Today we broke ground for the construction of the Huasteca Regenerative Agriculture Experimentation Center.
Rito (our builder) and all of his crew were hard at work excavating for the foundation, tying steel, and mixing cement. Photos added to the gallery for this article update.
I would like to take a moment to thank all of our supporters and contributors, for without whom we would not be doing this life changing work. We are fortunate to have people who love and support our work, and for that I am personally eternally grateful.
We are also incredibly luck that we were able to hire a local builder and his crew, as this is not an easy task, especially with harvest season right around the corner. Hiring and purchasing supplies from local providers helps to support the local economy, which ultimately helps everyone, no matter how small or large the contribution is.
I was chatting the other day with some of the players involved in this project on the ground here in Mexico, and what kept coming up is how amazed we are at how all of the pieces just fell into place to catalyze the start of this project. The universe has its ways of opening doors when good energy meets good energy. We look forward to the future, and of course welcoming you all to our center to contribute, experience, and enjoy life.
For those wondering why we decided to use steel and cement for the base infrastructure rather than some type of more sustainable building material, our thinking is as follows.
Unfortunately, there are no builders in the region that work with more sustainable construction materials, as cement and steel are the standard.
This is actually one of the key issues we look to address with research and training programs that will be hosted at the center. We look to test alternative construction materials including aircrete, cob/ plaster, and bamboo. We will then need to fine tune our processes through collaborations with professionals, and provide free to very low cost training to local builders, who are currently eager to learn new techniques, as long as they are practical and feasible.
All of that said, it is obviously impossible to do this without a center to conduct the research and training at, thus highlighting the need for such a place in the region.
As well, we believe that cement will allow us to not have concerns over hard infrastructure degradation due to moisture, hurricanes, fires, termites, etc. It will also allow us to secure our equipment.
We will share developments as the project progresses.
A big thanks to everyone for all of the love and continued support shown to us on this project. We are dedicated to researching and teaching regenerative methods to make the world a better place.
Create abundance. :)
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The location of the center will be in the rural Ejido of El Chino, in the municipality of Tamasopo, San Luis Potosí, Mexico.
Using a generous contribution given to us by a very kind and passionate friend of Terra Advocati, we were able to help secure the land through a partnership with a local family, and partially cover the first phase of construction of the center.
The functions of theis center will be to:
-Provide a space for community members to experiment and conduct research, learn, and share experiences relating to regenerative practices and technologies.
-Provide a space for students, teachers, professionals, and the international community to introduce/ exchange practices and experiences.
-Provide on site dynamic demonstrations such as land management practices, erosion control, groundwater recharge, soil building techniques, compost, liquid organic fertilizer, horticultural practices, permaculture practices, waste stream cycling, rainwater harvesting, pollution mitigation, and more.
-Provide scholarships and internships to students.
-Provide an indoor and outdoor laboratory space for conducting research, collecting data, and making that data available in real time, globally, via digital platforms, shared databases, and virtual portals.
-Provide a large outdoor classroom space for workshops, classes, meetings, presentations, and fun community movie viewings.
-Provide opportunities for locals throughout the region to interact with each other, and the international community in a meaningful way that promotes environmental regeneration.
-Provide lodging space for ecotourists looking to contribute to the local cause in a meaningful, and impactful way. This lodging will also be available for student interns working on site, international scientists, artists, builders, engineers, and whomever else would like to participate in furthering our mission.
More to come...