets
Work through budgets, repairs, insurance, common facilities, community buildings, energy systems, gardens, and long-term plans with the relevant people involved.
Everyday community life
Give working groups and neighbourhood clusters their own space to plan, share knowledge, and bring recommendations back to the wider community.
Formal community governance
Prepare AGMs, develop proposals, use consent or voting where appropriate, and keep a dated record of participation, reasons, and outcomes.
Between meetings
Keep in-person time for the conversations that need it
Loomio does not replace gathering in person. It gives the work between meetings a clear home.
Share the background before people meet. Let residents who are away, still building, working, caring for family, or living in another time zone contribute. Resolve straightforward questions online, then bring the difficult or relational work into the room with everyone better prepared.
Before the meeting
Circulate context, documents, agendas, and early questions so people have time to understand the issue.
When a decision is ready
State the proposal clearly, set a closing time, and invite people to share the reason for their position.
Afterwards
Record the outcome and next steps beside the discussion, so future committees and new residents can understand what happened.
Witchcliffe Ecovillage · Western Australia
“Meeting minutes, agendas, decisions, objections — it’s all there, creating an invaluable archive.”
An ecovillage replaces strata management with democracy
100 households in wine country — growing to 350 — ditched conventional strata management to govern themselves, and they're building the playbook as they go.
- Decisions across neighbourhood clusters
- Transparent community decision archive
- Equal say for all residents
- Self-governance replacing strata management
A structure the whole community can understand
Keep participation open without putting every message, task, or sensitive question in front of everyone.
Spaces for boards, clusters, and working groups
Create subgroups for the owners’ council, finance committee, garden group, building project, or neighbourhood cluster. Each group can do its work without losing connection to the wider community.
The right people in each decision
Keep director or committee discussions private when needed, then involve all owners or residents in the decisions their rules and agreements give them a voice in.
Clearer than email or group chat
Keep casual updates where they already work. Bring consequential questions to Loomio, where the proposal, discussion, vote, and outcome stay together.
A record that survives committee changes
New residents and office holders can search past decisions and understand the reasoning behind community policies, shared investments, and earlier agreements.
Semkovo Co-op · 130 owners in 32 countries
“It makes sense to keep things together because the biggest challenge is information living in too many different channels.”
Running a property co-op without ever meeting in person
130 people from 32 countries bought apartments together. Now they have to run a business, a community, and a building — democratically.
- Legally binding cooperative votes
- Full agency for distributed members
- Searchable governance discussion archive
- Member participation tracking
Start with one real community decision
Communities include confident technology users and people who would rather not learn another complicated system. Begin with one useful, well-framed decision, offer a simple introduction, and let people experience a complete process from discussion to outcome.
Give your shared community a clear place to decide
Try Loomio with an upcoming meeting, working group, or decision that needs input from people who cannot all be in the same room.
Start your free trialMember-governed housing communities qualify for our nonprofit rates. See pricing.