Ecobarrios Archive

Call of the Mountain 2012: The First IberoAmerican EcoVillage Gathering!

Tracy Barnett

Published: February 15, 2012Posted in: Featured, WhyTags: CASA, Colombia, Consejo de Visiones, Ecobarrios, Ecovillages, Global Ecovillage Network, Latin America, permaculture, Rio +20, sustainability, Vision Council

Call of the Mountain 2012: The First IberoAmerican EcoVillage Gathering!

Editor’s note: I wanted to be there but couldn’t! But luckily, kindred spirits and fellow travelers Leti and Ryan of Comuntierra were able to attend the Llamado de la Montaña, Call of the Mountain – a living laboratory and visionary gathering of the souls in the beautiful Cauca Valley of Colombia. Their chronicle of the event follows another, more personal one – Crossing Continents, the story of how they and their solar- and propane-powered bus, Minhoca, made the giant leap from Central to South America.

By Leticia Rigatti and Ryan Luckey
Común Tierra

From the moment we found out about the Consejo de Visiones: Llamado de la Montaña 2012 (Vision Council: Call of the Mountain 2012), we knew we would be there. Even thousands of miles away from the host of the event, Atlantida EcoVillage in the south of Colombia, we heard the call, and marked it on our calendar, a source of inspiration waiting for us in Colombia. We did everything to get there.

Of course it wasn’t easy, as the nomadic life is full of surprises and challenges… we were in Mexico at the time, and had to cross half the continent, through Central America and the Panama Canal to South America. It was months of hard work and many adventures traveling through 6 countries, visiting projects, editing materials, raising money to support the project … with the passage of our pilgrimage to the south, the gathering became almost a mythical destination for us, always giving us direction and motivation to make it to South America.

Our Journey

When people asked us how long it took to arrive at the Llamado, the response of 15 months seemed like a joke, but it was the truest answer we could give! More than a year ago we designed our route and plans to arrive in time for the gathering. Minhoca, our beloved motorhome, has her own rhythm, and is a bit slower and more complex than a normal car, bus, etc…. We had multiple problems with both of our fuel systems (propane and gasoline), and we had to make the most difficult crossing of the trip, crossing the Panama Canal, and then cross the entire length of Colombia to get to Atlantida.

After a successful crossing into Colombia, we took a break on our way South, storing Minhoca with our dear friends Kawak and Sandalo in their beautiful ranch in Antioquia… The two then joined us on the way to the Llamado.

Sándalo, Ryan, Kawak, Minhoca and the dogs!

In early January the four of us set out towards the gathering, finally approaching the event that we had looked forward to for so long. Two more friends joined us in Cali, Katie and Blitz, who had flown down from California to travel with us for a few weeks and participate in the gathering. We headed out the 6 of us, still with severe mechanical difficulties: the engine was so weak that during the long uphill climbs on the way we couldn’t manage more than 5 miles per hour … a pedestrian walked faster than us! But finally, we reached Atlantida at midnight on January 4, exhausted and relieved.

Meeting with ENA

The first two days before the event, January 5-6, we participated in a conference of ENA, the EcoVillage Network of the Americas. ENA is a branch of GEN, the Global EcoVillage Network, and was founded in the 90’s to connect projects and create a network. ENA was created in a different era of the EcoVillage movement and, recently inactive, called the meeting to take a look at the future of the organization and how to accompany the growth and transformation of the EcoVillage movements in the Americas.

Out of this meeting came the proposal to create C.A.S.A., a new organizational platform to include EcoVillages, Eco-Caravans, EcoBarrios and other Urban Sustainability projects. CASA means Consejo de Asentamientos Sustentables de las Americas, or Council of Sustainable Settlements of the Americas, and is a new organization that will work alongside ENA, amplifying relations with parallel movements, creating partnerships and helping to empower all of the eco-community projects to succeed and gain recognition as real-life solutions for the global transition we are in. The organizational process actually lasted all week, and now is in the hands of working groups who are organizing activities for the Peace Village to take place during the RIO+20 conference in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012.

The Call of the Mountain 2012

The Call of the Mountain is a meeting of the EcoVillages in Colombia that has been happening for 5 years, and this year the proposal was to expand the annual gathering to be a Consejo de Visiones, a Vision Council, continuing a tradition that has been building for over 20 years throughout Latin America.

