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 	   	- The Pangea Partnership -

			Newsletter

Spring and Summer 2007             We Teach.  We Build.  We Give.
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In This Issue:

        Learning Online
        Where's the Workshop 
        Habla español?


Dear Friends
************
Welcome to the Spring/Summer 2007 Pangea newsletter.
In this issue you will find some updates on
where we’ve been and what we’ve been up to. We’ll
also introduce some exciting new online resources for
learning about sustainable building and give you a
glimpse of activities we’ll be undertaking in the future.

Learning Online
===============
We are pleased to introduce Pangea’s interactive
online demonstration of strawbale construction. This
flash-based learning tool illustrates the basic step
involved in building a simple load-bearing structure.
After viewing an animated presentation
of the overall process from foundation to roofing,
you can choose to view a more detailed illustration
and read and explanation of each step.

This tool is suitable for users of all ages and experience
levels. It is currently available in English, and we hope to
translate it to more languages in the
near future. You can access the Strawbale
learning tool on the Pangea website here:

http://www.pangeapartnership.org/?page=sb_demo

Your feedback and suggestions for other online tools
are always welcome. Please write to me at
rstone@pangeapartnership.org with your thoughts.
I’d personally like to thank Karen Lam for her dedicated
volunteer work over the past 18 months developing
the Flash animations.

Where’s the Workshop?
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In the summer of 2005 Pangea launched a partnership
with the Fundacion A. Jean Brugger and Canadian
Architect Douglas Cardinal to design and build a
small world-class nature museum in the town of San
Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. For over a year our three
groups worked to overcome logistical, communications
and financial barriers to realizing this project.

However, last fall it became obvious to everyone
involved that it would not be possible to surmount challenges
ranging from engineering to fund-raising in time
for construction this winter, and we had to cancel this
project. Pangea remains supportive of the
Foundation’s work with the young people of Nicaragua.
The Foundation will continue to work toward the dream
of building a museum and educational facility dedicated
to use by the young people of the area. We
encourage you to learn more about the their projects
and activities.

We would also like to thank Douglas and Bret Cardinal
for all their patient work on the design of this building.
They came up with a truly inspirational concept that
we hope to be able to use in the future.

We’ve learned over the past few years that relationship
building with partners is an important basis for any 
successful project, but the challenges of communicating 
internationally in the face of spotty electricity, internet 
and phone service remain daunting. We are working to overcome
these obstacles and hope to announce workshops soon.

We have also been reconsidering the environmental
balance sheet of workshops that involve lengthy plane
trips for most participants. Flying is a very serious
source of pollution – including greenhouse gases.
The emissions from one flight to Central America can
equal a year of driving or more for the average foreign
participant. In future projects, we will be careful to
weigh the long-term costs versus benefits and find
ways to mitigate the costs. 

Habla español?
==============
Pangea is looking for volunteers with experience
translating from English to Spanish. Contact us if
this sounds like you, and help us reach those in
need.

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Copyright © The Pangea Partnership 2007, All Rights Reserved