Chile Update – Permaculture: Designing a Healthy Building with Principles in Mind
Aid Projects, Building, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Education Centres, Society, Village Development — by Grifen Hope July 1, 2010
Editor’s Note: Below, Grifen Hope gives us an excellent update on progress since my recent trip to Chile to profile and promote the fantastic work under way there.
It’s the shortest day of the year in Chile and the rain is coming down. It is cold and wet. As we celebrate the new year and the return of the sun, thousands of people in the surrounding region are living in government supplied shacks… affectionately termed "Mediagua" or half water. Most of them are leaking with the rain, and the wind is coming in. You can find photos here.
The government has not yet started the reconstruction effort. We imagine they are trying to get through the winter with temporary emergency housing, and to begin construction in the spring, when the dust settles a little. Here in El Manzano we are doing our best to inject common sense into the debate. Many are listening. Small strategic actions can have wide repercussions, and though we cannot take the credit for the actions of others, we can be sure that our voice has resounded widely in Chile and many are following the lead.
Comments (2)Wanted: Two Permaculture Interns in Chile!
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Project Positions — by Grifen Hope April 4, 2010
Please forward widely. The Apple Tree Eco School in the BíoBío region of Chile is looking for two experienced entrepreneurial permaculture interns starting May 2010. We need: 1) an experienced administrator proficient in English and Spanish to help manage a busy permie office, planning and promotions, and 2) an experienced gardener to assist in production, processing and distribution of organic food. This is an unprecedented opportunity to work in Permaculture centre connected to Gaia University, Transition Towns and the Permaculture Research Institute. Get hands on experience in the management of Permaculture projects, relief work, design consultancy, teacher training, transition training and much, much more. All food and board provided. Successful applicants will also have opportunities to self-generate income. Start your Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design, on the edge, working where it counts. Contact Grifen Hope or Javiera Carrión with a detailed CV and a letter of application through our website www.ecoescuela.cl
People interested in this opportunity should contact me on grifenhope (at) gmail.com
Gracias,
Grifen Hope
Chile – Good News for a Change
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres — by Grifen Hope March 27, 2010
Chile Trembles and the World Changes: by seconds and degrees
Hola Friends, We are just over three weeks out from the big shake with the dust now settling in Chile, and have a clearer picture of the damage. We realise that we are blessed and uniquely prepared to make a big difference in the restoration of Bio Bio Chile. In coming months we will be living up to our destiny as a regional centre and living university of Transition, fully engaged in regenerative design for eco-social regeneration.
Can you help us to invest in the resilience of our small rural community in Chile post quake as a living model of local resilience that can be replicated throughout this devastated region of Chile?
Comments (3)Please Get Behind Our Efforts to Demonstrate Sustainable Development and Relief for Chile Quake/Tsunami Victims
Aid Projects, Building, Community Projects, Conservation, Demonstration Sites, Eco-Villages, Education Centres, Energy Systems, Ethical Investment, Irrigation, Networking Sites, News, People Systems, Society, Village Development, Waste Systems & Recycling, Water Harvesting — by Grifen Hope March 20, 2010
Editor’s Preamble: Permaculturists famously endeavour to ‘turn the problem into a solution’. At the moment we have a tremendous opportunity to apply this principle in wonderful, productive ways in disaster-hit Chile. The quake-tsunami combo that hit on February 27, 2010 has created a void just begging for sustainable relief and re-development. Grifen Hope, who writes below and who leads out at Ecoescuela El Manzano, a partner organisation to the Permaculture Research Institute, is well positioned to fill that void with all kinds of permaculture goodness – in the form of low-cost environmentally friendly buildings, improved sanitation and nutrient cycling through construction of composting toilets, water harvesting systems and in education in home garden design, etc. Grifen’s already established and successful project and his national contacts make this a particularly significant opportunity, to not only directly help people in great need at this time, but to also offer more holistic and community centred alternatives to local and national government – alternatives with far greater short and long term potential than those offered by the scores of contractors seeking to cash in on misery. PRI Australia feels so strongly about assisting Grifen with his noble ambitions, that we’re putting forward the first AU$1,000 donation. Both PRI Australia and PRI USA are taking donations for this cause (people in the U.S. will want to donate through PRI USA, to take advantage of their tax-exampt non-profit status). In the interests of transparency, PRI USA will take 5 percent of donations to cover administration and the work that had to be done to facilitate the legal aspects of sponsoring this project – but that 5% will help PRI USA develop its own projects). PRI Australia will pass 100% of donations to the project in Chile. Additionally, as we feel this work deserves significant exposure, and as we seek to ensure that valuable permaculture relief work gets noticed at the highest levels, to attract further governmental support for future disasters worldwide, PRI Australia and myself (Craig Mackintosh) will share the costs for myself to go to Chile to cover and report on Grifen’s work via photographs, writing and video. I would like to take this opportunity to ask people to get behind this in whatever way they can. Donations, large or small, will all assist in what is the very best form of aid work. Perhaps ask your employer to match your donation – many will. Additionally, people with contacts in government, aid agencies and other NGOs are invited to share this page with them. Thanks in advance to the worldwide permaculture community for getting behind this work. You never know – in the future you may be the recipient of such assistance.
Update: ‘Letters from Chile‘ reports from Craig are coming in. Check them out!
| Donate via PRI USA (USA residents)* Other non-paypal methods of donating here |
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| Donate via PRI Australia (rest of world)* Other non-paypal methods of donating here |
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| *Please be sure to click on the ‘Add special instructions to seller’ link, and then type ‘CHILE’ in the field provided, to ensure these fund are correctly diverted. | |
El Manzano in Transition – Towards Community Resilience, by Design
by Grifen Hope of Ecoescuela El Manzano
Comments (3)Exploring Dryland Strategies for Resilience – Atacama, Northern Chile
Community Projects, Developments, Education Centres, News — by Grifen Hope November 27, 2009
Desert Flowers
Recently we had a whirlwind tour of Atacama in the north of Chile, the driest place on earth. This was a learning experience rather than teaching – in this hostile and vulnerable landscape that has been occupied for thousands of years we find strategies for building resilience.
Comments (3)Gaia University, One Step West Towards Oceania in April 2009
Conferences, Courses/Workshops, Developments — by Grifen Hope January 29, 2009
Ecoescuela El Manzano in the heartland of Biobio, Chile will host Gaia University (GU) International for a series of world shaping events in 2009;
- April 16th – GU Orientation: for new students seeking Bachelors, Masters degrees or Post-Masters Graduate Diplomas in Eco-Social Regeneration
- May 1st – Participatory Processes for Communities in Transition
- May 5th – GU Advanced Workshops for Year Two Students
Both will be facilitated by Liora Adler and Andy Langford, supported by our local team of emerging young leaders, designers, and teachers from Ecoescuela and Instituto de Permacultura Chile.
We want you to be part of this experience; designing and creating a global learning community, a network of living campuses, projects and people applying solutions that work, mobilising communities, leading the way towards a sustainable future.
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