On October 25, in the Santa Elena village, the Barichara Regenerative Foundation opened Living Cycle 2, the second edition of its strategy to promote local initiatives that regenerate the territory. This time the focus is on rural areas: five processes They will receive support for 11 months to turn their dreams into concrete actions that respond to the priorities of the field.
Those priorities came from EOT Barichara 2025 Citizen Forum, There, the community warned that peasant land is under increasing pressure from the construction of houses and hotels. Six key areas were agreed upon: protecting the land that produces crops, ensuring food security and self-sufficiency, bringing decent services to rural communities, creating opportunities for young people and women, selling directly without intermediaries, and protecting water and forests.
With this roadmap, the Foundation brought together initiatives with a proven track record and legitimacy in their communities, because Ciclo Vivo doesn't come from outside; it builds upon what farming groups already know and do. The idea is to nurture them like a seed, with time and support, through three steps: to recognize the knowledge of the territory, to connect the groups with each other and to strengthen their capacity to act together. In eleven months, each process will implement a concrete action connected to a long-term vision. The goal is to prototype, to test on a small scale what could become a lasting process tomorrow.
«We are committed to strengthening the agricultural and livestock sector of our municipality, and here we are finding the support we need,» said Guillermo Ortiz Vesga of Fincas Vivas.
«The expectation is positive and we believe that with the support of Barichara Regenerativa the projects will go very well, because in the four years they have been promoting projects in Barichara they have generated changes in families, in the social fabric and in each of its villages,» said Rafael Ricardo Ortiz, of Sembrando Futuro.
These are the five initiatives of Living Cycle 2:
Women and Life Association, It brings together rural women from across the municipality who cultivate organic gardens of aromatic and medicinal plants, transform them into essential oils and hydrosols, and care for apiaries. In this cycle, they seek to improve their processing methods with better technologies and equipment, as a step towards their dream of having their own space.
Living Farms, [Name of organization] is an emerging collective that arose from a youth agriculture competition and showcased good farming practices. Their focus is on water resilience: sustainable water collection and access, initially for 11 rural families.
Baritech, in partnership with Seed Hunters, This project puts engineering at the service of rural science for young people and children. Together they will develop sensors to measure flow rate, turbidity, conductivity, pH, temperature, and other parameters in the cisterns protected by the Cazadores (Hunters), and will systematize georeferenced information.
Veredal It is a space in Santa Elena for culture, art and sensory and body exploration, bringing to rural areas practices that are usually concentrated in the urban center.
Sowing the Future, The Santa Elena Community Action Board will create a sports school, starting with soccer. This way, children and young people from the village and neighboring villages won't have to travel down to town to play. The goal is for sports to strengthen the social fabric and instill values for life.
In the coming months, these initiatives will put their ideas to the test with the support of the Barichara Regenerative Foundation. These are seeds sown by those who know the land best, and their harvest could be a more resilient, united, and vibrant territory.
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