Unprecedented disintegration of rural communities and rural to
urban migration are both direct results and drivers of poverty,
hunger, health crisis, and violence that threaten our world.
Furthermore, rural to urban migration has had drastic and dramatic
effects on environmental health and, consequently, the sustainability
of our planet. Hope for a sustainable and peaceful future depends upon
the health of rural communities.
Worldwide, rural communities - particularly indigenous and peasant
communities of the global south - are disintegrating at an alarming
pace. Collapsing ecosystems, eroding cultural and social support systems,
displacement of local economies, lack of government services and support,
and rising violence are forcing historic numbers of rural peoples to abandon
their homes and livelihoods for the slums and shanty towns of urban centers.
To address the challenges facing low-income families and communities, rural
and urban alike, Instituto Tierra y Cal, A.C., Birambye International and Engineers
Without Borders Mexico (Ingenieros Sin Fronteras México, A.C. or ISF Mexico)
have entered into a strategic alliance to promote the building of a the CATIS in San Miguel de
Allende, Mexico. The CATIS will be the core center of a physical system of
satellite organizations, universities and communities that will form a network offering
training and educational opportunities throughout Mexico and Latin America.
By leveraging their respective organizational capacities and combining efforts
in this way, ITyC, Birambye and ISF Mexico are in a unique position to pass on
sustainable, affordable and appropriate technologies to marginalized communities
throughout Mexico and the global south.
We believe that the benefits of living in an urban mega slum cannot compensate for
the loss of dignity and cultural identity in rural communities or the well-documented
environmental impacts of rural to urban migration. CATIS training programs will provide
the necessary skills for Partner Trainers and members of target communities to develop their
own ecosystem-based enterprise opportunities; thus acting as an intervention strategy to stem
the exodus to urban centers. Instead of accepting the inevitability of urbanization, We see the
transformation of rural economies and resurgence of healthy
rural communities as contributing factors to rural, and consequently – global, sustainability.
Building on the success of existing
programs, Instituto Tierra y Cal has entered into this important
partnership with ISF (Ingenieros sin Frontera) Mexico and Birambye to construct the
CATIS (Center for Appropriate Technology and Indigenous Sustainability) so it can
more efficiently support the sustained use
and development of these technologies in rural,
low-income and marginalized communities, while
simultaneously creating organizational sustainability.
While ITyC cannot address all of the challenges facing rural,
low-income and marginalized communities, we do have
the ability to pass on our expertise in sustainable
and affordable building techniques, specifically,
vernacular construction systems utilizing appropriate
technologies. With the development of the
CATIS, ITyC will further our social mission
while creating organizational sustainability.
Rural communities will benefit from this enterprise as
they strengthen their own capabilities to build durable
and affordable structures and create economic, social
and environmental opportunities that promote healthful
and sustainable community.
Situated on a 23
acre parcel of land outside of San Miguel de Allende,
Mexico, ITyC, acting as the community partner of the CATIS,
will provide the physical space as well
maintenance and management of the grounds. ITyC will also provide training at the CATIS
in our fields of expertise including stabilized
compressed earth block construction, natural plasters,
sustainable agriculture and permaculture, seismic
engineering and efficient oven and water filtration
systems. The organization has also leveraged numerous
partnerships that can offer training in composting
toilets, green roofs, wind energy and sustainable
economics. ITyC has already established a
long history of successfully training local labor and
community members in the use of appropriate
technologies.