The event officially began January 7 and lasted through the 14, bringing together 478 people from 28 countries worldwide, a very diverse group: ecovillagers, environmentalists, indigenous groups, local communities, holistic therapists, spiritual seekers, etc… Diverse but united in seeking a just and sustainable world for all. Following the organizational structure of the Vision Council, there were 10 different Councils covering topics and cultural themes that together form the worldview and practices to build a better world. In this edition, the Councils were: Ecology, Health and Healing, Arts and Culture, Education, Youth, New Time (Council of the Noosphere), Spirituality and Traditions, Solidarity Economy, Networks and Social Movements, and the Council of Latin American Ecovillages.

A Typical Day at the Gathering

Each day began with a choice of several Energetic Awakening activities: meditation, yoga, breathing, BioDanza, and so on. Those who wanted to sleep in joined the rest for breakfast between 8-9, and then everyone went to the Plenary, where important announcements were made, and then certain leaders and elders were invited to give conferences. From the plenary, we split up into the 10 councils, each organizing their own activities and workshops. After lunch there was some free time for personal activities and a barter market, and then from 3 to 6 more workshops and activities within the Councils.

By late afternoon, we gathered in the great Maloka to practice Universal Dances of Peace, circular dances that incorporate sacred music from around the world. It was always a special moment to come together as a community and feel the power of our unity, singing and circling together, praying for peace in the world.

After dinner was la Noche Magica, (Magic Night) with artistic shows, open mic, and concerts in the Maloka.
Throughout the days we all shared everyday work of the Village, primarily by helping in the kitchen, cleaning and serving meals to the community. The teams were organized according to the color of a badge that each participant received upon entry to the gathering. A fundamental dynamic of these gatherings is that all participants work for the village and are a part of making it all happen.

Cooking in gigantic pots over the kitchen fire

The Ibero-American EcoVillage Gathering

The Llamado was also simultaneously the Ibero-American EcoVillage Gathering, which meant the EcoVillage Council was really active with workshops and presentations from EcoVillages throughout the Americas and Europe, and of course a lot of cross-pollination and alliance-building.

Our new friend Diana Leafe Christian, EcoVillage journalist and researcher

Also, much of the vision and structure of C.A.S.A. was further discussed and developed during brainstorms and meetings within the EcoVillage Council, solidifying the validity and importance of this new organizational proposal.

Común Tierra Activities

During the gathering, we had the opportunity to share some of the learning from our 20 month long (and counting) journey through Mexico and Central America, sharing ideas and stories collected from the projects we have visited so far.

Leti and “Coyote” Alberto Ruz Buenfil, from the Consejo de Visiones/Rainbow Peace Caravan

As part of the Ecology Council, we hosted a workshop on the construction of bike-machines, showing our 2 videos on the topic, and demonstrating Darlene and Burbuja, blending up a banana smoothie and even washing some clothes.

Pedal power!

At night we organized the Cinema Consejo, exhibiting some Común Tierra short films, and opening a space for other people and projects present at the gathering to exhibit their own work.

And of course, SEED EXCHANGE!

RENACE

Colombia has a national EcoVillage Network, called RENACE, which has been organizing the annual Llamados and coordinates other functions of the national EcoVillage movement. Among other activities, RENACE organizes an alternative currency that works throughout Colombia’s EcoVillages, called La Montaña, The Mountain, which was used during the event’s barter market. During the final day of the meeting RENACE met to discuss the network, and decide how to organize next years meeting, the Call of the Mountain 2013.

This Consejo de Visiones was very well organized and planned. With nearly 500 people, the event had tons of activities, always punctual, well communicated and well structured. The timing of meals, the plenary sessions, the activities were always on time, something not always easy in our Latino culture. The beautiful Maloka built for the event held space for the entire gathering with an energy of integration and spirituality. We know that organizing an event like this is a great challenge and a donation of time and energy, requiring a lot of work to manifest.

That’s why we are so grateful to the team of organizers of RENACE and especially of the Atlantida EcoVillage who invested so much energy and infrastructure for the event, and the Atlantida EcoVillagers who offered their love and dedication to make this gathering possible. Through these examples, these labors of love, we are inspired to see it is possible to build together as a community, that we do have all the conditions to be the change we want in the world, and most importantly, we can do it with love and high-quality standards. Thank you familia!

For more photos, click on our Facebook page here.

The Organi-K whirlwind

Tracy Barnett

Published: January 13, 2010Posted in: Climate Change, Featured, Mexico City, Organi-K, Permaculture, Reforestation, Transportation, Urban green space, WhyTags: climate change, COP16, Ecobarrios, environment, green roofs, Latin America, Mexico, Mexico City, sustainability

By Tracy L. Barnett
Yesterday I met with some of the most influential leaders of Mexico City’s environmental movement. Between all the cell phone calls and agenda-checking and detail management, Organi-K founder Arnold Ricalde de Jager shared a few insights in an interview I’ll post a little later. I also got a little window into the whirlwind that is Organi-K.

