Delivered-To: lakinroe@silcom.com
Reply-To: "Gaia"
From: "Gaia"
To:
Subject: 1ST LATIN AMERICAN PC CONGRESS
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 11:26:27 -0300
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.3110.5
ASOCIACION GAIA
INSTITUTO ARGENTINO DE PERMACULTURA
SOUTH COAST PC GUILD-
Att. Margie Bushman lakinroe@silcom.com
Dear colleges and friends,
We are pleased to introduce to you our project and the next especial event we are organizing: the 1st Latin American Permaculture Congress and we would very much appreciate your letting us know if you would be interested in supporting this initiative.
Gaia is a non profit association and was founded in December 1991. Its founding mission is the promotion of sustainable societies, mainly by creating human settlements based on the practice of Permaculture systems and methods. Since 1996, the first Eco-village project is being developed on a 20 hectares' site in a rural area near Buenos Aires city. We have founded the Permaculture Institute of Argentina and are currently involved in a world- wide Living and Learning Center project. Through these entities we carry out our main educational programs. We are also very focussed on networking. For that reason, we have participated in the creation of the G.E.N. (Global Eco-village Network) in 1995 and we have been very active members since then. We are the South American node of the network.
We see Permaculture as an innovative tool to achieve the creation of permanent societies based on sustainable principles. We believe that Latin America is a fertile land to develop new techniques for sustainable life style and the challenge is to learn and spread them, always making local adaptations. Out of this vision arose the initiative of convoking the 1st Latin American Permaculture Congress, to strengthen the bonds among regional permaculturists, to offer a forum for the exchange of information and to organize mutual support within the Southern region.
In order to turn this congress into a success, which will provide a strong incentive to the development of sustainable living projects in Latin America, we are in need of financial support. Therefore we would like to know if you would be able - or may contact us with any foundation that would - to fund a proportion of the expenses involved in organizing a congress of these proportions. We need to cover expenses in the following areas:
- Travel and registration expenses for participants lacking resources (e.g. in order to be able to invite indigenous people)
- Organization and secretarial work
- Site infrastructure improvement
- Diffusion and printing material
Should you be willing to help us, then please send us all the necessary requirements in order to present our application as soon as possible.
We also would like to know if there is somebody in your permaculture center who has worked in Latin America and who would like to share that experience with us. He or she may be able to help by connecting the Latin American project he or she worked in with ours. Your support in the diffusion of the congress in your region is also very much appreciated. For this purpose and for your information we have enclosed a copy of the invitation to the congress.
Looking forward to your positive reply with much interest, we thank you in advance for your kind consideration of this letter and your cooperation.
Yours very sincerely,
Gustavo Ramirez - President
Silvia Balado - Secretary
Asociacion GAIA - Almafuerte 1732- San Martín (1650)- Buenos Aires, Argentina
Tel/Fax: (5411) 4752-2197 Email:gaia@wamani.apc.org http://www.ecovillages.org/argentina/asocgaia
Enclosure: copy of invitation to the 1st Latin American Permaculture Congress (1 page)