What is Sociocracy, and How Do We Use it at Killick Ecovillage?
If you’ve looked into cohousing at all, you’ve probably run into the word “sociocracy” and wondered what it means.
Like many other cohousing / co-operative developments, we have chosen sociocracy as our governing framework here at Killick Ecovillage. Sociocracy is how we manage everything from building a new chicken co-op to the financial model to ensure accessibility and long-term sustainability of the ecovillage. Also known as dynamic governance, sociocracy provides a way to make decisions without top-down management by using decentralized, consent-based structures. What does that mean, exactly?
Let’s begin with how we’re used to making decisions:
If you’ve ever been part of a committee or board, you’ve likely experienced being part of a group that makes decisions in one of two ways:
- Someone in charge decides, and everyone follows that decision.
- Or the group votes, and the majority wins while everyone else just lives with it.
And if you’ve ever been through a difficult decision with a group using one of those two techniques, it’s likely you’ve experienced the frustration of not feeling heard, or comfortable, with the outcome of a decision.
“In other groups I’ve been part of, where it’s a majority vote, I’ve sometimes left a meeting wondering whether people actually agreed with the decision or were just going along with it. I don’t find I have that same uncertainty with sociocracy.” – Serena, Resident Member
Why we chose to use sociocracy at Killick Ecovillage
With sociocracy, our decisions are based on consent. Often, people confuse this with consensus, which is a completely different decision-making practice.
Consensus: In consensus situations, everyone must agree on the final group decision. A lot of intentional communities start with full consensus, where every single person has to agree before anything moves. Sounds ideal. In practice, it can grind a community to a halt. One person can block something that fifty others want.
Consent: Consent doesn’t mean everyone loves the idea. It means nobody has a serious objection to the proposal. You don’t need to be excited by the idea or love it wholeheartedly. You can still think that you would have preferred a different outcome, but you can live with this decision because it won’t harm the group or get in the way of its purpose.
A simple way to explain it is this: consent asks “can we live with this,” not “do we love this.” As a gauge or check, we may ask ourselves, “is this good enough for now, safe enough to try?”
This framework means decision-making can move faster than full consensus, where one holdout can cause a group to get stuck for months. And, we avoid the issue of majority vote “winning” over those who disagree.
Sociocracy still protects people’s voices. But it asks for a reasoned objection, not just discomfort or a preference for something else. “I have a concern this will hurt the co-op financially” stops the process. “I’d just rather we did it another way” gets a conversation, not a veto.
“I find sociocracy feels much more fair because everyone has an opportunity to participate, without having to be the person who is quickest to speak or has the strongest personality in the room. As a member, I feel much more comfortable with decisions knowing that everyone has had a chance to give their input. There’s also less second-guessing or discussion outside of meetings because people have had the opportunity to say their piece. Sometimes it can be difficult to offer a dissenting or different perspective, but people are encouraged to do so, and we try to see those perspectives as helpful to the bigger picture.” – Serena, Resident Member
For a community of members who have money invested and with plenty of important decisions that need to actually get made, that balance matters. It’s why sociocracy shows up across cohousing developments here in Canada, and why it’s the backbone of how Killick Ecovillage runs.
“The sociocracy we use in our decision making can at first seem a little overwhelming as newcomers to this way of governance but once we get the hang of it, it becomes quite efficient and involves everyone’s voice not just the loudest ones. It’s working quite well for this project.” – Kyle Reid Fairhurst, Founder & Resident Member
When we have a larger decision that needs to come to the whole group, we meet as a Full Circle with all members – including resident members, explorer and social members. Only resident members are able to participate in the consent decision, but all members are welcome to share their ideas and concerns in the conversation leading up to that decision.
“You do have more power to have your voice heard, but you have to do your homework and make a compelling case for any objection. In majority votes you can usually show up and say no without any need to back that up. And we are constantly learning how to better facilitate that – people’s feelings and opinions matter, a lot, but we also need to move things forward – it is a tricky balance that everyone involved is responsible for. So it’s a lot more work, but the work is important, and helps us all continue to grow as humans, as a community – there is a bigger picture most other governance models forget.” – Wendy Reid Fairhurst, Founder & Resident Member
How we get more good work done faster using sociocracy
Sociocracy also splits a group’s work and decision-making into smaller working circles, each responsible for one area, instead of placing every decision on the level of the whole group.
Our circles include Membership, Marketing, Development, Finance & Legal, Permaculture, Community Life, Startup & Operations, and Coordination. As we come closer to building & moving in, new circles will emerge to meet expanding needs, and some of the original circles will transition into new forms & goals.
When I joined Killick Ecovillage as an explorer member, I chose the Marketing Circle because it was the best use of my skills as a web designer & marketing professional. My husband is on the Finance & Legal Circle because he loves spreadsheets and has organizational management skills to offer. Each member has the opportunity to join a circle that best matches their interests and skills so we function best together as a whole.
Each circle can act inside its own lane, so the whole community can move forward without being hung up on every single choice.
- The permaculture circle handles farm decisions.
- The finance and legal circle handles the books and ensures financial and legal health and compliance.
- The community life circle organizes social events and builds community
- The membership circle supports new members as they explore joining Killick Ecovillage.
For example, let’s imagine in the future a member wants to harvest wild blueberries from the shared property to make jam to sell at the market. This request would go perhaps to our permaculture circle. They would look at it, weigh in, and approve it, suggest conditions for approval, or raise a real concern. Nobody needs a vote from all 51 households to resolve a decision.
This matters more here than in a regular neighbourhood, because we’ll be sharing two common houses, a farm, and optional group meals five nights a week. When you’re that connected, a dynamic of “majority wins, minority deals with it” would wear co-op members down quickly.
“We are still always learning, teaching or reinforcing things with each other, self-reflecting and seeing where we could be better.” – Founder member Wendy Reid Fairhurst
Along with sociocracy, we have also built a set of Community Agreements underneath all of this: try to be equitable, stay open to learning, deal with conflict head-on instead of letting it fester. While Sociocracy gives us the structure for how we make decisions, the agreements shape how we care for one another as humans.
Circles Help Us Grow
Many of our circles meet 100% by zoom, allowing members who are not yet in Newfoundland to fully participate in the development & growth of the ecovillage. Even our in-person full-circle meetings include a circular zoom camera and microphone to allow our far-away members to join and participate via zoom. It has been a wonderful way to get to know one another from afar in smaller circles. complemented by in-person gatherings such as our recent Killick Connection Week.
We are building a place where people feel genuinely heard, where decisions don’t stall forever, and where nobody has more say just because they talk the loudest or got here first. Killick Ecovillage is a community shaped by each of us, and we are stronger for it.