ASOCIACION GAIA
Proyecto Eco-Villas
Newsletter
We are an Ecological Association (ONGe) that has been
working hard for the last 5 years in many projects for a healthier and
sustainable world. Our main purpose is to develop an Eco-Village in this
part of the planet.
The 5th of June 1996, some of us began to live at this
new Eco- Villa Argentina. We bought a 20,3 has. piece of land in a beautiful
rural area (110 kilometres from Buenos Aires City). The buildings on the
land had been used for a milk processing plant, until they were abandoned
30 years ago. So, as you can imagine, the first steps were to restore part
of these buildings in order to settle down, and start to define the complete
restoration of the big buildings and the general design of the village,
and an integrated energy system.
We are also re-foresting with autoctonous trees, starting
an organic vegetable garden and generating economic resources with some
micro-enterprises and creating new ones.
There are a small group already established, and we
have a growing group of collaborators that visit us every week. On top,
we are receiving lots of new visitors and interested parties whose input
and recognition has helped us to clarify our vision and re-enforce the
importance and need for this sustainable living model. Anyway, we are introducing
ideas and concepts which are new to this part of the world, and as there
are very few other places, it is a great challenge to pioneer this project
which is only understood and accepted (up to the moment) by a handful of
people.
We are members of GEN (Global Eco-Villages Network).
We are working very close to them, and they support us in many ways. By
December '96, we had hosted the 1st Permaculture Design Course, which they
supported with a grant from Gaia Villages from Denmark.
We have already the capacity to receive 30 people. We
are open to any volunteer who wants to join us in this pioneering process
of the first steps on Eco-Village developments in South America.
If you want to join our experience, visit us or help
in other ways, please contact us:
Asociación Gaia: Almafuerte 1732 - Villa Maipú - San
Martín (1650) - Bs. As.- Argentina
Tel / Fax: (54-1) 752-2197
E-mail: [email protected]