Escuelas de Vida (Schools of Life)

We are the union of different organizations, foundations, collectives and transition initiatives from Manizales that join forces around a common purpose in order to build a more conscious and sustainable humanity: a group of agents of change founded in inner transition processes.

 


CASE STAGE: Well established and running
LOCATION: Manizales (Colombia)
POPULATION: 400,000
TRANSITION CONNECTION: Yes
GOVERNANCE: Not defined


 

Schools of Life is not a Project for the future, it is what is happening between you and me, here and now. We are a Transition initiative part of the Colombian Transition Hub.  Our collective purpose is to contribute for transformation in all relationships and co-creating new lifestyles, having as main bases integral education, spiritual formation and the creation of alternative spaces of socio-environmental encounter around the natural organization of life itself.

Our main focuses include:

Health: Medicine for the spirit, the mind and the body, food sovereignty. Community: Family relationships, life in community, ecovillages, recovery of ancestral wisdom.

Art: Alternative pedagogies, works of art, handcrafts, communitarian learning processes.

Care of the Earth: custodian of seeds, urban and rural agriculture, organic gardening, market networks and community gardens.

Design: Bio-construction, natural architecture, design of sustainable territories. 

Solidary Economy: celebrations, “mingas” (many working hands together), festivals, local currencies, exchange of services and products.

On a collective level, 2 of our highlights are the “Family Festivals” where we unite many local initiatives that share our same vision and we offer an immersion of one day in a space that delivers many alternatives of sustainable life (we are going for the 10th edition) and a soon-to-be implemented pedagogic project for schools in the city, called ”EduPaz”.

 


DOMAINSFood and agriculture, Education, Raising awareness about sustainability, climate change, healthy living, environmental issues, etc., Health, Social Care, Arts and Culture, Economy, Waste management, Community work.

BENEFICIARIES: Children, Teenagers (13 – 17), Young adults (18 – 24), Adults (25 – 65), Elders (65+), Families, People with disabilities, Ethnic or Social Minorities, LGBTQ+


 

MiT noteSchools of Life. Interesting for phase 2 (to deepen the governance model). Suitable for pilot (fertile context, broad partnership; continuity is assured?).

Contact

Andrea Giraldo López
andreakumbra@gmail.com

Website