Permaculture Around Latin America – Argentina

Previously on this series, I featured a video on the Permaculture Institute of El Salvador. Today, we move to the south of this beautiful continent for an exploration of bio-construction in the Argentine Patagonia.

Take a look at this meditative video that features images from a bio-construction event that took place in the town of El Bolsón, Patagonia, in 2011.

I think it’s important to point out just how necessary it is to do bio-construction with other people, in groups. Speaking from personal experience as somebody who has tried to undertake cob-building pretty much single-handedly, seeing images of dozens of different hands working the mud together is really inspiring. It reminds me of this anecdote my teacher shared when I took my PDC. He told us that he lived in an intentional community and that they had recently (about a year earlier) taken in a couple and had collectively built their house. This idea struck me as both really beautiful and just really smart. He explained that the whole community would organize and set a date to, for example, make all the cob living room walls; they would call it a party and celebrate with a great meal after the long work day. Some people would work, some people would prepare and carry materials, others would help with cooking and logistics. Everybody’s unique talents and abilities were needed.

Check out Bioconstruyendo Patagonia, who are often a go-to name when talking about green construction in Latin America. They are linked to CIDEP (Center for Investigation, Development and Teaching of Permaculture), one of the biggest permie forces in Argentina.