QUITO, Ecuador— The National Strike this summer in Ecuador mobilized people from all 24 of its provinces, concentrated thousands of protesters in the city of Quito, and lasted 18 days. Although it has left as a consequence, so far, seven people dead, this new social outbreak compelled important advances in the fight for the defense […]
This summer, Hot Springs citizens scored a breakthrough: They collected enough signatures to obtain a ballot measure that would declare mining a “nuisance” in Fall River County.
Since the turn of the century humans have been building communities structured on technological and industrial practices that are steadily destroying the ecosystems that support life on this planet. “Retrotopia”** is an alternative vision that supports the re-emergence of sustainable community living focused on ecosystem regeneration and restoration. Register HERE to join us for this weekend’s lineup […]
Today’s guest on the EcoSapien Speaker Series: Diana Leafe Christian, author of Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities, and Finding Community: How to Join an Ecovillage or Intentional Community. She speaks at ecovillage and cohousing conferences, offers consultations, and leads workshops and online internationally.
Archaeologists, anthropologists and members of the indigenous communities of Guatemala are making an appeal to the Guatemalan government to reject a controversial bill affecting the administration of the country’s archaeological sites. Law 5923, called “Rescue of Pre-Hispanic Heritage,” has been proposed as a matter of national urgency both by the Ministry of Culture and Sports […]
We are currently living through a time of accelerated environmental collapse. What is the role of indigenous people in reversing and preventing this collapse? Is it possible to prevent further damage and begin a process of Earth restoration? Join us for the latest conversation in a six-week journey into Indigenous Ecology, where Voices of Amerikua […]
An interview with Ivan Sawyer, founder of Voices of Amerikua, on Sacred Earth, his new series on Indigenous Ecology
I dedicate these farewell lines to Gustavo Esteva, an exemplary teacher of life, who, like his friend and contemporary philosopher Ivan Illich, dared to develop and put into practice revolutionary and comprehensive education systems. His groundbreaking work was aimed above all at “those from below:” peasants, indigenous people, young revolutionaries, and ex-guerrillas. I am not […]
On the night of March 18, 2022, a full moon rose over the Cerro del Quemado, the mountain known to the Wixárika people as the Birthplace of the Sun, to reveal an unforgettable sight. Hundreds of Wixaritari – elders, youth, children, mothers and fathers with babies in their arms – encircled the concentric rings of […]
The book Ecobarrios en América Latina: Alternativas comunitarias para la transición hacia la sustentabilidad urbana (Ecobarrios in Latin America: Community Alternatives for the Transition to Urban Sustainability) is an exploration of the committed and valuable work of a movement of people throughout the continent. One of the most outstanding has been the co-editor of the […]
Oglala Lakota citizen Maria Hazel Stands takes the microphone. Surrounded by Pine Ridge Indian Reservation community members she accepts the introduction as a “survivor” of Red Cloud Indian School, where they are gathered under a canopy of trees in the grassy yard.
Huehuecóyotl, Tepoztlán, Morelos — My first meeting with Maestro Antonio Velasco Piña took place during the launch of his best-known work, Regina: 2 de Octubre no se Olvida (Regina: Oct. 2 will not be forgotten), which took place in the auditorium of the El Sótano bookstore, located on Miguel Ángel Quevedo Avenue in a neighborhood […]
How did deep-fried gorditas and marzipan candies become part of a strategy to save the last stand of iconic mesquite trees in Aguascalientes? Human rights advocates in the Mexican highlands city are fighting real estate developers to defend their green-space while raising awareness about the importance of this tree.
Perhaps no other Native people knows better than the Lummi the risks of megaprojects imposed on indigenous communities without consultation or consent. The tribe’s ancestral territory is located at a prime Northwest Pacific Coast shipping juncture. Battling against proliferation of toxic oil pipelines and coal ports, the heirs of Washington state’s original human settlements took […]
The Esperanza Project is a nonprofit, bilingual online magazine and media empowerment project covering social and environmental change-makers in the Americas. It is written and edited by a team of journalists, filmmakers, writers and designers from around the world. We come from different backgrounds, but we share the belief that a better world is possible, and indeed […]
Antonio Sánchez Gramiño was always one of those who would shake is head and laugh when he heard people talk about changing the world. It’s not that he didn’t care; he’s always been ecologically minded. It bothered him to see people wasting water and creating trash. It’s just that he thought it was a lost cause.
“I used to call them pendejos (fools),” he told me with a laugh. “Now, I’m one of those pendejos.”
Some months ago, I was telling a friend that I had come across unpublished papers by Abraham Maslow suggesting changes to his famous Hierarchy of Needs. Roberto Rivera, Executive Director of Alliance for the 7th Generation, was familiar with the subject and turned me on to something else I didn’t know.
Esperanza is the Spanish word for hope. The Esperanza Project offers a special blend of hope-based media – one that gives voice to those heroes and heroines who are quietly changing the world from the ground up. Many, but not all, come from countries that we in the North don’t often pay attention to, from people […]
Film tells how the matrilineal Iroquois Confederacy has been influencing public policy over time.
“Haaland’s appointment gives us a voice in a department that has long been responsible for our exploitation.”