On the agenda: an alternative forum for the upcoming COP16 talks, to be held in December right here in Mexico City; Pepenafest, a festival to celebrate creative uses of garbage, scheduled for the spring; regrouping for a referendum among the residents at Lomas de Platero, the Ecobarrio project the group is helping to organize;a reforestation project; a ban on plastic bags; a new edition of their seminal book, EcoHabitat; green roofs and recycling, animal rights, the list goes on and on.

But right now, between meetings and phone calls, Arnold has been asked to give a few moments to a wandering journalist, and his attention focuses on the big picture. Ricalde, a founder of the Mexican Green Party, broke ranks with the party when it veered to the right, has served as a city counselor and an advisor to Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, an author and a teacher of sustainability principles, but above all a charismatic organizer, capable of inspiring and mobilizing the masses over the long haul. He flashes a megawatt smile worthy of a Brad Pitt and launches into an impassioned analysis, barely stopping to take a breath.

Mexico City’s growing emphasis on sustainable principles, promoted by Ebrard but carried out by environmental departments in every city agency and ratified by a cooperative legislative assembly, has been driven by necessity, Ricalde says – by the arrival of peak oil, by the dwindling water supplies, by an increase in prices. “It’s not that we woke up one day and it occurred to us to become environmentalists.”

“We had to do it, of necessity,” he said. “20 years ago, we were the most contaminated city on the planet, and we paid the price with our economy, with our health, with our citizenry, and now that we’re running out of oil in this country, we see that the costs of public transport are increasing, and we’re seeing the prices of consumer items increasing, too. We have to make the transition to sustainability; we have no other option.”

Organi-K works to push legislation, like a ban on plastic bags that went through last year, with companies given a year to comply. But more important, Ricalde says, is the change going on at the personal leve.

“After getting various environmental laws passed, trying to move the issue at the governmental level, we realize that this is important, but the most important is the change in each person, in his or her consumption habits; in how one transports oneself, in how they manage their waste, if they separate and recycle, if they make compost – everyone can make compost in their own home.

“Over the years, we’ve learned that ecological change begins within oneself, what we can do in our relationship with the environment. From how we transport ourselves – how I move throughout the day, how much trash I generate, am I consuming organic products or no, do I go by bicycle or by Metro, for example…”

There was much more, and I’ll come back to this with a translation of the interview, but now I have to prepare to meet with the grandfather of the Latin American environmental movement, “Subcoyote” Alberto Ruz, founder of the Rainbow Caravan for Peace.

First I want to mention briefly the others at the meeting, because I’ll be coming back to them, as well: Noelle Romero, a tireless organizer of the Green Circle project and many other initiatives, and Laura Kuri, founder of the bioregional movement in Mexico. I’ll be meeting Noelle on Friday to learn more about green roofs, and I’ll be visiting with Laura at her ecocenter in Cuernavaca later in the month.

Now, for a visit with the Subcoyote…. hasta mañana, amigos.

From left, Lupita (Arnold's assistant), Arnold Ricalde de Jager, Laura Kuri, Noelle Romero

Greening the barrios in Mexico City

Tracy Barnett

Published: October 28, 2009Posted in: Mexico City, Organi-K, Permaculture, Urban green space, What, WhyTags: Arnold Ricalde, Ecobarrios, Latin America, Mexico, Mexico City, Noelle Romero, Organi-K, permaculture, sustainability, urban farming

<!--:en-->Greening the barrios in Mexico City<!--:-->

Saving your garbage is a tough sell in a place where gardening is seen as peasant labor. But that doesn’t stop Dulce María Vega from rolling up her sleeves, going door-to-door and recruiting her neighbors for a grand mission.

Dulce is the friendly face of sustainability in her neighborhood. With more than 30,000 residents, Lomas de Plateros is one of Mexico City’s largest apartment complexes. When she first teamed up with Noelle Romero, a member of Organi-K and who works for the city’s Comission for the Integral Development of Solid Waste as coordinator of the Green Circle project, to establish a pilot for an Ecobarrio at the massive complex, people thought she’d lost her senses.

“First we ask them to do something very simple: to separate their organic waste from the inorganic waste,” she explains. “Most of them don’t want to work with the compost because they consider it dirty work, playing with the soil – but that’s ok.”

