Modern Day “Ectopia" Kalu Yala
*What Kalu Yala entrepreneurs plan for this place to
look like one day*
As
for my first installment I have decided to share with you some information on a
new developing city, with a lot of central ideas that Ecotopia had covered. This place is called Kalu Yala, "refering to the concept and the actual reality of the
world's most sustainable village being built in the rainforest highlands of
Central Panama"(Jimmy Stace). My second installment will include what a day in the
life looks like for a Kalu Yala, wether you are a visitor and or resident. As
well as what many hope future Kalu Yala to be like.
After reading
Ecotopia in class, I could not help but to keep connecting all these
“Ecotopian” ideas to a new-born city that I have come across these last couple
months called Kalu Yala. What is Kalu Yala (you might be wondering by now)? Well,
Kalu Yala is a newly, in the process of developing, a non-profit, self-sustainable
city, which is being built in the Republic of Panama, right outside of, (about
40 mins away), from Panama City and the International Airport.
“Kalu Yala is a new village being built in a Panamanian
river valley to bring together entrepreneurs, artists, scientists and modern
day romantics. Here, we are reimagining what’s possible from life and designing
an optimized model of living to share with the world” (Kaluyala.com).
As you can see, Kalu Yala brings together people from all
over the world, with different contributing attributes. Although this place is
still fairly new, everything must start from something. Jimmy Stice, creator
and founder of Kalu Yala says that, “On this tropical frontier, we will dig
into volcanic soil and build a small settlement with plans to become a town and
eventually house a population of over 10,000 people” (Facebook.com/KaluYala). How
awesome does that sound!? Somewhere I definitely could see myself living.
Right now, one can come to visit, fifty dollars a night,
which includes one house, with three meals a day, (remember, these meals are
grown fresh, in the garden that other Kalu Yala visitors/volunteers/and or residents
attend to daily). One can also move to Kalu Yala, buy and build their own
property, and become part of this growing community, (as for 2016, Jimmy plans
to have 20 new built houses, in which all 20 spots have been bought by
individuals already, but one can start looking for 2017). Kalu Yala was not
designed as a project, but yet, as a way of life. Finding the true human
potential, much interconnectedness, sustainable-healthy living
possible, belief in organic local business, solar power, hydro- power, to rid
of imports, and to maximize the exports. Kalu Yala has a formula in which they
strongly believe in and that is to Educate, Connect, Build and Launch (I will
get into these ideas/plans in my second installment). This new born city hopes
to bring a new way of life and to show many 21st century people how
living a self-sustainable, fully off the grid, life can not only benefit themselves
but communities as a whole, and building a life that will benefit those that
come after us.
“True sustainability does not exist unless it creates
jobs, which makes Kalu Yala a launchpad for new businesses. These startups
serve our local community and export our ideas and products to the world. For
this express purpose, we have built an incubator and funding ramp designed to
cater exclusively to young or local entrepreneurs. To provide this unique
platform, Kalu Yala has partnered with seasoned investors, bringing funds from
Silicon Valley to our jungle valley” (kalyyala.com/launch).
Sorry for the formatting...did not mean for it to come out this way. Blogging is quit confusing!
ReplyDeleteI've been wondering if/hoping that a place like this exists. The Ecotopia model is a dream and it's cool to see the real-life equivalent/attempt.
ReplyDeleteIt'd be cool to see a dot on a larger map for some context. It'd be even cooler if you could get some sort of email reply from the owner/one of the residents (but that sounds like a long shot due to their style of life). Don't forget a word count (608 right now, hope I saved you a second). Super excited for part 2 of this.
I think this really is the wave of the future: small communities self-consciously setting out to model best eco-practices, eventually competing (in a healthy way) to achieve the best vision of our collective way forward. I hadn't heard of Kalu Yala, thanks for sharing this hopeful story of experimental sustainability implanting itself (so to speak, and as implied by your title's spelling) outside the womb of industrial civilization.
ReplyDeleteThis is pretty interesting especially to see the concept come to life if you will. I would be curious to see what the downsides if any there are in this community but seems like a place that would be great to live in, study, and see what will come out of it and to see if that way of life is sustainable as the population grows.
ReplyDelete