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In the shade of the big fig tree in my garden, I often sit and ponder the world. I wonder, for example, why, in my microcosm, more and more storks are losing interest in the flight from Europe to Africa? Or why the swallows are starting their acrobatic flights as early as January and setting off in search of a …

Want to make your world a greener place? Let Us Build Aquaponics In Our Garden The number of people who take care to enquire where and how their food is produced is growing steadily. More and more people want a guarantee that their foodstuffs, whether vegetables, salads or fish, are produced locally, in an ecologically impeccable manner, and in harmony …

Good news from the Higher School of Art and Design in Caldas da Rainha – IP Leiria  Uroboro* is a completed research project that has led to an everyday product which also has the objective of promoting environmental education in the home. It is an invention for cutting the disposal chain of biodegradable waste in urban areas and for finding …

GEA means “planet earth” in Greek, and it is the watchword of a company that appears to be a kind of utopia come true. Not just a factory of footwear and other accessories, GEA – Waldviertler creates new values and has opened its doors to teach two young Portuguese people everything about the craft of the shoemaker. We present the …

The train may not be the fastest or most modern means of transport but it is one of the most ecological and least polluting. I set off from the Spanish station of Huelva, close to southern Portugal, with Austria as my destination for a report about GEA, a company based on ecological economics. In total, I covered almost seven thousand …

In a small village in the hills of Portugal, there are three shoemakers living and working. They are the last of their profession. Together they have a total of 250 years’ experience. They tell stories about their occupation from six generations. But when asked about the future, they shrug their shoulders, shake their heads, and say nothing. They look in …

Heini Staudinger (62) is in charge of the GEA – Waldviertel factory, where he has been putting an ecological and sustainable economy model into practice since 1984. This alternative entrepreneur never trusted the banking systems, nor the global economy, and his investments have been made through private financing. Heini comes over as a kind of prophet, not a religious one …

When we talk about the sea, it’s mostly about beaches, holidays, the weather or grilled fish for the lunch table. But we have never given any thought to a small, somewhat faded, yellow plastic duck which reached the shores of Carrapateira in the municipality of Aljezur in August 2004, because we didn’t hear about it. Newspapers don’t earn any money …

Interview with the fisherman Zeca Águas (55), from Portimão. ECO123: Nowadays, when you observe the amount of fish in the sea and compare it with a generation ago, do you notice any differences? Zeca Águas: According to my experience of 15 years ago, both in terms of my studies or from what I can see with my eyes, including soundings, …

Interview with Prof. Mojib Latif (61) GEOMAR, Kiel in Germany   ECO123: We produce a magazine in which we always try to bring economics and ecology together. Do you think that can work? Mojib Latif: Yes, I am sure that can work. People talk a lot today about sustainability, an expression that is already very overused. I think the expression …