robin’s nest

What We Need To Do

Find People

We need resilient people willing to commit to making this work. Is this project right for you?

Find a Site

We're looking for places in Scotland, within Fife, the Lothians, or the Scottish Borders - generally within a 45 minute commute of Edinburgh.

Design Our place

We'll be working with an established cohousing community developer to help guide us through the practicalities of designing this project together.

Fund / Build / Fix

Once we have people, a site, and a design, we'll need to follow through with funding and building our community.

Move In

Moving in will be our first step into a new group dynamic and changing the way we live and work together - something we look forward to celebrating!

Live In Community

We'll work together to make decisions and pool our time and talents to care for our families together.

Frequently Asked Questions

As of November 2024:

  • Find People and Site <-- We are here! 
  • Design 
  • Build 
  • Move In

Anyone who shares our values and is interested in building a strongly entwined community with others can join us in the Robin's Nest. We welcome families and individuals from all backgrounds and ages.

Cohousing is a distinctly different way of life than you may be used to - and hopefully that sounds exciting to you! It's worth taking a look at the websites of other cohousing communities and interviews with residents to find out more about what daily life is like. Check out this list of questions as a starting point, or Thoughts from a Longtime Cohousing Resident.

Some additional questions to consider about whether Robin's Nest is right for you:

  • Are you the kind of person who helps their friends clean up after the party, brings over dinner when they're having a tough time, or plans the get-togethers? 
  • Would you enjoy living in an explicitly feminist, anti-racist, and inclusive environment? 
  • Are you willing to learn new skills to help our community adapt during the challenging times ahead? 
  • Does the possibility of creating a different way of life for ourselves energize you? Even if it's hard, and even if we may not succeed?
Participation in community life
  • Be generous with your time and help to others in the community 
  • Share meals with each other (at least once a week) 
  • Actively contribute to one or more Circles of responsibility 
  • Assist with maintenance and community-wide projects periodically (typically 3 - 5 days per year) 
  • Organize play and social activities 
Sharing of community resources
  • Add books and media to a shared library 
  • Contribute to communal purchases of tools, parts, and materials for all to use 
  • Food grown in community garden 
"Being a good ancestor" ethos
  • Caring for and rewilding the land we live on to aid local conservation and biodiversity 
  • Willingness to explore low-tech solutions and experim
  • ent Developing skills (e.g. fiber arts, gardening, cooking, woodworking, etc) and passing them along to children in the community
Robin's Nest does not plan to become an income-sharing or income-generating community. That means that we are not pooling household incomes from jobs, or all becoming employees of the same company, etc. Your income is yours.

However, we may, as a community, decide whether we wish to contribute to a community fund to allow us to take advantage of bulk purchasing of common household items. Decisions such as these will be undertaken once we've reached a sufficient number of Core Members and would be communicated to prospective new members.

We'll narrow down and confirm what we need, what we want, and what we can afford to include as we move through the process of launching our community. Many cohousing communities will have the following, which we are also aiming for:

  • Common House with a large dining room and commercial-grade kitchen, a library, lounge, meeting rooms, an exercise room, a kids play room, and a laundry.
  • Workshop to support projects 
  • Storage for food, dry goods

When we first move in, daily life will continue much as it is right now - except that you'll be part of a neighborhood that's more active, involved, and supportive. We'll all have work, school, and social life outside of the community to keep up with! At least once a week we'll have teams of people take turns cooking for the community as a whole. We'll have meetings for the entire community at least once a month, though smaller Circles may meet more often.

Together, we'll decide what daily life looks like based on what the community needs, but it's important to know that no one is required to participate in everything. The best way to form a strong community is by doing meaningful things together, and it's up to us to decide what those are.

We can have discussion groups, clubs, and events, or just enjoy spontaneous gatherings in a space designed to encourage that kind of togetherness. And because we're building this community based on people who already want to be involved, you can feel comfortable suggesting plans and ideas.

As we build relationships with each other and bond as a community, we'll naturally become closer, and work to overcome whatever challenges the wider world throws at us. Our community is our safety net. Whether it's another pandemic, war, natural disasters, or increasing scarcity, we'll be able to rely on each other.

Edinburgh and Glasgow are the largest population centers in the area so we have the highest likelihood of finding like-minded people willing and able to commit to this project. However, we also recognize that people have responsibilities, family, friends, or jobs that they cannot move too far from. While land may be cheaper in other areas, the trade-off would be fewer people able to join us and more time required to get the project in motion.
A cohousing project needs many supporters in order to succeed. Even if you're still uncertain if cohousing is right for you, we encourage you to apply and see how the group is organized, and to meet current members.
  1. Application - Submit the form on the 'Become a Member' page
  2. Interview - We'll connect with you to arrange a video call. This will be our chance to get to know you, and for you to ask as many questions as you like. 
  3. Decision - At the next monthly meeting, we'll review your application and confirm what level of membership makes sense.

 Membership Levels:

  • Supporter - You want to stay informed, but aren't able to contribute more just yet. Anyone can be a Supporter!
  • Core Member - You are willing to put in time and effort to help get this project off the ground. This may look like doing research, helping with administrative tasks, writing proposals for Circles to consider, and more. Core Members will be given priority for becoming Founding Members. 
  • Founding Member* - When the time comes, members who have committed monetarily to the project will become Founding Members. Depending on how our funding and ownership structures are decided, this may take the form of purchasing a home in the community, pooling funds towards a down payment, partaking in a loan, or signing as a tenant.

*There are many paths to making cohousing financially feasible, and no one will become a Founding Member or be asked for financial contributions until that path is determined.