Creativity, Chochos and Care in Action!
The following is an El Terreno newsletter published on 09th October 2025
Hola there,
Coming up with creative, context appropriate solutions is an essential skill to build if you're interested in sustainable development. Here's some examples of how we teach these tools to participants and implement them into community projects.
Joshua Holmes
Founder, El Terreno
Dreaming Up Solutions
As part of our introduction for participants at El Terreno, we offer workshops on our
community development methodology - a tried and tested approach to innovation and collaboration. To kick things off this summer, we hosted a hands-on ideation session to help interns come up with ideas, prototype and test them quickly.
After introducing the methodology, interns and associates were divided into groups based on their specialisms. Each team was given a challenge to solve using the process, inspired by Design Thinking.
Working collaboratively, they discussed ideas, developed creative solutions and presented their results - from building a water pipe prototype, to optimising and scaling processes, to designing improved family Homestays.
The workshop gave everyone the chance to put theory into practice, connect with their peers and build confidence in using a methodology to shape the success of their upcoming intern projects.
Chochos: the Magic Beans
As part of the Community Enterprise Research internship here at El Terreno, Elise 🇺🇸 researched the feasibility of setting up a chocho (lupin bean) business for local farmers.
Chochos are highly nutritious and grow abundantly in the Ecuadorian Andes; they have the potential to provide a good source of income for the farmers in our community.
Using the design-thinking methodology, Elise led an ideation workshop with 25 community leaders and farmer’s associations to gain insight and context to inform how the business could work in reality.
Watch Elise’s final presentation with her research findings here:
As we move into the wet season next year, we’re looking for passionate interns to take this project forward - helping rural communities in the sustainable farming and enterprise skills needed to get this project off the ground! Why not join us yourself?
Safety First
We had the privilege of welcoming the Ecuadorian Red Cross to El Terreno for first-aid training with our employees, mentors and interns.
The training up-skilled and refreshed our team with essential lifesaving knowledge - from handling minor injuries to responding confidently in emergency situations.
We’re grateful to the Red Cross team for sharing their expertise and helping us to foster a safer environment for everyone at El Terreno and the surrounding community.
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