From Jan. 17th to the 24th 2006 the Mesoamerican Institute of Permaculture (IMAP), in collaboration with Permacultura America Latina (PAL), held the first ever Mesoamerican Convergence on Sustainable Development and Permaculture on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. The Convergence took place at IMAP’s center in the small village of Pachitulul near the town of San Lucas Toliman. The Convergence created an open forum where ecological initiatives on sustainability were exchanged, concrete methods were shared and support was organized to form a grassroots bioregional network of associations that will contribute to the use and growth of permaculture in the region.

Mesoamerica is a term that recognizes the cultural, ecological, traditional, and sociological similarities, rather than the political boundaries and differences that make up what now constitutes most of Central America. Acknowledging these similarities along with the comparable dilemmas and obstacles that participants from the region share, is the foundation with which they were able to unite their causes with more sustainable practices. The convergence focused on networking grassroots NGOs in the region that are working on projects ranging from indigenous rights to women’s issues to environmental and social justice.

With the pressures of globalization, free trade agreements, privatization, and open market approaches to poverty reduction, the term "sustainable development" has been co-opted. To address the urgent environmental and social threats facing the region, it has become necessary to create a Mesoamerican alliance that shares experiences and resources thereby consolidating approaches to determine a future strategy for sustainable development in the region. Although the concept of sustainable development is not a new one, it is imprecise and often misused to promote unsustainable economic development. There is a vast gap between "sustainable development" for economic growth and "sustainable development" for social change. As development becomes more of an industry, grassroots organizations are finding it difficult to achieve sustainability and autonomy within that system. The Mesoamerican Convergence responded to this serious lack of participation from the grassroots in defining development priorities and strategies.

Both the locale and work experience of IMAP made it an ideal site to hold the Convergence. Currently IMAP has working relationships with over twenty communities and the foundation for the first ever native/open pollinated seed bank network in the region. IMAP has gained recognition within Mesoamerica for its expertise in permaculture instruction and consultancy. To date IMAP has provided permaculture training to over 300 campesinos/as and consultancy to international NGO’s who seek sustainable approaches to land management and food production. The actual permaculture reference center is located on the shore of Lake Atitlan, in the western highlands. Its privileged location provided participants of the Convergence with a safe and inspiring space to share experiences and explore future strategies for combating threats to the larger region and for celebrating the richness of Mesoamerica.

The Mesoamerican Convergence workshops and activities were led and facilitated by IMAP co-founder Ronaldo Lec from Guatemala and Juan Rojas from El Salvador. Both Ronaldo and Juan are certified permaculture instructors and have been instrumental in establishing grassroots organizations aimed at appropriate methods of farming and land restoration. Their presentations were based on methods of employing permaculture in order to aid participants to become more independent of foreign resources and link the significance of more sustainable living within the framework of participants’ various projects. Juan and Rony affectively focused discussions on the social and political strife that has afflicted the region of Mesoamerica and of the current economic obstacles that must be overcome to revitalize biologically strained ecosystems. IMAP co-founder Rebecca Cutter played a key role coordinating many of the logistics of the Convergence including the planning of themes and objectives addressed, organizing transportation, accommodations and cultural activites, and working with the local women of Pachitulul to provide meals for the participants.
next page