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I think Sete Ecos emerged from the inside need for change
All of us feel somehow bothered about the way society has been set up
plus the need to pursue better quality of life
and a chance to lead a closer relationship with nature
Realizing this need is not only personal yet it is inherent to everyone who is pursuing that
therefore comes this chance to partner with friends and other people
so we could develop and execute this work
Sete Ecos team was engaged in this already mentioned pursuit for better quality of life
and contemporary farming methods that favors ecovillages and intentional communities emergences,
and, at the same time, my parents were also seeking an alternative lifestyle,
what we call urban exodus, towards the countryside, because in fact they are country people
both countrymen's children
Coincidentally, we were both seeking the same, only not together, but at the same time
and this converged into the work of Sete Ecos. As they acquired the terrain
we the team saw the opportunity to perform the work
then there was this convergence
This area has been, as many others are being, affected by the real estate bubble
so, when we got here the area was degraded
the we had to labor and take some long time until the land was recovered
That was the first work we did
We always had as our major goal to achieve self-sufficiency in food production
which we have not actually accomplished yet because the project embraces several fields
in social, cultural and spiritual kinds
so we realize it would be somehow a waste of time to concentrate on one single field
and be dependent on so many others
We better accomplish that gradually yet fulfilling all the needs instead
We are in a highland and the water here is a scarce resource
so an alternative that fit, taking a broad view of the project,
was to retrieve the degraded area, which consists in withdrawing the vegetation
leaving the soil exposed so the rainwater itself is able to ditch
thus accelerating the erosion
Whereas we have here both problems of gully and scarcity of water,
why not retrieve the area, say, by reversing those problems and turning them into solutions?
The water was pipelined towards catchment systems
at the same time softening the erosion already in occurrence
Thus basically we have both water catchment from source
which supplies for household usage
and alternative systems such as rain water catchment and catchment from the roof
which is about to be set up by now
The water, in this system we developed, finds countless difficulties to bypass the system
The water comes in, and the aim is to keep it in the system
either by setting up dams so the water is retained
and able to infiltrate and refuel groundwaters
or by many other options we take to enforce this maxim:
The water must be kept the longest inside the system
Since we have to fulfill some priorities, as stated earlier,
we still haven't achieved self-sufficiency in obtaining energy. Our energy is yet provided by power companies
However we have got plans on executing alternative systems
For instance, it is windy here so we could catch wind power
also, solar irradiation is much availed so we intend to have systems to catch solar energy too
The major goal is food production, self-sufficiency, food safety
so we already have a whole infrastructure counting with areas of production communities,
a small agroforest with terracing systems for seasonal crop plantations,
an agroecological vegetable garden; several possibilities that provides us
a safe, high quality pesticide-free food
We also use seedbank process, which gives us autonomy, so we are not dependent on buying seeds
However, as I said, everything is very seasonal, very dynamic
Sometimes, if you use energy, for instance, to build a geodesic dome or a lodging
and fulfill other needs you end up sort of harming the food production process
We take these steps in an effort to comprise all the process
By now, we do not have self-sufficiency in food production yet, though we have been close to it
We believe is only a matter of time until we achieve self-sufficiency in food production
Some thinkers have already said that there is no such thing as waste. It is something they convinced us about
We start not by managing waste but first managing consumption
If you consume less, if you seek independence in this building up network,
naturally, consumption will be reduced
Then if you reduce consumption, you reduce wasting
We have the proper separation of these wastes
which are not actually considered as wastes then. We separate by material
as metal, plastic, paper and glass and from then we look for reusing them
whether building a scaffold using iron scraps or, as we have seen, the roof made of PET bottles
or the wall built out of longneck glass bottles
or else the process in which we add certain types of paper to composting, fertilizer production
and eventually what is found unable to reuse is taken to the city for reclycling
So, we also profit by selling this material, even though for a small amount,
we are still profiting which can be useful covering an expense with fuel or something else
The investment in order to produce and build stuff is little
due to our search for alternatives such as contacting places with products worthless to them,
seen as waste by them, so in this case we try to take full advantage of it all
Of course, there is money in this investment process, though
By now, I cannot tell the amount of money needed to run this, even because it runs organically
it prioritizes reuse of materials and self-sufficiency in using tools and technologies
in order to not be dependent on skilled labor
We can say the project is self-sufficient in itself, which means that every effort in teaching courses and rendering consultancies
is our bargain to keep the project running
This entire work, this entire service, this whole chance to exchange knowledge
among people who bring us new things and take new things to their lives
is made possible only through technological processes, such as the internet
and many other tools used to build and run our works
We believe technology must serve mankind
and I guess it would be sort of a radicalism of ours to leave technological processes out of our work
Quite the opposite, we even understand that the technological processes from here are still beginning
For instance, the use of computing, the use of open source processes
this collective making and improvement of skills and materials
Like I said before, the autonomy of our project to perform the work lies in technology
in using advanced, accurate hardware that will make you able to perform a task measuring up its needs
Therefore I plainly see that technology must go along with this process
Besides, it is very welcome to make our lives easier
and so we can have more spare time for creative idleness, inspiration and vision
to be a visionary capable to foresee what the project can reach
There are many movements. As I said the project's main goal it to study, research and associate
with this movements in contemporary agriculture that introduce a paradigm break
not only in the production process itself but also in every social relation necessary
for us to live in a fair, equal society
So I believe agroecology, permaculture, biodynamic agriculture, natural agriculture and specially ancestral agriculture
have a great potential of personal and social change
We can think of the city as a big farm, as a big place for food production,
as a big place for leisure and culture where all of our needs can be fulfilled locally
without the need to overspend fossil fuel in order to consume products from other regions
I believe these concepts of contemporary agriculture are already redesigning the scenario in the cities
and I think it is a growing thing both because of an ideological issue and a matter of necessity
It is not necessary to leave the city to enjoy quality of life
Quite the opposite, we can enjoy all access to services and convenience yet with clean rivers
organic food production, useful public transportation, quality education
I think it all increasingly tend to move along together
When you drink the water, you must recall the source
And if we drink the water recalling the source, the source itself is the main reference
It is where this water comes from and then it runs a long track over which other references are set
So, if we take any philosophical current, for instance contemporary agriculture movements
they can be used as a first reference, but if you seek the reference's reference
you are going to go backwards and eventually get to the ancient, original peoples
That is why I feel it is undeniable to state that Sete Ecos has as its main reference
our close relationship with traditional communities, such as indigenous and quilombolas (Brazilian maroons) communities
I guess this is the actual major source of knowledge, of both spiritual and technological kinds
in building, in using natural resources, available resources, also in planting, agroforests
in brief, of social organization which might be the main developer to all of those others stages of the process
The social process that takes cares of the people, of the children, of the elderly
in an equal way, always putting the human being at first place
Thank you