Office of Outreach & Engagement

Emerging from the Latin American tradition of participatory action research (PAR), this collaborative project aims to identify the core aspects of a transitional design from cattle-ranching to a sustainable economy that builds harmony between humans and nature in the intercultural community of El Manantial, Colombian southwest region in the Amazon piedmont. We want to examine this transitional design’s environmental, cultural, economic, and political aspects. We intend to implement gardening of medicinal plants practices and conservation of water sources through a PAR process that analyzes activities while supporting community efforts to recover and protect biodiversity within an ecotourism initiative. 

Specific goals: 

1.  Establish a baseline of human well-being in the community of El Manantial, developing novel tools to describe and measure Buen Vivir.
2.  Reconstruct the collective memory of the territory and the social process behind the transitional design.
3.  Characterize Forest ecosystems and water sources, prioritizing the corridors that the community deems necessary for tourist activities.
4.  Implement a plan to support reforestation around the main water springs that provide water for the community.
5.  Conduct a garden of medicinal plants pilot study in selected households of indigenous elders to support initiatives to strengthen and maintain ancestral knowledge and practices.