Kalu Yala is a unique village in a rainforest valley of Panama, currently being built from scratch by the hands of economists, architects, students, entrepreneurs and travelers in hopes of creating the world's most sustainable living area. Since 2010 the Kalu Yala community has transformed 500 acres of empty land into a small village of man-made buildings, paired with large investors from places like Silicon Valley to help its businesses take off, and utilized eco-friendly operations (solar power, passive cooling, etc.) to decrease imports, increase exports and maximize sustainability.
Possibly the most interesting part about this village is that anyone can apply to join its economists, students, travelers, etc. and be part of its groundbreaking story! Kalu Yala founder Jimmy Stice and his team accept volunteer, architect, visitor and homeowner applications year-round, as well as applications for their internship program. These applicants come from all walks of life to experience Kalu Yala's natural materials for building, natural resources for consuming, beautiful landscape for adventuring, and sustainable community for living.
Natural Materials for Building
The idea to build a village from scratch is not as far-fetched as some may think. In fact, New Orleans, Denver and San Fransisco all started as small camps. Kalu Yala's camp/village has grown thus far by utilizing the natural building materials Panama provides to create man-made, hut-like buildings. More recently, the village is also said to have added hot showers and flushable toilets, and to have announced the 2016 construction of a large building that will hold hotel rooms, student dorms, two restaurants, two bars and a conference area.
Natural Resources for Consuming
Most of Kalu Yala's organic food supply is locally grown, resulting in healthy residents and creating a large amount of farming jobs. In addition, the water is locally sourced and filtered by a pipe system installed in Panama's mountains. This food and water is not only used by the community's cooks to prepare meals, but also by the local company Kalu Yala Farms to produce their products.
A Beautiful Landscape for Adventuring
Here, there is less of a need to exhaust energy, money and efforts building hiking trails, water parks, rock walls or green spaces. They're all around you. In a village where residents choose their own jobs and build their own surroundings, there is always time to enjoy the beautiful land nearby.
A Sustainable Community
The area's natural materials, resources and landscape seem to have resulted in an extremely sustainable, healthy and happy village. In hopes to share their success and findings with the rest of the world, the Kalu Yala community has created an internship program for students of agriculture, biology, business/entrepreneurship, Spanish, culinary arts, etc.
When it comes to recreation and down time for these students and for the community members there is a little something for everyone, from calming, book-filled cafes to lively, music-filled bars. The village also hosts scheduled events, such as holiday festivals and concerts throughout the year to draw in visitors and entertain residents.
But the village's growth has not reached its peak yet. The pictures below show sketches of Kalu Yala's transition to what most of us would think of as more 'normal' buildings. Founder Stice's plan is to grow the community to the goal population of 10,000-25,000 sustainably by having only 20 new houses built each year, beginning this 2016-2017 year. All 20 of this year's houses have already sold and are in progress, suggesting a promising future for this project.
