Laura Valdés Kuri
Ashoka Fellow since 2000   |   Mexico

Laura Valdés Kuri

ArtBoretum
Laura Valdés Kuri has created the first formal permaculture school in Mexico. The facility also serves as a research and resource center to facilitate networking and coordinated strategy for the use…
Read more
This description of Laura Valdés Kuri's work was prepared when Laura Valdés Kuri was elected to the Ashoka Fellowship in 2000.

Introduction

Laura Valdés Kuri has created the first formal permaculture school in Mexico. The facility also serves as a research and resource center to facilitate networking and coordinated strategy for the use of sustainable agricultural practices in development plans.

The New Idea

Permaculture—a system of perennial agriculture emphasizing the use of renewable natural resources and the enrichment of local ecosystems—is not new in Mexico. However, the school Laura has created is the first such place in Mexico for the formal study of permaculture.

Additionally, Laura’s emphasis is to capitalize on the work of those experts already in the field. The school brings together the major national and international environmental educators and activists for formal training. Coursework includes eco-technology, renewable energies, permaculture design, conflict resolution, group management, and group facilitation. The school provides training but also a space for the leaders to meet and strategize. The school building also provides the opportunity to create a resource library with bioregional maps, environmental videos, books, and a document center on environment and related subjects. The library offers environmental diagnostic services and is a materials resource for environmental fairs and conferences. Experts affiliated with the school also offer consulting in consensus building, group facilitation and conflict resolution. This national and international convergence of minds and materials increases opportunities for coordinated and creative strategizing.

The Problem

Ecological devastation is now a prevalent in Morelos, where throughout the 20th century Mexico City denizens would go for vacation retreats to appreciate its natural beauty and pleasant climate. Accelerating pollution of rivers and deforestation has changed the face of Morelos, and call for the awakening of an ecological consciousness that will overcome such problems here and in other areas.

In Morelos, 90 percent of the springs, streams and rivers are polluted by industrial waste, sewage, fertilizer and pesticide. In short, Morelos is slowly becoming an industrial area, but lacks an adequate sanitation infrastructure. For example, El Texcal, a vital area of underground water collection, is being reduced by population growth, industrial expansion, illegal sale of land and the destruction of landscapes. Additionally, of the seven lagoons that connected the states of Morelos and México as well as México City. 60 years ago, only one remains. There is also very little ecological consciousness in Morelos or Mexico generally.

The Strategy

Ayotl is the citizen organization that manages the school and library. Ayotl offers certified permaculture courses that promote environmental sustainability. Through the cohorts of student-teachers that graduate, Laura hopes to reach out to urban and rural communities and indirectly facilitate broad-scale coordination and training in the methods that will restore the earth, and promote sustainable forms of agricultural development.

The permaculture school has benefited 350 people directly and 2,800 indirectly. The bioregional library and center has benefited 5,000 people directly and 20,000 indirectly. Ayotl held a Consejo de Visiones (Vision Council), the first major international “bio-regional” event, held in the city of Tepoztlán. Registered participants from around the world numbered 1,300, and some 3,000 natives of Tepoztlán were also able to attend. Related community projects reached out to the larger population of Tepoztlán as well.

Seeking to expand its services, Ayotl is set to enlarge the library, the video and bioregional mapping (green maps) and resource archives so that the center can operate as a key public information and research documentation resource. Secondly, they want to increase their consulting services, offering training and social networking in conflict resolution for ecological and community problems. Finally, they would like to build greater cooperation among the efforts carried out in other regions.

To spread her work at the local and state level, Laura is collaborating with two Mexican sister organizations, Luna Nueva—which carries out work on nutrition, health and ecology—and Ecoaldea Huehuecoyotl—a training center on permaculture, ecology and sustainable development. Internationally, Laura was the coordinator of the ecological platform of the ISES Millennium Solar Forum 2000 for Mexico, a scientific, political, industrial and ecological event. In this event she has created an opportunity for NGO participation by adding a course on renewable energy and environment. This is relevant for the spread of Ayotl’s model since this is the first time that this international solar energy congress will involve the participation of laypeople.

Ayotl has received support from national government agencies and COs such as the National Chamber of the Industry of Transformation (CANACINTRA), the National Autonomous University (UNAM), CECADESU of SEMARNAP (Secretariat of Environment Center for the Study of Sustainable Development), the Bioregional Congress of North America, and Taller Espacio Verde (Green Space Workshop), which is a Morelos NGO.

The Person

Laura was born in Mexico City but moved to Morelos State in 1986. At that time, she lived in a poor neighborhood that lacked basic services. Together with others in the area, Laura developed programs for sanitation, rainwater collection, water treatment and vegetation cultivation.

Laura completed a Masters degree in Permaculture, coordinated ecological workshops, creating the Bioregional Movement Network in Mexico, and participated in international interdisciplinary exchanges involving thousands of people from 20 different countries. During the Millennium Solar Forum 2000, she offered a course on renewable energy, and was general coordinator for ecological space. Such experiences, as well as the committees she has been invited to participate in and the many publications she has completed have served to raise her profile in international and national circuits to unprecedented levels.

Are you a Fellow? Use the Fellow Directory!

This will help you quickly discover and know how best to connect with the other Ashoka Fellows.