The EDE programme in Mexico was held at Huehuecoyotl Ecovillage, located deep in the mountains of Tepoztlan. This 14-day course covered the Worldview, Economic, Ecologic and Social dimensions of the EDE curriculum and took a practical hands-on approach in addition to classroom time, discussion, dances and spiritual rituals. All these activities helped the 33 participants not only to plan and design their ecovillage or sustainable gathering, but also to feel connected between one another and with mother nature. Our students left this course highly motivated and determined to use their knowledge and experience to create social and ecological projects.

1. j
This
course
was
an
intensive
one;
students
learned
approximately
10
hours
a
day.
Daily
ac<vi<es
started
at
8
am
with
a
vegetarian
breakfast.
At
9m
the
fist
class
started.
Every
1.5
hours
students
had
20
minutes
short
breaks
and
a
long
break
(including
fruit
and
fresh
vegetables)
at
mid
morning.
At
2
pm
we
served
the
meals,
and
for
about
5
hours
we
had
the
same
break
dynamic,
which
included
a
long
coffee
break
at
mid-­‐
aMernoon.
Every
class
included
a
lecture
and
prac<cal
learning.
We
had
a
group
dynamic
at
least
every
day;
this
way
student
can
feel
a
change
of
rhythm
that
let
them
relax
from
such
intensive
work.
These
dynamics
ranged
from
drum
classes,
peace
dances,
and
walks
to
the
mountains
to
reconnect
with
nature.
We
also
included
tradi<onal
sweat
lodge
were
student
connected
and
heal.
The
students
had
a
day
off
during
the
weekend,
most
of
which
went
for
a
walk
in
Tepoztlán
and
some
returned
home.

2. j
The
student
had
the
incredible
opportunity
to
interact
profoundly
with
some
of
the
habitants
of
the
ecovillage,
they
offered
evening
diners
with
instrument
session
where
Toña
Osher
teached
them
how
to
make
cocoa
the
natural
way
and
even
several
singing
and
dancing
bonfires.
At
least
two
nights,
students
had
the
opportunity
to
play
with
the
wide
instruments
collec<on
of
one
of
the
hosts.
So,
overall,
although
this
course
was
intensive,
students
had
a
wide
range
of
ac<vi<es
that
let
them
feel
a
liTle
bit
relaxed.
At
the
end
of
the
second
week
students
had
15
hours
of
design
<me.
They
worked
in
teams
for
their
project
(5
to
6
students
per
team).
One
of
the
facilitators
had
bought
a
land
extension
of
2
Ha
nearby
and
during
the
permaculture
design
class
the
students
visit
it
as
part
of
their
permaculture
design
class.
On
the
final
Project,
the
students
were
supposed
to
own
that
land
and
design
an
ecovillage
there,
one
that
included
an
economic
plan,
one
that
consider
the
community
around
them
in
way
that
they
were
inclusive,
that
respected
and
used
the
physical
proper<es
of
the
land
to
have
a
sustainable
ecovillage,
etc.
On
the
final
day
they
presented
the
projects
to
our
facilitators
team
and
with
the
facilitators
observa<ons
they
wrote
their
final
version
and
a
month
later
presented
their
final
projects
on
a
social
gathering
we
have
with
them.
It
was
an
intensive
teamwork
where
all
the
facilita<on
skills
they
learned
and
also
pa<ence
had
to
be
applied.
This
course
was
design
in
a
way
that
almost
every
day
students
had
classes
form
at
lest
two
different
dimensions,
this
with
the
idea
to
interwine
the
different
themes
and
to
create
lighter
workdays.
World
View
Dimension
Worldview
was
addressed
almost
en<rely
by
Alberto
Ruz,
member
of
Huehuecoyotl
Ecovillage
and
the
Rainbow
Caravan.
Alberto
talked
about
an
holis<c
life
approach
and
how
this
can
have
a
posi<ve
effect
in
the
world,
emphasizing
he
need
to
consider
everyone’s
needs.
This
was
amazingly
accepted
by
the
students
and
mo<vated
them
to
feel
and
think
this
way.
This
dimension,
encompass
spiritual
awakening,
one
of
our
strong
holds
in
Mexico.
The
abundance
of
sacred
knowledge
in
Mexico
from
the
ancient
cultures
make
the
goals
set
on
this
dimension
achievable.
The
Spiritual
theme
started
with
two
basic
elements
a
Temascal,
run
by
Andres
King
(indigenous
spirituality)
together
with
a
chat
and
Nature
Connec<on
in
the
forest
with
Veronica
Sacta.
This
dimension
had
a
lot
of
Group
dynamics,
drum
and
peace
dances
that
gave
the
course
an
easy
rhythm
to
follow,
always
in
between
of
deep
and
heavy
classes.
We
also
a
beau<ful
chat
about
awakening,
Veronica
emphasized
on
the
rela<onship
between
our
female
side
and
Mother
Earth.
This
was
one
of
the
favorite
dimensions
because
it
let
the
student
connect
to
one
another
and
to
mother
nature.
It
released
a
sense
of
love
and
bonding.