It took awhile, but soon the neighbors grew accustomed to seeing her, and a few of them even began to join her out in the garden. “Now they’re beginning to understand it to the point that at least it doesn’t disgust them to take their organic waste and put it in a bucket so we can pass by for it. “

And as they began to see the tasty fruits of her labors – tomatoes, beans, broccoli, lettuce and strawberries, for example – more of them started coming around.

“Now you can begin to see the contrast,” she said. “They come by and see the seeds have germinated and they’re amazed to see it’s a living thing because they’ve forgotten that food comes from nature.”

Ten families in her section of the complex are now participating, saving their garbage and their recyclables for pickup and even getting their hands dirty by working the compost and planting. Now a group of 15 families in another section of Lomas de Plateros and who collaborate with a subdivision of the city Ministry of Social Development known as “Participacion Ciudadana” (Citizen Participation) have expressed an interest in starting their own composting and gardening project, and Dulce will be the one to organize it.

A recycling dropoff center will be installed in the complex to collect paper, plastic, metal, glass and tetrapack – this latter being the boxes used to package milk and juice that are nearly impossible to recycle in the United States. At the same time, the groups will be experimenting with vertical crops and organoponics. Finally, the Comission for the Integral Development of Solid Waste and other local organizations is launching the Green Circle in a similar project in Section F, the largest of Lomas de Platero’s sections with more than 10,000 residents.

Early this year, the Green Circle initiated an urban agriculture program, granted by the city Ministry for Rural Development and Equity for the Communities (SEDEREC). Lomas de Plateros Section I-4, where Dulce lives obtained the grant and soon the place will have intensive urban crops,

But this project is about more than gardening and recycling, Noelle explains. It is a seed project for an Ecobarrio.

Dulce and Noelle

“We need a new vision, a new paradigm,” said Noelle. “With the Green Circle we’re giving a great message: Minimize your solid residues, minimize your consumption, take advantage of your organics and make them into compost, which in turn will give you the fertilizer for urban organic agriculture.

“So this is how we’re going to close the cycle; and thousands of people who live here will be able to see that you can grow your own food and be sustainable food-wise. This is going to change the vision.”

Dulce, an avid gardener and recycler, had been thinking for some time about how to get her neighbors involved in greening up the city. So when Noelle approached her about starting a pilot program for urban organic agriculture, she jumped at the chance. The composting and gardening project, called the Circulo Verde or Green Circle, is designed to teach people to close the cycle in their organic waste production by bringing it full circle, converting it to soil and then to food for neighborhood consumption and eventually to supplement volunteers’ income.

Organi-K, an environmental group founded by former Green Party leader Arnold Ricalde, is the hub for a variety of initiatives ranging from reforestation to recycling. Organi-K implements the concepts of permaculture, an environmental design system invented in Australia in the 1980s and making its way around the world.

Early this year, Organi-K received a grant from the city’s Commission for the Integral Development of Solid Waste to initiate an urban agriculture program, and Noelle became the coordinator. She began scouting for places to launch the program, and Lomas de Plateros seemed a logical place to start because of its size and the green spaces available.

The Ecobarrios, project, as Noelle explains it, revolves around the establishment of a community that holds a new vision of sustainability. Participants will be given tools to help them track their progress in waste reduction and consumption of resources. The long-term plan has three phases:

1. The Green Circle composting and gardening project. “Once they change their food consumption habits and grow their own food, a new vision can be born regarding responsible consumption and food sustainability,” Noelle says.

2. Sustainable water consumption. “How can we harvest water in times of an approaching cut in water services? What water saving systems can be implemented in people’s homes, and what water consumption habits can be encouraged in these families, such as using biodegradable products or using less water while washing dishes, taking showers, doing laundry, washing cars, etc.”

3. Sustainable energy consumption. Here the community implementation of energy saving systems, installs energy-efficient light bulbs, installs solar water heaters and if possible, solar panels.

“By the end of the third phase of an Ecobarrio, we would expect to have a community that holds a new vision and that follows a new life paradigm of love and collaboration with the planet,” Noelle says.

Looking ahead, another Ecobarrios project set to begin soon is in the Pemex housing complex, home to 7,000 people. The Tlalpan municipality is funding the project here, and the group is just waiting for a change in administration in the housing complex to begin another Circulo Verde project.

Organi-K has applied for funding from the Instituto de la Vivienda (the housing department) for an even more ambitious project that would implement ecotechnologies on a new housing project in Iztapalapa, on the western outskirts of the city.

Keep an eye on this blog for future developments, and contact Noelle Romero at noelleromero@yahoo.com.mx or Arnold Ricalde at despertares222@yahoo.com.mx if you want to pay a visit to Organi-K and lend a hand with one of its projects.

See the slide show here.