In Mexico, milpa refers to an ancient Mesoamerican intercropping method of planting corn, squash, and beans together, as well as a variety of chiles and quelites, or young, edible greens. The way these species interact creates a balanced ecosystem that utilizes available resources—water, light, and soil—and produces a highly nutritious diet.

The Milpa of Innovating Tradition is made up of Four Movements, four guiding principles, four interconnected and complementary areas, not unlike the Mesoamerican milpas, that offer a comprehensive solution to the decline of traditional pottery and of the know-how of the communities.

Each Movement contains ideas like seeds that grow into pilot projects, then long-term projects.

The maize | Learning Community of Potters

An educational space where potters share their knowledge and develop skills in new fields of interest. This space is all about trust, collaboration, fellowship, and harmony, where we all have something to teach and something to learn.

The beans | Houses of Clay

Our goal is to transform the dominant narratives, starting local, through a network of spaces (Houses of Knowledge) focused on pottery, hand-made objects, and the know-how of the villages. These spaces for workshops, sales, and exhibitions also allow potters, designers, researchers, educators, and enthusiasts to come together.

The pumpkin | Knowledge is Handmade

We document and share how we do what we do—our tools, processes, and principles—, as well as the artisans’ know-how, thereby fostering more collaborative projects and companies based on solidarity.

The chili | Cooperativa Somos Barro 1050°

As a social and cooperative enterprise, we take pottery to all corners of the world, opening new paths for more people to touch its deep wisdom and beauty. With a solidarity economy we achieve deep transformations in families of Potters, supported by fair, stable and dignified economies.