Ambos /Cornish language m. noun - agreement, contract, obligation, pact, promise.

Why? Originally back in 2017 a few of us got together and decided we want to do something about the lack of affordable homes in and around Falmouth and launched our cohousing initiative. Along the way, we realized that the archaic system of land ownership and market speculation was not only hampering our vision, but also the vision of many other land-based community groups. So we set up the Community Land Trust (CLT) in November 2021 with a broad focus to ‘secure land for community benefit’, with cohousing forming one of our core pursuits (read our full membership agreement here).

Our five founding values sit at the heart of why we exist, forming our ‘Pact’ our ‘Ambos’!

    • Connected to place, nature and each other.

    • Support the development of intentional communities that look outward; welcoming places, committed as much to the prosperity of the wider neighbourhood as they are to their own flourishing.

    • Foster Dynamic Governance and consent based decision making to empowers all members.

    • Thoughtful gathering and sharing of skills, funds and ideas to make places that are as brilliant as they can possibly be.

    • Use knowledge and collaborative learning to inspire the conversation around design and living, both within Ambos projects and beyond into the wider community.

    • Sharing space and stuff. Be well-balanced and thoughtful to ensure resources are well utilized.

    • Making and mending is important to us, we want to put an end to a throw away culture.

    • Make things easily accessible on foot or bike, cars are designed for but not prioritized.

    • Ensure equality of opportunity to encourage a diverse mix of individuals and families to get involved.

    • Encourage alternative models of land ownership outside of the market to increase peoples choice.

    • Use business models, by virtue of their collective approach, to encourage mutual benefit over individual gain and increase people’s opportunity to be part of a social enterprise.

    • Encourage creative participation and explore our imaginations to ensure that places remains vibrant, relevant and fit for present and future generations.

    • To encourage regenerative lifestyles, by creating and maintaining green space for play areas, growing food and medicine and  wildlife habitats.

    • A place that through its proximity to existing community and facilities inspires regeneration beyond its borders. For the long run.

    • We are ‘placemakers’ not developers - We support the Community Land Trust movement to reinforce the importance of ‘Building Belonging’ rather than building developments.

    • Provide stable, secure, long term homes through mutual ownership models, where investment is about way more than money, and where the sense of ownership is about the place and a vision of the people living there.

    • Mindful of environment and ecology, drawing on the latest technologies and techniques to keep the footprint small.

Who's on the Board?