Finding Natural Building Projects
 
O.K., you already know WHY I’m here, but being a wanna-be builder like myself, you want to know the details that got me here: 9 months worth of internet searching, almost daily. Looking up every combination of natural-building-genre search words I could think of, in english and in spanish, combined with “Mexico” and “Spain” (then referenced with maps to find which ones were closest to the ocean - a must for me.) Of course, most projects don’t have their own website, or even a listing with the organizations that provide such a resource. (One alternative route is WWOOF, an organization that provides a listing of “hosts,” their description, their projects, their expectations of those who volunteer, and what they will provide in return. Most countries’ listings are independent of others, which means you have to buy them separately; those that don’t yet have their own are all together in one.) Eventually, through following and emailing any lead that could possibly point me in the right direction, I was able to drum up and choose amongst my options. You’re lucky, cause I’m just gonna go ahead and list those links here (what follows is a combination of places with potential projects, communities, and those offering workshops - not in any particular order): In Mexico: House Alive! Natural Building Institute Cob Cottage Proyecto San Isidro Karacadir Punta Colorada El Temazcal Yolitia Bosque de niebla Nierika Las Canoas Altas Tashirat Living Routes In Spain: La Molina Moonfruit: a holiday place for women & lesbians in Andalusia Valle de Sensaciones: an artist’s communtiy in Southern Spain Can Jondal: an organic farm and hotel on Ibiza Island ESCANDA Sunseed Desert Technology Sanilles Permacultura-montsant In General: Canelo Project Natural Building Network Kleiwerks Natural Building Courses and Workshops World Hands Project Builders Without Borders Links to the Straw Bale and Natural Building Community EcoHabitar Community Directories: Intentional Communities GEN Europe Eurotopia And don’t forget WWOOF - you can find which one you need on your own. There ARE, fortunately these days, plenty of courses and workshops on natural building out there. Understandably, they cost money - usually around $1500. If you have this to spend, great; if not, try looking for those instructors who’d be willing to exchange the cost of the course for your extra labor, or others out there who’d love some help with their individual projects: Be nice. Introduce yourself and be clear about what you’re after. In my case, I wanted to know first if they were working on a natural building project, and second if they’d let me volunteer my time and labor in exchange for my stay, at least a portion of my food, and my learning. After figuring out who was doing what, where, and when I wanted, I put together my itinerary, and the details of getting there. I consider myself very lucky to be fulfilling my vision, and you will be too. Remember: what ever you’re after is already yours, you just have to do the work. http://www.housealive.org/workshops/cob-and-natural-building-in-zipolite-3.htmlhttp://naturalbuildinginstitute.com/node/16http://www.cobcottage.com/ecologicallivinghttp://www.proyectosanisidro.com.mx/http://www.karacadir.com/bioregionalbuildingprogram.htmlhttp://www.paginasprodigy.com/intigopar/http://www.goyosadventures.com/y/index.htmhttp://www.yolitia.org/html/ingles/ingles.htmlhttp://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.bosquedeniebla.com.mx/&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522bosquedeniebla%2522%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Denhttp://www.centronierika.net/http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.lascanoasaltas.org/&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522lascanoasaltas.org%2522%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Denhttp://www.tashirat.com/http://www.livingroutes.org/programs/p_huehuecoyotl.htmhttp://www.la-molina.moonfruit.com/http://www.sensaciones.de/valle_de_sensaciones.htmhttp://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.canjondal.com/nuestracasa.html&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522Agroturismo%2Bcan%2Bjondal%2522%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Denhttp://www.escanda.org/english/indexen.phphttp://www.sunseed.org.uk/http://www.sanilles.com/volunteers.htmhttp://www.permacultura-montsant.org/http://www.caneloproject.com/pages/caneloinfo/canelo.htmlhttp://www.naturalbuildingnetwork.org/http://www.kleiwerks.com/http://naturalhomes.org/learning.htmhttp://www.worldhandsproject.org/index.php/site/index/http://builderswithoutborders.org/projects/project3.htmhttp://www.balewatch.com/links.htmlhttp://www.ecohabitar.org/http://www.ic.org/http://www.gen-europe.org/addresses/EVindex.htmlhttp://www.eurotopia.de/englverzeichnis.htmlshapeimage_2_link_0shapeimage_2_link_1shapeimage_2_link_2shapeimage_2_link_3shapeimage_2_link_4shapeimage_2_link_5shapeimage_2_link_6shapeimage_2_link_7shapeimage_2_link_8shapeimage_2_link_9shapeimage_2_link_10shapeimage_2_link_11shapeimage_2_link_12shapeimage_2_link_13shapeimage_2_link_14shapeimage_2_link_15shapeimage_2_link_16shapeimage_2_link_17shapeimage_2_link_18shapeimage_2_link_19shapeimage_2_link_20shapeimage_2_link_21shapeimage_2_link_22shapeimage_2_link_23shapeimage_2_link_24shapeimage_2_link_25shapeimage_2_link_26shapeimage_2_link_27shapeimage_2_link_28shapeimage_2_link_29shapeimage_2_link_30
Natural Building: Abroad Friday, January 11, 2008 Oaxacan Mountains