Rating: 
Summary: The challenge of sustainability in a chaotic world
Review: A captivatingly inspirational account of story that reaches to the core of what is remarkable about human nature, human courage, and human ingenuity achieving something great and important in the face of daunting conditions. The continuing adaptive accomplishments of the Gaviotas people in the face of multiple challenges -- extreme environmental conditions, corrupt government practices, turbulent and deadly national politics, indifferent and unsupportive post-1980s corporate globalization, continuing uncertainty -- is truly an affirmation that people can, and hopefully will, achieve a kind of society that is both ecologically sustainable and humanly necessary. This book is 'the power of one' writ large on our collective future. I teach a university course entitled: Humanistic Values in a Technological Society and, in the face of social and environmental problems caused by industrialization and electronic media-technology, it is difficult for the title not to seem a proverbial oxymoron. In the future this book will be required reading so that students can see that indeed there are solutions to our collective problems, both human and technological. One reviewer bemoaned that there was no 'useful information' in the book, meaning it was short on technical details (I am sure this will follow if sufficient positive interest is shown to this publication). In response I would point out that the people of Gaviotas have shown that the most important and necessary 'commodity' of the future is and will be human inspiration and perseverance; given these, the details will follow. I thank Alan Weisman for telling the Gaviotas story.
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Summary: A Book to Reinvent Our Goals
Review: Alan Weisman, a journalist hired by NPR to investigate solutions for environmental crises, spent years collecting information in a tiny, remote village at the eastern edge of the war-torn country of Colombia. That village was Gaviotas; this book is his result. I read this book on a recommendation from Daniel Quinn, author of "The Story of B" and "Beyond Civilization." Quinn's entire philosophy rests on two ideas: living in a sustainable manner, and allowing the reader to come up with their own solutions for doing so. Gaviotas is a community where people did just that - through ingenuity, creativity, and hard work, the residents of this planned village created a place where water is pulled from the ground using pumps attached to children's see-saws, heat is provided by the sun, and electricity by the wind. It's a progressive's dream come true, and an experiment that has succeeded in all possible ways. This book lays out the history of Gaviotas and its unique founder, Paolo Lugari, and places it within the context of the ongoing struggles in Colombia. In the wake of the World Trade Center attack, I decided to re-read Gaviotas to remind myself that not only is there hope for humanity as a whole, but hope that individuals will begin to take responsibility to begin freeing ourselves from the confining forces of our self-imposed prisons called "civilization," but still manage to retain the good things, too. Every person on earth should read and re-read this book. If you haven't, buy it now or start hoofing it to the library.
Rating: 
Summary: An overly back slapping tome with no usefull information
Review: As someone living in a very remote area with unreliable or nonexistant technological supports, I was extremely interested in just what the Gaviotans managed to accomplish and invent. Unfortunately, this book gives little to no details about their inovations (except for vague descriptions)and focuses instead mostly on the personalities involved. We are repeatedly (unendingly) told about how brillant and incredible they are while getting only an occasional superficial token look at what they did. Granted, there is room for other books than "how to" manuals, but I really hoped to come away from this book with at least a few ideas to try. It is a book about inventors after all. Where are the inventions? For me....a waste of money. Wait until you can check it out of the library. This is not a book that you are likely to refer back to after you have read it once.
Rating: 
Summary: Inspiring but Bitter-sweet
Review: At its best, Gaviotas is a wonderfully inspiring story of real people facing real problems, and coming up with real solutions (which sometimes work and somtimes don't work). The book is brimming with interesting tidbits, stories, and personalities. What is absent is a more coherent account of the implications of Gaviotas for the rest of the world. To be sure, there are plenty of these implications voiced by the residents of Gaviotas themselves, which is perhaps as the author intended. But these are too scattered. If the author himself had taken more time to step back and do some pleading himself, it would have been a much more satisfying book. But as it is, I would recommend it. But it should be read in tandem with a book like Richard Douthwaite's "Short Circuit" or Michael Shuman's "Going Local" -- both of these titles have more analytical and social substance, and are less anecdotal in tone than Gaviotas.
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Summary: Gaviotas holds out a real hope for the future of this Planet
Review: Come along as Alan Weisman deftly weaves the true story of one man's dream and many peoples making. A dream of hope for our planet and belief in the triumph of many human spirits. Gaviotas is a dream that Colombian Paolo Lugari had over 30 years ago. A dream that Paolo never let go of and with the help of an indomitable group of engineers, teachers, doctors, students, musicians and native Colombian Indians he has succeeded in accpmplishing. Blessed along the way with grants from the United Nations as well as others, they have brought that dream, Gaviotas, to fruition. Paolo always believed that a self-sustainable community could prosper, working with nature instead of against her. To that end he found a piece of environmentally challenged land in the Savannas of Colombia and began his dream. The engineers went to work. Their solar technology runs everything from lights to phones to water pumps and heaters to water purification plants. They discovered how to ! get solar energy from the low light of rainy days, since the rainy season at Gaviotas lasts for 8 months of the year. The children's see-saw is used to draw water from the well. They grow their own food, then cook it with methane from cow manure. They"air conditioned" the hospital with centuries old techniques using not one whit of electricity. They've even managed to re-establish an ancient rain forest, and a thriving renewable industry to go with it. This would be a remarkable feat anywhere. That it was accomplished in Colombia is astounding. Colombia is as battle-scared as any nation on earth. In one decade alone over two thousand poloticians and two presidental candidates were murdered. Through all of this Gaviotas has thrived and willingly made changes when needed. They have shared unstintingly with those in need all around the world, all the while staying consciously unarned while surrounded by battling vigilantes, government troops and guerillas.! Weisman has told the story of the Gaviotans and their ! accomplishments so beautifully, it is one of those rare stories that I did not want to end. And in reality it has not ended because Gaviotas continues to grow and prosper. In a world where most of us doubt that these things can really be accomplished Gaviotas holds out a real hope for the future of this Planet.