3. Ecological
Dimension
The
favorite
in
all
courses.
This
dimension
was
well
managed
by
our
teachers.
Juan
Casillas
started
with
permaculture
values
and
Odin
Ruz
held
the
permaculture
design
class
and
prac<ce.
These
modules
represent
an
important
part
in
the
core
of
the
EDE.
Many
of
the
ecological
design
tools
are
given
through
this
class.
During
this
module
we
have
several
visits,
one
to
the
land
property
of
Odin
Ruz,
were
students
based
their
final
Design
Project;
they
also
visited
SARAR
Transforma<on
A.C.
a
company
specialized
in
sustainable
sanita<on
of
water.
The
facilitators
of
SARAR
also
directed
an
exercise
that
demanded
the
students
to
solve
sanita<on
issues,
and
rainwater
catchment,
on
two
houses.
During
the
Bio-­‐construc<on
module
students
learnt
the
different
natural
building
techniques
and
had
a
chance
to
work
with
the
earth
and
build
a
cob
bench.
Lourdes
Malvido
from
EcoPueblo
Chalmita
had
a
great
impact
on
the
students.
She
gave
several
hours
of
the
ecological
dimension
during
the
two
weeks.
She
is
a
bio
construc<on
expert
linked
to
the
Ecovillage
movement.
It
remains
daun<ng
to
cover
so
much
content,
with
prac<cal
ac<vity
during
so
liTle
hours,
this
<me
in
comparison
with
the
last
course;
student
felt
that
prac<cal
<me
was
balanced.
One
of
the
most
enjoyed
ac<vi<es
as
parte
of
the
energy
class,
was
the
construc<on
of
solar
dehydrtor,
one
that
the
students
formarly
gave
to
Toña
Osher
as
a
giM
during
the
last
day
ceremony.
As
well
,the
Organic
Agriculture
was
enjoyed
profoundly,
they
learned
about
seedlings,
harves<ng
and
natural
plague
control.
This
was
one
of
our
best
rated
classes.

4. Economic
dimension
An
important
aspect
of
this
dimension
is
to
understand
how
the
world
economy
is
working
on
the
globaliza<on
trend
and
the
impacts
that
this
has
on
the
society
and
the
environmental
footprint.
Through
different
presenta<ons
and
dynamics
students
are
shown
the
real
value
of
money,
as
well
as
the
significance
of
abundance.
How
natural
resources
relate
to
a
greedy
pollutant
economical
system
or
a
posi<ve
sharing
system
were
coopera<ves,
alterna<ve
money
and
exchanges
are
part
of
the
tangible
alterna<ves.
We
had
lectures
on
Alterna<ve
Economy,
Exchange
and
Coopera<ves,
all
of
this
in
order
to
present
to
students
an
alterna<ve
to
the
tradi<onal
Money
based
Systems,
and
let
them
understood,
thanks
to
several
exercises,
how
to
exchange
and
to
start
coopera<ve
projects.
This
was
a
well-­‐
received
module;
it
was
improved
since
the
last
course
to
be
more
prac<cal
and
not
so
theore<cal.
““I
really
appreciate
this
course,
I
expected
a
different
one
but
not
one
that
opened
my
heart
“
Itzani
Guerrero
“It
is
really
amazing
being
able
to
share
such
experiences
with
people
in
the
same
path
as
us,
specially
young
people”
Ana
Sandoval
“I
will
most
certainly
apply
all
I’ve
learned
here,
I
am
so
mo<vated
to
impact
in
my
community!”
Katalina
Guerrero

