Litibu EcoVillage

READ “ADDITIONAL COMMENTS” BELOW BEFORE REQUESTING A VISIT.

In 1990 eighteen social pioneers initiated a community on Playa Litibu in Nayarit, Mexico, two kilometers from the village of Higuera Blanca. In the first thirty years, we built eight eco-friendly casas that had solar energy, natural black/gray water systems from cisterns, and internet. In the common areas we created stone pathways, composting stations, a peace garden, food forest, and a community gathering place with cob benches, fire pit and oven under swaying palms by the ocean.

Mission: We choose a context which is larger than the square meters of land. In our daily living we choose to conserve the Earth’s limited resources, respect diversity and be healers for the larger global society. We have joined in a Trust relationship to reflect our belief that community is an essential element of a healthy life and to exercise our sense of relationship with one another.

Our Vision: is to be a replicable living model of multi-generation and multi-cultural regenerative living in a permaculture environment that becomes increasingly self-sufficient and self-reliant. The framework of the Litibu EcoVillage vision is made up of the following.

Worldview: We think globally and act locally as a community based in Mexico. We stand before the urgency of demonstrating radical actions of caring for the earth in our lifestyle. We are responding to the call to live in relation to the needs of the next seven generations in everything we do, recognizing that “Climate change has already been solved. We already have the facts and solutions. All we have to do is wake up and change,” as stated by a 16 year-old climate activist.

Social Sustainability: We actively work to build trust, collaboration and openness to make sure people feel seen, heard and empowered. We provide a sense of belonging through community relationships, common projects and shared goals. We strive to be a learning community to continue an evolutionary journey of growth and change and learning of facilitation, communication and peacebuilding skills.

Ecological Sustainability: We live lightly on the Earth through sustainable practices in our common and private spaces. We engage actively in partnering with the natural gifts of sun, water and food that surround us by demonstrating a low-impact lifestyle that cares for these resources. The community thrives when eating, celebrating, working and other forms of creative expression are done together. We aim to integrate humans with nature in ways that increase biodiversity, regenerate ecosystems, and give people a chance to experience their interdependence with systems and cycles of life daily. We live a high quality of life in the midst of moving towards 100% renewable energies, ensuring our water catchment supplies our year-round needs, organic agriculture supports the growth of our food/soil, and ‘waste’ is treated as a valuable resource.

Economic Sustainability: We live out of a sense of abundance through our resource sharing. We recycle, repair, reuse and practice patterns of cooperative living. Litibu EcoVillage aims to build economic practices and systems that ensure equitable ownership of land and resources. We support social entrepreneurship that creates sustainable solutions as alternatives to the mainstream economy as we reconstruct the concepts of wealth, work and progress.

Whole System Design: Our approach to design and sustainability is paired with a strong focus on collaboration and participation. We seek to honor traditional wisdom; welcome positive innovation and learn from nature. When any of our values become threadbare, we look for ways of reweaving our practices. We work with the wider community, including the Litibu Community Association, the village of Higuera Blanca and other neighbors to ensure safe, future-oriented choices in this area of Mexico. We are connecting to the experiences of other intentional communities.

The Future: We see ourselves as a demonstration of sustainable living in tune with nature, permaculture and ecological values. Permaculture shows the difference between a “footprint” and a “handprint.” Your footprint is the negative impact you have on the planet; it factors in choices like how much fossil fuel you use, how much waste you create, and how many resources you consume to support your lifestyle. A handprint is a positive legacy you leave behind. We are intentional in membership transition to protect the community’s ongoing purpose. We see the need within the current Litibu area to make more housing available for community regeneration for those younger and older that do not have the resources to participate in our social regenerative living experiment.