Aside from bringing most people out of their comfort zones, the last few months have resulted in a time for individual and collective reflection, which has brought up the reconsideration of the way we want to live, relate, and impact our world and our communities.

This terrible crisis has also brought some light to our lives by challenging the way we participate in society. We have changed in many ways, and it has been the experience of our actions during this crisis that has shaped the way we want to live from now on.

Developing gratitude and appreciation for life; bringing awareness to our supportive peers and family; boosting our trust, flexibility and empathy among colleagues thanks to remote work; decreasing massive consumerism and production and letting our world breathe by slashing global carbon emissions by more than 8%; connecting to our local communities and performing selfless acts of service for our neighbours; appreciating the privilege of having a window that lets the sun in, or the view of a tree across the street, letting us realise how important nature is for our mental and physical wellbeing; are among many other daily experiences that we can perceive radically - and positively - different.

Re-shaping our beliefs on how we want to live is one of the several outcomes from a crisis that has proved that this world needs to change.

As a result, we find one emerging trend that supports these new acknowledged human needs, and that is promising positive change on the way we live: rural coliving.

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A Glimpse Into The Obvious

While urban coliving is on the rise, rural coliving has in comparison several advantages that facilitates creating a more balanced community, lifestyle and environmental habits.

Firstly, because it is rural, it means that the space is already somewhat isolated. Therefore, residents in the space do not come in and out everyday like they would in the city. Which leads to them spending more time together, and eventually, bonding. An increase in the quality of time spent results often in a stronger connection between residents.

Second, because rural means the space is located in a natural environment, which fulfils the human need of spending time in nature, as well as improving residents’ wellbeing and overall quality of life.

As studies suggest, people living near more green space report less mental distress.

Thirdly, being in rural locations means getting into a slower pace and flow. There is no fast food, no take away, no fast Amazon delivery, or no supermarket next door. As we have realised in the last few months, there’s a lot we don’t really need, and less overconsumption makes a difference for our planet. Understanding where our water comes from makes us take shorter showers. Meeting the neighbour that plants and cares for the produce we eat makes us seldom throw food away. Finding plastic in immaculate woods or beaches helps us remember why we must “reduce - reuse - recycle”.

It all sounds obvious, but many of us tend to forget about these things while living in a concrete jungle. Instead, living in rural areas reminds us every day of what is truly necessary and what is not. It helps us navigate through life with a more conscious perspective.

The New Rural Coliving Wave

The concept of rural coliving is not new: remote coliving spaces, intentional communities and rural cohousing communities have existed for decades. At the same time, changes due to COVID-19 will further catalyse the growth of rural coliving spaces - and lead to more innovation within the scene.

First, there is a growing desire for more long-term stays. COVID-19 reminded us that travelling is not a right, but a luxury, and it should remain that way. With restrictions to only essential travel, we’ve learned to be more intentional about our trips. Which turns out to be a big deal: from short trips to multiple destinations, to longer stays in fewer destinations close to our homes.

Second, there is the rise of a new location-independent workforce. With the forced digitalisation of company processes, new remote workers will be able to choose a location independent life, yet differently than the past “digital nomad” movement. The new generation of remote workers will prefer to be more secure and stable, while experimenting with the adventure of living in new surroundings and improving their quality of life.

Third, there is a high desire from private individuals to open their own coliving spaces. Especially after months of isolation, people with large homes are increasingly thinking about turning them into coliving spaces - often not even with the intention to duplicate the model. The rise of more local, intimate and community-driven spaces will offer a higher diversity from the supply side.

Lastly, rural areas are becoming more welcoming. With a radical drop in tourism, rural areas will have to adapt their economies. In Spain, a study found that 22.7% of villages are at risk of irreversible depopulation.

Rural coliving spaces have the opportunity to bring abandoned villages back to life by bringing diversity and professional opportunities. As an example, organisations such as AlmaNatura or Mokrin House are already leading the way to rural development through coliving.

‘the new generation of remote workers will prefer to be more secure and stable, while experimenting with the adventure of living in new surrounding and improving their quality of life'

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The Future Of Rural Coliving

While rural coliving spaces have been able to grow over recent years and build up their own ecosystem, the question is into which direction the movement will evolve. My belief is that coliving was able to successfully satisfy individual needs until now - reaching levels of operational excellence, financial viability, and ecosystem support.

