Ecoescuela El Manzano has been accepted by Territorio Chile as a leading community development project, with full support to develop our vision of a living university, demonstration farm and community. We are now working with a small amount of funding from FPA (Fondo de Protección Ambiental) and very positive mentor support to fully prepare the foundations of our project and to realise it´s full implications. We intend that Ecoescuela El Manzano can be a catalyst project to be replicated in many communities throughout Chile as we develop our capacity to support other communities to begin the process of transición. 

The International Context

As the international permacultura and ecovillage movements begin to realise that the world has changed, we find ourselves increasingly relevant to mainstream communities. We have come to recognise that our global networks provide the research, training and centros demostrativos, for a movement. As a result of the growing crises of Peak Oil, Climate Change and the Global economic slowdown, we are witnessing a radical change in the form and function of human settlements. We suspect that this change is likely to include a progressive re-ruralisation of society, and the development of smaller and self-reliant communities within cities.

The Nacional, Regional, y LocalContext

Here in El Manzano we are pioneering these new and old models that will become increasingly important as the vulnerabilities of our communities becomes more evident. We are moving to act in our own community, and at the bioregional and national levels, mobilising people to determine their own destiny. We are ´´sharing our skills and models...disseminating [our] values via consultancy, educational programmes, and...developing partnerships with organisations and networks that are seeking to mainstream sustainability´´ (2008, Global Ecovillage Network).

Gracias a Todos

Thanks to all of you who have contributed to this project in 2008, especially to our team members Jorge Carrion, Carolina Heidke and Sofia Merino who have joined us for this journey and breathed life into this project. You have emerged as highly effective professionals fully aware of your responsibilities in this world, ready with the language and tools to make a real difference. Gracias a ustedes!