La Casa Integral in 2021

Happy New Cycle

A change in the calendar is approaching, and with it comes that inevitable reflection on our lives, our work, and our successes and failures. Although a natural ecosystem knows nothing of calendars, much less intellectual reflections. Cycles are lived and experienced as part of that Life that encompasses everything.

The short days and the cold invite that “photosynthetic hiatus” that fills the forest with silence and reflection. Some plants have already scattered their seeds and have only death left to face, with the secret satisfaction of having fulfilled their role. Other trees have finally managed to reach the canopy and stand majestically, knowing they have conquered a summit that belongs only to the group and never to the individual; countless fallen leaves fuel the dance of life and death that should continuously govern our precious soil.

Being able to connect with these cycles and their constant need for something to die in order to allow life to flourish helps us design our own regenerative projects.

Life Cycles in a System

A project, like an ecosystem, requires the same roles in order to be created and developed.

There are ideas that are pioneering and bring with them great energy and abundance; they grow with very little and draw sustenance from their own essence, leaving behind great fertility that other ideas or people can use to take root, thus allowing the natural cycle to continue.

One of the design principles of permaculture is to facilitate and accelerate natural succession. Designing a project means finding a purpose and identifying which elements need to interact in order to achieve that purpose.

The path to achieving that Meta-Goal is the very path of Life itself, with successive processes and stages of reaction and transformation.

A well-designed Regenerative Project is one that regenerates itself and its environment by planning a succession of plantings. It meets the project’s needs using existing resources, while always paying attention to limiting factors in order to increase development capacity.

Celebrate

Connecting with the cycles also means celebrating each new phase. Celebration invites us to honor change, cherish what we’ve experienced, and bid farewell to that experience to make way for a new one, which draws on everything we’ve learned from the previous one.

We celebrate the solstice, the arrival of winter, the silence, the darkness… as well as the return of light and a new cycle

This winter solstice, we have so much to celebrate at La Casa Integral!

It has been a year full of impact—or at least that’s how we feel. Here’s a look at the initiatives we’ve carried out across the three branches of La Casa Integral.

Educational Team: Solutions for the Individual

As the Teaching Team

Providing training throughout 2021

Design Studio: Housing Solutions

The design studio has experienced significant growth, and we are proud to have designed these projects and brought several of them to life:

Showroom: Solutions for the Community

We’ve put the (physical) Demonstration Center “on hold” this year, as we wait to resolve the property ownership issue so we can devote all the energy it deserves to it, with the necessary guarantees. We’ve put together a business plan, with the help of Mayi Lekuona from Maia Permacultura, to seek funding support. That’s been a great exercise in applying permaculture to entrepreneurship! Maybe you know someone who’d like to invest in the project…

To make an impact and “demonstrate” what is already being done in our regions as well as in others, we have therefore chosen to focus our efforts on co-organizing these three events:

In terms of communication, we “show” what we’re passionate about on our new website (the one you’re reading right now), designed by Marta Román of EnRama. On social media, we’ve reached about 1,200 people on Instagram, and about 1,800 people follow us on our Facebook page. On LinkedIn, we’re still a bit behind as a project; we’re still figuring out where to focus our efforts—there or on TikTok—to inspire an audience that’s either more professional or more youthful… We also manage the local Telegram group for BiorNE (Permaculture Catalonia and Aragon—Northeast Bioregion of Iberian Permaculture), which has about 300 members.

We’ve been invited to appear on various shows and platforms to talk about what we’re passionate about. For example, we discussed Ethical Finance with Phillip Schüster of Seeds for Sustainability and Heloisa Primavera, about water and wastewater reuse with La Tribu de l’Alzina (Pollensa, Mallorca) and with Cristian Perfumo from Arriba el Verde, and about food sovereignty and sustainable gastronomy with Victoria Turmero from Vida Verde (Venezuela). Aline also had the opportunity to speak briefly with David Holmgren, co-originator of the concept of “Permaculture,” in her role as a facilitator for Gaia Education.

Think Globally, Act Locally

But there’s no point in going so far away if we don’t practice permaculture at home…

This year, we have become involved with the local organic consumer group in Vallalta, participated in its activities, become a member of the Vallalta Experiences association, and met with the two mayors in our area.

Our solar cookers have been in use almost every sunny day. The woodpile is full of wood we’ve gathered from clearing the forest closest to our house, and our Rocket stove roars on cold days. We continue to adjust our diet, and 90% of what we eat is organic and as locally sourced as possible. We plant and harvest, continuously improving the soil here, which is sandy. We reuse our graywater and compost our human waste, thereby avoiding sewage. We reduce our need for transportation and cultivate healthy habits that bring us happiness.

Now it is our turn to express our deepest gratitude to the people who, directly and indirectly, have made all these experiences possible—people who inspire us, people who trust us, people who criticize us, and people who ignore us.

Every element of a system has a specific role: integrating the marginal, not segregating, and working with the edges. Practicing self-regulation and accepting feedback—in short, all the principles of permaculture help us on this journey.

Now it’s time to remove some of the old growth, prune, and compost to increase fertility so that new seeds can sprout.

Now it is time for the silence of the winter forest, for reflection, and for gathering energy for a new season—which is simply an expression of that Continuum that is Life.

Thank you!

(Registration is now open for our new #SABERES2022 training program —until December 31, 2021—email us at info@lacasaintegral.org)

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