#2 Utne Reader "THE GAVIOTAS EXPERIMENT"

IN THE EARLY 1970'S, A GROUP OF ACADEMIC RESEARCHERS, FREE-SPIRITED INVENTORS, LOCAL RANCHERS, GUAHIBO INDIANS AND FORMER STREET KINDS BEGAN AN EXPERIMENTAL VILLAGE IN COLUMBIA, SOUTH AMERICA. IN THIS VOLLAGE THEY DEVLOPED DOZENS OF ECOLOGICALLY SOUND IDEAS RANGING FROM SOLAR CLOTHES DRYERS TO AMAZON REFORESTATION STRATEGIES. ONE OF THE LEADERS, PAULO LUGARI WANTED TO FIND A DIFFICULT PLACE FOR HIS EXPERIMENTS. THE LLANOS OF EASTERN COLUMBIA WAS A STARK SAVANNA WHOSE SOIL WAS BARREN. THIS SITE FIT LUGARI'S DEFINITION OF DIFFICULT. THEY DEVELOPED SOLAR HEATERS, STOVES,PANELS,AND WINDMILLS.THE MEMBERS SHARED THESE INVENTIONS WITH POOR COMMUNITIES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD TO HELP IMPROVE THEIR ECONOMIC, ENVIRONMENTAL,AND HEALTH PROSPECTS.

-- Anonymous, January 18, 1999