Nicolas avalos

Hello. I am Nicolas, a student in Civil Engineering in Belgium at the Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve (UCLouvain). For the last few years I’ve been more and more concerned about the sustainability of our current lifestyle. I believe that part of the solution is to start building houses more connected to our environment through eco construction and alternative building techniques such as natural plasters, cob, etc. I did my bachelor’s degree in Construction with an option in environment and development and was part of the CPME program in entrepreneurship at UCLouvain for my master’s degree. I took every opportunity I got to learn more about permaculture and sustainable living, and I’ve been looking for internships and apprenticeship all around the globe to get hands on experience about this field. I'm currently finishing an internship in Critical Concrete, a non-lucrative organization promoting social and sustainable architecture in Porto, Portugal. My plan for the next couple years is to get as much hands-on experience and knowledge as possible about sustainable construction techniques in order to start building small ecological houses as a profession. In this perspective, being accepted for the Rancho's apprenticeship was one of the most exciting news of this year. I am so thrilled to start this enriching and amazing adventure in Costa Rica.