The future of coliving will therefore be focussed on satisfying communal needs. As Matt Lesniak and Gui Perdrix highlighted in their joint interview “Coliving 3.0 - The Future of Coliving”, coliving spaces need to serve the needs of the collective if they want to thrive. That implies focussing on the needs of the community, of the neighbourhood, and of the environment.

As an abstract concept this is all well and good, but how can we be more concrete? Changes in favour of a coliving that is more holistic don’t need to be big- yet they can make a huge difference. At Sunshine Embassy, our rural coliving space in Mallorca, we decided to focus on some key points to push towards a more innovative communal living model.

First, by setting an intentional vision that commits to the growth and improvement of the community before anything else, rather than the traditional vision of pursuing scalability, where scaling is measured by number of units and ROI. That approach implies finding the right balance between community and financial viability, and prioritising the growth of the community before growth of real estate and units. It also implies having processes in place to measure the health of the community - from surveys to individual talks.

Second, by empowering the local community and integrating ourselves into the area. We strive to have conversations with our neighbours, adjoining towns’ mayors, local farmers, schools and local public and private institutions. Our intention is to become an ally for the development of the local area. For that reason, we created the Sunshine Foundation, an organisation that will enable social and environmental impact projects such as weekly events and our fellowship program: a mentoring program for local, young entrepreneurs to receive advice while living with us. This supports innovation in the island and forms the bridge between expats and locals, bridging the gap between residents and locals, while advocating for diversity and inclusion.

‘Putting it all together, there are three movements of change that are going to influence the rural coliving industry: the expected increase in demand for rural coliving, a change towards more long-term stays, and the call for innovation to coliving operators towards more sustainable, inclusive, community-focussed and locally empowering concepts.’

And third, by not only being responsible for caring for nature but also by becoming climate change action advocates. Saving water or recycling should be like breathing, done without even thinking, without further discussion. It is our duty to bring awareness to our residents towards sustainability. This is why we will ensure that our space and community consumes the minimum amount of resources (those metrics are trackable), and that we balance the inevitable impact we make by committing to our environmental policy and our pledge for a carbon emissions compensation plan. Moreover, our members can volunteer for environmental programs, for example, we’re committing to a reforestation project for native plants, as well as a shoreline plastic cleaning, in partnership with organisations in the area.

Lastly, innovation should still happen on the individual level - especially by offering adaptability and flexibility to residents. In one of my recent keynotes at CMX in Milan, I talked about “knowing your members’ cycles”. Each member of the space has different needs and it is the role of the community to acknowledge that these will change with time too. If we want to give our community the attention that it deserves, we must create solutions that allow our members flexibility which reflects their changing life situations, while maintaining their connection to the space and the community. At Sunshine Embassy, we are enabling flexibility through our membership program, which allows residents to pre-book a certain amount of weeks and use them anytime across the year; and our referral program, which allows members to invite friends and families for up to 7 days. Allowing residents to feel flexibility and ownership ultimately leads to more trust and resident longevity.

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What To Expect Next

Putting it all together, there are three movements of change that are going to influence the rural coliving industry: the expected increase in demand for rural coliving, a change towards more long-term stays, and the call for innovation to coliving operators towards more sustainable, inclusive, community-focussed and locally empowering concepts.

This will not only lead to the growth of rural coliving operators, but inevitably to more questions that need to be answered, such as how urban coliving operators can apply the same principles and what support private individuals can count on to receive help to open their own rural coliving space. Moreover, we will witness more collaboration between operators, potentially seeing more hybrid rural and urban concepts, and see the rise of a professional ecosystem tailored to rural spaces.

Ultimately, the future of coliving will be challenging for operators. Citizens are looking for a real connection: to nature, to people, to purpose, to life. In the coliving industry, we’re all talking about like- minded communities and peers, but the time has arrived to acknowledge that a holistic coliving space is not something that happens with one Margarita Cocktail Night a week. This new approach requires work, commitment, and true purpose. And once that is grounded, then yes, real connection will rise naturally and will bloom among members, allowing coliving to stay and become a solution to the future of residential living.