5. Social
Dimension
Different
teachers
addressed
this
dimension
and
although
it
was
covered
in
dept,
it
wasn’t
that
well
received.
Althought
Marisela
Vera,
a
cer<fied
Facilita<on
and
Consensus
prac<<oner
by
IIFAC
(Facilita<on
and
Consensus
Ins<tute)
covered
80%
of
the
this
dimension
themes,
students
felt
that
the
class
dynamic
and
rules
were
somewhat
imposed
by
the
facilitator
and
did
not
appreciated
a
class
prepared
that
formarly.
A
challenge
for
our
next
course
is
to
find
the
way
we
can
distribute
the
social
themes
in
a
way
that
students
find
it
fun,
and
that
include
more
exercises
and
not
so
much
theory.
We
had
lectures
on
bioregionalism;
through
different
learning
exercises
students
were
able
to
comprehend
the
connec<on
between
social
and
the
environmental
aspects
in
a
bioregion.
Alberto
Ruz
certainly
emphasized
on
how
to
create
community.
His
vast
experience
as
one
of
Huehue
founders,
the
founder
of
the
Visions
Council
Gatherings
and
the
Rainbow
Peace
Caravan
Village
blessed
the
course
with
an
excellent
example
on
how
to
unite
the
colors
of
the
rainbow
and
shine
on
a
common
fire.
Students
bonded
deeply
and
enjoyed
social
gatherings
at
least
twice
a
week,
we
even
celebrated
one
students
birthday
with
lots
of
smiles
and
laughter.

6. Assessment
and
Key
Trends
We
assessed
our
course
with
wriTen
ques<onnaires
because
none
of
the
students
answered
the
surveys,
there
was
no
such
commitment
by
their
part,
and
we
had
to
perform
a
wriTen
ques<oner
on
the
last
evalua<on
day
in
order
to
guarantee
the
evalua<on.
Approximately
96%
of
students
who
responded
the
ques<onnaire
expressed
a
high
sa<sfac<on
on
various
items
evaluated.
A
key
trend
of
the
assessment
was
a
desire
of
more
<me
dedicated
to
prac<cal
training
for
the
ecological
dimension,
in
par<cular
bioconstruc<on,
they
felt
they
didn’t
learned
enough.
Another
cri<que
was
that
on
every
single
class,
the
teachers
asked
them
to
introduce
themselves
and
because
we
had
around
20
different
faculty
members
this
issue
represented
a
huge
waste
of
<me.
Overall
the
students
assessed
the
level
of
exper<se
of
the
teachers
as
outstanding.
And
despite
they
wished
to
deepen
more
in
each
topic
they
were
sa<sfied
by
the
course
level.
New
Approaches
and
changes
implemented
based
on
past
experience
-­‐The
main
change
we
did
since
last
course
was
that
we
incorporated
more
prac<cal
<me,
so
the
theory
and
prac<ce
was
balance
an
60%-­‐40%.
This
was
well
appreciated
and
we
did
not
received
any
complaint
about
the
prac<ce
hours.
-­‐We
incorporated
a
more
specialized
prac<ce
during
the
natural
building
class,
students
constructed
an
cob
bench
and
find
that
amazing.
-­‐The
menu
of
the
meals
changed
because
last
course
students
felt
that
there
was
no
variety.
-­‐
Last
but
not
least,
we
broadened
the
course
promo<on,
we
invested
more
<me
on
promo<ng
on
different
schools
and
magazines,
this
impacted
posi<vely
in
our
profits.
Lessons
Learned
-­‐This
<me
we
had
to
readapt
all
of
our
expenses,
we
diminish
around
a
20%
in
order
to
earn
enough
money
to
pay
everyone.
Almost
all
the
students
asked
for
more
than
20%
fee
discount,
which
impacted
on
our
economy.
Next
<me
we
will
search
for
government
grants
to
guarantee
more
scholarships.
-­‐We
organized
our
course
about
two
months
earlier
and
this
impacted
the
aTendance,
we
need
to
organize
it
with
more
<me
in
advance
and
this
can
help
the
previous
situa<on.
-­‐A
liTle
more
‘free
<me’
was
the
only
consistent
comment
on
the
feedback
survey.
A
liTle
more
‘free
<me’
would
enable
the
par<cipants
to
explore
other
possibili<es
for
interac<on
with
host
community.
Changing
the
schedule
to
offer
a
longer
lunch
break
was
appreciated
in
week
5
and
could
be
a
paTern
to
follow
in
future
courses,
enabling
par<cipants
to
enjoy
longer
free
<me
for
exercise
and
personal
business.
More
<me
for
lunch
-­‐We
would
des<nate
more
<me
to
the
bioconstruc<on
theme.

7. INCOME
Tuition payment 20782
Total 20782
EXPEDITURES
Teachers payment 5538
EDE Coordination 3461
Huehuecoyotl rent 1615
Additional house
rent 269
Coordinators
housing 250
Food 2692
Cookers payment 1538
Materials 648
Advertising 320
Other expenses 556
Taxes 1194
Organi-k A.C. share 1538.5
Total 19619
NET INCOME 1163