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Summary: Sustainable living, tools and design that really, truly work
Review: Disclaimer: I do not know Alan Weisman and do not hold stock in Chelsea Green. "Gaviotas: A Village To Reinvent the World" is the story of the failures and successes of small but visionary sustainable community project in the "wastes" of Colombia's llano. The project succeeds, fails, and succeeds again in spite of drug war, guerrilla war, corruption (uh, I guess this goes without saying), inhospitable environment, unpredictable if not lame government policies, fires, chronic underfunding, technology learning curves, and more. What the pioneers of Gaviotas lack in stability and funding they make up with faith, cajones, and inspired resourcefulness. And a lot of hard hard work. The machines the Gaviotans make and the town they build are dreams made real. Power generators using wind and water, solar-powered pressure cookers and water purifiers--they even manage to make a solar-powered refridgerator that operates on ammonia instead of freon. "Why make blueprints?" one of the engineers says. "You're going to build it anyway. It's easier to design in three dimensions." Gaviotas-the-place sounds like a slice of paradise (albeit surrounded by chaos and otras cosas muy malas). No crime. No police. Neighbors who help each other. Excellent homemade music. Constant innovation, frequently in the guise of inspired play. Author Alan Weisman is an NPR reporter/NY Times Magazine (et al.) writer who handles the big story with ease. Very readable. Not so techy as to alienate the non-geeks. Written with a two-part focus on the people *and* the machines they design and build. Plenty of humor, reverence, and plainly stated cold hard facts.
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Summary: South American Shangri-La
Review: Do you believe in Utopia? Throughout history people have looked for the ideal community, a place where problems are solved, not created, where a dream of peace and harmony can be fulfilled. In the words of the high llama of Shangri-La, in Capra's classic film, Lost Horizon: 'the world must begin to look for a new life and it is our hope that they may find it here. For here we shall be with their books and their music and a way of life based on one simple rule: Be kind. When that day comes, it is our hope that the brotherly love of Shangri-La will spread throughout the world.' Alan Weisman writes his account of the Columbian settlement of Gavoitas firmly in the tradition of utopian literature: he has found his Shangri-La and it is not only a utopia but an eco-topia too. I found the story he has to tell immensely inspiring from an environmental point of view, especially his description of the way in which the Gaviotans have managed to reforest the pampas. However, I also found that the way he tells the story detracts from some of its potential power. At one point, he mistakenly claims that 'utopia' is the Greek for 'no place'and that therefore Gaviotas cannot be a utopia because it exists. In fact 'utopia' is Greek for 'good place', which would admirably describe Gaviotas, I would have thought. The problem with utopian writing is that it often leaves the reader doubting the reality of the place described. Can Shangri-La really be found? Can Gaviotas really exist, magically protected as it is from the twin ravages of marxist gorillas and cocaine barons? In promoting the positive aspects of the Gaviotan experiment, Weisman downplays any negative aspects that must surely exist. I would have liked to have read an account that presented the settlement 'warts and all', rather than this rather one-sided eulogy. Sure, Gaviotas may well be a utopia, a 'good place', and so many of its discoveries could well change the world, but please, Mr Weisman, let the reader decide.
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Summary: Gaviotas Shows People Working Together CAN Make a Difference
Review: Gaviotas describes the trials & tribulations of Environmental Improvement in a place called the LLANOS in Colombia-The book has inspired me to help fund a project to bring Internet to Schools in the Caribbean-We want to thank Alan Weisman for risking his life-That was the part in the book that was a sort of wake-up call for me personally-and bringing back the stories of people's lives that have made an incredible difference in the preservation of our planet. The book also shows the positive and hard-working nature the Colombian people pride themselves on-yet it is never shown the way that GAVIOTAS does. All Colombianos should buy this book for their family to enjoy-and buy an extra one and send to your relatives in Colombia.
Rating:
Summary: Inspirational!
Review: Gaviotas is the true story of a group of people using their creative powers to invent a society that is environmentally sustainable without limiting the luxuries we take for granted living in the US. The story reads like a novel-- I had to keep reminding myself that this is real! A must-read. This is my Christmas present to everyone I know this year!
Rating:
Summary: Gaviotas is an inspiring story of hope and success
Review: Gaviotas the place is amazing! I can't believe how many good ideas were put into practice in one community! Incredible. All working/aspiring engineers, city planners, architects, etc. should having a working knowledge of the theories and practices Alan Weisman describes in this book. Humans CAN be part of a non-destructive, even a positive, productive relationship with their surroundings. We CAN prosper without decimating everything with which we interact. Gaviotas is a good start--a good example for the rest of the world. READ THE BOOK! BUY THE BOOK!
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