Institute of Ecotechnics (I.E.) develops and applies innovative approaches to harmonizing technology and the global biosphere. The discipline of ecotechnics integrates two complementary fields of study: the 'ecology of technics' and the 'technics of ecology'.

The Institute of Ecotechnics convenes conferences and workshops that bring together leading thinkers, scientists, explorers, artists and managers.

I.E.'s Ecofrontiers projects include: a rainforest reforestation project in Puerto Rico, an ocean-going ecological research ship which studies the diversity and evolution of human cultures, restoration of an overgrazed cattle and horse ranch in the tropical savannah of northwest Australia, organic orchardry and regionally-adapted architecture in the high desert semi-arid grassland/juniper-pinon country of New Mexico, a sustainable farm and conference center in Aix-en-Provence and an art gallery and center for artists from around the planet in the Bloomsbury district of London.

The Institute of Ecotechnics has developed models to work with the complex dynamics of biospherics, technics, and cultures. Consultancy activities have included scientific co-ordination of the ground-breaking Biosphere 2 project, and the set-up of wastewater systems in desert, tropics, and savannah worldwide. For the Biosphere 2 project in Arizona, I.E. developed ecosystem management approaches and organized a series of international conferences on biospherics, together with a range of project workshops that developed the project's scientific/engineering teams.

In the overgrazed Kimberley region of northwestern Australia, I.E. initiated, developed and continues to support Birdwood Downs Company, which manages a 4700 acre (1850 hectare) savannah restoration project, Birdwood Downs. Its program of sustainable diversified development includes pasture regeneration with drought-resistant grass and legume varieties; silviculture and tropical orchardry; ecotechnic treatment and reuse of wastewater for gardens; also horsemanship training programs for local youth; and breeding/management of horse and cattle herds. Like many savannah regions worldwide, this region suffered severe ecological degradation due to overgrazing and overburning. Birdwood Downs Company Executive Director Robyn Tredwell, won Australia's prestigious Rural Woman of the Year Award in 1995 for her achievements with this program.

Las Casas de la Selva, is the Puerto Rican home of Tropic Ventures, the Institute's project in sustainable rainforest ecology and preservation, established in 1983. Line-planting valuable timber trees between the existing rainforest maintains the ecosystem's biomass and biodiversity. This method leaves virtually all of the forest undisturbed; even in the line-planted area, taller native trees/palms and the ground cover is untouched apart from the actual planting. Using this approach, two hundred and thirty acres of the 1000-acre (400 hectare) property have been planted, in cooperation with the Puerto Rican Departments of Forestry and Natural Resources, with some 40,000 trees (including relatively rare species of indigenous Puerto Rican hardwoods). Since 2004 experimental selective thinning and milling of Blue Mahoe, Hibiscus elatus, a rare hardwood, has taken place, with lumber and products being marketed and sold with extremely promising results. The valuable contribution of this method to the rainforest environment has seen Las Casas recognised as an 'auxiliary forest' in the US national park system of classification. Local community members, the Earthwatch Institute, universities and other non-profit organizations participate in the scientific research and educational outreach programs at the project site. In Spring 2008, Tropic Ventures was featured in an article entitled ‘Environmental Responsibility’ in the The Journal of American Woodturners.

Synergia Ranch , comprising 135 acres southeast of Santa Fe, NM, at an elevation of 6200 ft (1900 metres), is the Institute of Ecotechnic's oldest established project, and its U.S. headquarters. The restoration of this badly overgrazed and eroding high country semi-arid property required the addition of many tons of compost to local soils, damming up the gullies, and the subsequent planting of over a thousand windbreak, shade and fruit trees. Today, the ranch's traditional-style adobe buildings, courtyards, gardens, shop, and 50' (15m) diameter dome sit at the center of a now beautiful 'oasis in the desert. It attracts multidisciplinary workshops from around the world. Synergia Ranch is also the home of the Laboratory Biosphere closed ecological system research facility.

The Research Vessel Heraclitus is an 82-foot (25 metre), three-masted, ferro-cement oceanographic research vessel based on the traditional sea-going Chinese junk. Designed and built by the Institute of Ecotechnics in 1974-75, the Heraclitus has sailed over 250,000 miles, in every ocean except the Arctic, and circumnavigated the globe. In 2006, it completed over ten years of coral reef ecological and paleo-core studies. Previous expeditions include: ethnobotanical collections in Peruvian Amazonia, voyages around South America, an expedition to Antarctica to collect humpback whale genetic material, the first successful release of previously captive dolphins and a round-the-world expedition, from 1983-1986, that studied sustainable tropical agricultural systems and the cultures that developed them. The Heraclitus engages in Planet Water Expeditions, exploring the world's river-based and oceanic cultures, as well as the winds and currents of Planet Water. 
Contact Christine Handte, Director of Planet Water Expeditions: christinehandte@gmx.net

Institute of Ecotechnics conceptualized the restoration of, and continues to consult on a working ecological farm, artists' studio and conference facility, Les Marronniers, near Aix-en-Provence, France. Designed as an integrated system, this 15 acre (6 hectare) property makes full use of the vegetable gardens, field crops, orchards, grazing, woodlands, artisan workshops and residences to demonstrate the complex holistic principles on which traditional farming methods were based for centuries. In 1976, Les Marronniers hosted the first European I.E. conference, and continues today to host a wide variety of other workshops, conferences. and events.

The Institute of Ecotechnics founded and developed The October Gallery , an internationally recognized art and cultural events center in the Bloomsbury area of central London as a meeting place for the ' transvangarde ' - cutting-edge artists, musicians, poets and thinkers from all cultures around the planet. The October Gallery annually curates between seven and ten art exhibitions relating to different cultures each year as well as hosting a wide range of musical, dance and theatrical performances, as well as seminars, symposia and talks on a range of scientific and cultural topics. With a café serving daily lunches both to London-based habitués and globe-trotters just passing through, the Gallery maintains one of London's warmest and most welcoming spaces for both old and new-found friends.

CONFERENCES

The Institute has organized a number of international conferences of leading scientists, scholars, and artists to explore the large scale systems producing the contemporary situation: global biosphere, the world ocean, technosphere, ethnosphere, deserts, planet Earth. The Institute also organizes regional workshops in cooperation with its biomic-consultancies on topics of interest.

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS

In cooperation with companies which own and operate the biomic projects it designed, the Institute of Ecotechnics offers hands-on educational programs that provide training in the theory and practice of total systems and to learn and develop the skills necessary to manage or consult to these types of enterprises. Lasting from three to nine months, the programs have to date hosted some five hundred participants ranging from "ready, willing and able" novices to experienced leaders.

For further information about specific projects or associated educational programs please contact:

Mark Nelson, PhD