A cohousing project in Brussels on Hagrou

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Under construction

Alice

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Short bio

Charlotte

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Short bio

Claire

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Short bio

Florent

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Short bio

Geoffrey

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Short bio

Governance

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The collective is organized into working groups that aim to achieve specific objectives validated by the group. Each working group is autonomous and regularly presents its progress and seeks validation from the collective according to a consent decision-making process. Certain decisions are made by consensus (inclusion of members, long-term financial issues, and ethical/fundamental issues).

Following the adoption of the charter, work was carried out to refine the governance and legal structure of the organization.

Our governance? Shared, obviously #

We have chosen shared governance as the organizational model for how the group operates. While some groups work with leaders (elected or not) and assemblies that deliberate and make decisions, shared governance is based on the principle that every member is sovereign, with power distributed equally among all.

Hagrou chose shared governance to ensure that power remains distributed equitably and that no individual or subgroup has more influence than another. This seems to us today to be the structure best suited to our values. This is closely linked to the concept of resilience, which is very important to us: unhealthy power dynamics are natural among humans, and we wanted to prevent them as much as possible. Since shared governance offers many tools that suit us, it was natural to move toward this mode of operation.

We use shared governance methodologies at several levels:

Decision-making (consent and consensus)
Meeting facilitation (election of facilitators and secretaries without candidates)
Task distribution (operating through working groups)
Transparency of everyone’s work (work channels open to everyone)
etc.

Hagrou’s legal structure #

We are currently working on defining the legal structure. This page will be updated later.

Hicham

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Short bio

Isabelle

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Short bio

Join us

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

You want to join the Hagrou adventure?

We are always looking for new members to help build the project and live at the chosen location, hopefully from early 2028 onwards (for more information about the location, visit this page).

What is the process for joining Hagrou?

Write to us at hagrouu@proton.net telling us a little about yourself and why you are interested in the project!
We will invite you to a presentation of the project.
If you are interested in the project, we will ask you to fill out a short questionnaire to confirm your desire to continue the discussion and to find out exactly what you are looking for in terms of space and number of rooms.
We will then invite you to our meetings as a guest member (once every 2 to 3 weeks) and share more details about the project with you. To ensure you are well supported, a pair of buddies will make sure that your integration into the collective goes smoothly: you can ask them any questions you may have!
Once you have attended five meetings, if you confirm your wish to join the project, the collective will decide by consensus on your integration.

Julius

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

I grow mold.

Location

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The Hagrou adventure is currently at the project stage: we are a collective that is preparing to build a future common residential space.

We have identified a site in Schaerbeek and we are proceeding with the design phase, obtain planning permission, and finally renovate! If the project goes ahead, we hope to be able to move in at the beginning of 2028.

The collective housing will consist of three buildings connected by a green space for residents (greenhouse, chicken coop, pond, children’s playground… still to be decided!). In addition to individual apartments, the site will include a large multipurpose room open to the public on an occasional basis, social and craft rooms, guest rooms, bicycle storage, a laundry room for shared washing machines, etc.

The project aims to create 16 housing units, and we are not yet full! If you would like to join the adventure, click here :)

Marika

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Short bio

Nicolas

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Short bio

Romain

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Short bio

Sébastian

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Short bio

Simon

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Short bio

The charter

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Our charter is the backbone of Hagrou: it sets out the pillars that motivated the creation of the group, that structure it and that guide us in the human adventure that is cohousing. The first version of the charter was Hagrouved on September 22, 2025.

The three pillars divide the charter into three parts.

The first part focuses on adelphity. Hagrou promotes values such as hospitality, fairness, inclusivity, awareness and appreciation of diversity, solidarity, and the pooling of resources (material, time, knowledge, etc.). Governance and communication choices underpin these values.

The second part focuses on poetry, taken in its etymological sense of “creative process.” Hagrou values art, aesthetics, play, and inventiveness as sources of reflexivity, renewal, and connection. These ideals guide interactions and community life within our community. The space allocated to the arts and games in the commons reflects this philosophy.

The third and final part focuses on robustness. Hagrou aims for simplicity and transparency in both its communication and its structure. It seeks to develop its adaptability and versatility in order to ensure its long-term viability (rather than its short or medium-term performance).

These three pillars are closely intertwined and respond to each other.

Read the charter of Hagro

Timeline

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

[a beautiful timeline]