Ecosimia

ECOSIMIA (until 2006: SINTRAL ) with the Spanish meaning " EL ES ECOSISTEMA Responsabilidad MIA " ( German: " The ecosystem is my responsibility ") is a Local Exchange and Trading System ( LETS ) and describes an alternative economic structure in Ecuador.

In 1992, within the Fundación Educativa Pestalozzi ( an alternative school project in Tumbaco, Ecuador ) who was inspired by the Canadian LETS system, the first SINTRAL market in Ecuador. The ECOSIMIA network is used to trade without official currency and is currently active in 13 provinces of Ecuador.

The transactions within a group are provided with a numerical value, and recorded on checks. A breakdown of these checks go to the local bank, which forms the "social memory" of the group. The numerical value is purely statistical significance: there is no debt and it is not possible to ask for a " value " to that number. The transactions at the country level will be agreed directly between the groups.

Since early 2000, the economic situation of most people in Ecuador has intensified dramatically with the introduction of the U.S. dollar as its national currency. During this crisis took Mauricio Wild ( co-founder of Active School of Fundación Educativa Pestalozzi ) the decision to found all over the country ( SINTRAL ) groups that can trade with each other in a distributed network. These groups spread especially in the rural areas of Ecuador. Today, nationwide, there are already about 140 ECOSIMIA-G supporters groups.