Synergia Ranch is an

ecovillage An ecovillage is a traditional or intentional community with the goal of becoming more socially, culturally, economically, and/or ecologically sustainable. An ecovillage strives to produce the least possible negative impact on the natural envi ...

founded in 1969 by

John P. Allen John Polk Allen (born May 6, 1929, Carnegie, Oklahoma) is a systems ecologist, engineer, metallurgist, adventurer, and writer. Allen is a proponent of the science of biospherics and a pioneer in sustainable co-evolutionary development. He is the ...

, the inventor of

Biosphere 2 Biosphere 2 is an American Earth system science research facility located in Oracle, Arizona. Its mission is to serve as a center for research, outreach, teaching, and lifelong learning about Earth, its living systems, and its place in the univers ...

and Marie Harding, its present manager. Today Synergia Ranch operates as a private retreat and workshop center for small groups. It is located in

Santa Fe County, New Mexico Santa Fe County ( es, Condado de Santa Fe; meaning ''Holy faith'' in Spanish) is located in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, the population was 144,170, making it New Mexico's third-most populous county, after Bernalillo Cou ...

, 15 miles south of the city of Santa Fe. In the 1970s, businessman and philanthropist

Ed Bass Edward Perry "Ed" Bass (born September 10, 1945) is an American businessman, financier, philanthropist and environmentalist who lives in Fort Worth, Texas. He financed the Biosphere 2 project, an artificial closed ecological system, whic ...

was a regular visitor to the counterculture community, later becoming a director of the

Institute of Ecotechnics The Institute of Ecotechnics is an educational, training and research charity with a special interest in ecotechnology, the environment, conservation, and heritage. With its U.K. headquarters in London, England and its U.S. affiliate in Santa Fe, ...

that Allen and other Synergia Ranch members founded, and financing much of their work. In 1984, Bass and Allen launched the

project (for which Bass provided $150 million in funding until 1991), partially inspired by ideas Allen had advocated at Synergia Ranch, such as

Buckminster Fuller Richard Buckminster Fuller (; July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist. He styled his name as R. Buckminster Fuller in his writings, publishing more t ...

's " Spaceship Earth". Several other former members of Synergia Ranch also joined Biosphere 2.

References

External links

Official site

''Me and the Biosphere''
by John Allen * ''Dreaming the Biosphere'', by Rebecca Reider, Buildings and structures in Santa Fe, New Mexico Ecovillages 1969 establishments in New Mexico {{NewMexico-geo-stub