Intentional Community
How did it start? What is it about? How does it work?
Tui Community was founded in 1984 with the aim to create intentional community. The group purchased a farm consisting of 50 hectares (125 acres) in Wainui Bay. Over the years community people and processes have evolved. Now it is a blend of an “intentional community” and a “village” where people deliberately come together to share lives in a way that reaches out beyond nuclear family living.
As a community living together, we are seeking wholeness through fulfilling relationships with ourselves, each other and the planet.
Community Mission Statement, 1991
Tui Culture
Guiding pillars of Tui Culture are:
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Tui Community is a working example of intentional community living, and
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those who call Tui their home are kaitiaki of 125 acres of precious land we choose to caretake.
Tui Culture is shaped by
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how we relate to ourselves as individuals,
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how we interact and organise ourselves as people,
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how we caretake the land, and
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how we engage with people and society outside of Tui and the more-than-human community.
Our culture is evolving and we like to look at it as a living experiment we relate to with curiosity and care.
Community Glue
Community glue is created at Tui whenever we consciously connect with one another on physical, mental, emotional, and energetic levels, as well as support one another’s vocations and life purpose.
To support this, it is part of the commitment of being at Tui to show up to weekly community meals and meetings, Tukis and working bees, and to contribute to our Energy Input System. Read more about our Energy Input System and how we look after Tui Land HERE.
A Journey to create New Culture
We meet regularly for heart-share & community meetings and aim for an inclusive culture. Currently we are exploring a combination of Torus Technology and consensus-based decision making with the use of coloured cards in meetings.
In our interpersonal relationships we practice conscious communication and conflict navigation as best as we each are capable. Since the beginning of Tui, if there is a conflict between two people they are encouraged to seek courageous conversations to resolve the issue and restore their relationship, if need be, supported by a third person mediating. We remind each other to explore whether being in connection yields better results than being right.
In our experience the journey towards a new culture, conscious adulthood and self-responsibility has always been a part of Tui. We see it as evolutionary and shaped by the learnings and insights from making many mistakes… We fail, pay attention to or ask for feedback about what happened, and try again.
Over the years there have been a variety of modalities that have contributed to Tui’s evolution, e.g. Domain Shift, Quality Circle, Compassionate Communication, and more recently Possibility Management.
Possibility Management
In recent years several people at Tui have been exploring and practising Possibility Management (PM). With more than 50% of Tuis having done an “Expand the Box”-training, the core training of PM, the community is steadily moving towards a higher level of responsibility.
PM tools are being used in day-to-day life by individuals in Tui to take self-responsibility for our personal healing and to move communication roadblocks, expectations and resentments. As a result, we have been seeing relationships and the community as a whole improve and grow in resilience.
Celebrations & Gatherings
Each of our community meetings begins with a dedicated space, where we express specific appreciation for each other and contributions made on Tui.
We celebrate Solstice every year with a tradition of everyone offering a hand-made gift to another person to honour them. Young and old take part.
For Solstice and Equinox, some of us enjoy visiting our medicine wheel at dawn to acknowledge the cycles changing, let go of what’s no longer needed, and set intentions.
We celebrate each other's special occasions, such as birthdays, births, and important life transitions.
Three times a year we come together for a Tuki, a weekend with a Tui focus. The intention is to connect, to be with what needs attention on Tui, and to create our next steps as a community. Half a day of working bee are often part of these, as we find working together a powerful way to build community.
Sharing & Outreach
Tui is a living example of intentional community. We welcome people into our community experience through work exchange and live-in programs.
While we certainly are far from having everything figured out and being perfect, many people have a rich experience to witness our ongoing evolution and investigate the learnings already made over 35+ years in action. Check out how to visit Tui HERE.
In our events venue, the Tui Treefield, several of us offer a variety of educational & community events, and several Tui residents also attend events. Find out more.
