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Conference in Ecuador: II International Scientific Convention UEA 2021

Text: Riikka Kaukonen Lindholm

[Haz clic aquí para version en español]

In the turn of May and June, the research group members took part in the II International Scientific Convention by the Amazonian State University (Universidad Estatal Amazónica, UEA) organized online. With opening speech given by the rector David Sancho, the conference provided a platform for scientific conversations around three different topics: Plurinationality, Ancestral Knowledge and Knowledge Management; Urban Tourism, Heritage and Territorial Development; Environmental Management and Conservation of Biodiversity, that represent important areas of study for the UEA that develops research and higher education in the Amazon region of Ecuador. Our research group contributed to the part of the conference programme focused around the topic of Plurinationality, Ancestral Knowledge and Knowledge Management coordinated by the rector Oliver Meric.

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Encuentro en espacio virtual para debatir las desigualdades educativas y las fortalezas en lo colectivo

Crisis global, desigualdades y centralidad de la vida es el tema del congreso de Latin American Studies Association (LASA) que se desarrolla en modalidad virtual desde el 26 hasta el 29 de mayo, del 2021. El congreso da bienvenida a contribuciones desde diferentes disciplinas y áreas de investigación y desea posibilitar puentes entre disciplinas y campos de conocimiento. La crisis sanitaria global del COVID-19 es uno de los temas que aparece frecuentemente en los paneles. Desde nuestro proyecto participamos en este dialogo con un panel titulado “El aumento de las desigualdades educativas en la Amazonía en la intersección de las emergencias socioeconómicas, ambientales y de salud”.

El brote de COVID-19 y la consiguiente rápida transición de la instrucción en el aula a la modalidad de educación virtual complica aún más las desigualdades ya existentes en el acceso y la permanencia en la educación. Además, la emergencia sanitaria actual coincide con graves emergencias ambientales en la Amazonía, como deforestación, extracción minera, inundaciones y derrames de petróleo, que afectan a las comunidades indígenas amazónicas. La intersección de emergencias socioeconómicas, ambientales y de salud ponen en peligro los derechos humanos fundamentales, incluido el derecho a la vida, la libertad, la seguridad, la libertad de movimiento y la educación, con un impacto significativo en el bienestar de los estudiantes. Continue reading “Encuentro en espacio virtual para debatir las desigualdades educativas y las fortalezas en lo colectivo”

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Participatory mapping of the youth’s living environments in Amazonia

Maps are useful media for illustrating and analysing the spatiality of many social and environmental phenomena. Since the 1980s, researchers have increasingly recognized the value of ordinary people’s local knowledge and perceptions for research and spatial planning (Chambers 2006). Indigenous and other minoritized groups have also started to create their own maps to communicate their place-based knowledge and relations, and to resist the “official” images of the places mediated by the maps produced by external state authorities or scientists (Peluso 1995, Wood 2010, kollektiv orangotango+ 2018). In Ecuador, for example, the community maps recently played an important role in the fight of the Waorani over their right to their territory and in winning a legal court case (Scacca & Nenquimo 2021).

In 2019, before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, our project also carried out participatory mapping in intercultural bilingual upper secondary schools in Pastaza province. Three schools were selected for the study: Camilo Huatatoca in Santa Clara (majority of the students kichwas and mestizos), Kumay in the shuar territory and Sarayaku in the kichwa community. We were particularly interested in how the students perceive their living environment and their journeys between home and school. The students were asked to mark on the maps the places they like, do not like, places they think should be improved somehow and the places they find culturally important. In addition, they were asked to point out places where they had encountered some environmental problems. The students were also interviewed about their mappings.

Extract from the map drawn by the students in Kumay. The Río Titinkiem crosses the road near the community of Kawa. Stars indicate the places that the students like (e.g., Río Titinkiem because of swimming and fishing, the road). Red dots are environmental problems (e.g., logging and littering) and the brown ones culturally important places (e.g., Río Titinkiem and a cemetery). The points marked with green stickers need improvement (e.g., a bus stop “parada”) according to the students.

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Educación y luchas territoriales indígenas: Un estudio sobre las experiencias de la nacionalidad Sapara con el sistema educativo en la Amazonía ecuatoriana

Texto y fotos: Riikka Kaukonen Lindholm

[Click here for English version]

Riikka Kaukonen Lindholm escribió su tesis de maestría sobre las luchas territoriales y educativas experimentadas por el pueblo Sapara como parte del proyecto de investigación Goal 4+: Including Eco-cultural Pluralism in Quality Education in Ecuadorian Amazonia. Ahora ella es una investigadora de doctorado en estudios de desarrollo global en la Universidad de Helsinki. Su investigación de doctorado trata sobre el conocimiento ecocultural indígena y las alternativas al extractivismo en la Amazonía ecuatoriana. Esta publicación de blog presenta el tema y los argumentos centrales de su tesis de maestría.

 La tesis se enfoca en la educación de los pueblos indígenas, especialmente ¿cómo la educación se puede facilitar la autodeterminación territorial y la emancipación política? Los movimientos indígenas en todo el mundo y en Ecuador se han centrado en crear una educación respetuosa y relevante a la culturas y conocimientos indígenas. La tesis explora la interconexión de la educación y la política territorial indígena, como han estado juntas en la vanguardia del movimiento indígena en Ecuador, y han vinculado la lucha epistemológica por el reconocimiento de los conocimientos indígenas con los problemas ambientales prevalentes en el país dependiente del extractivismo. Dado que los pueblos indígenas a menudo habitan regiones ambientalmente vulnerables, la tesis examina ¿cómo para los grupos indígenas de la Amazonía ecuatoriana la relación entre educación y territorio puede aspirar a ser mutuamente beneficiosa, fomentando tanto la preservación de las diversas culturas como el medio ambiente en los paisajes bioculturales?

Riikka Kaukonen Lindholm: El rio Conambo, Llanchamacocha
El rio Conambo, Llanchamacocha

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Master’s thesis: Education and Indigenous Territorial Struggles : A study on the Sapara people’s experiences with the education system in the Ecuadorian Amazon

Text and photos: Riikka Kaukonen Lindholm

[Haz clic aquí para version en español]

Riikka Kaukonen Lindholm wrote her master’s thesis about the territorial and educational struggles experienced by the Sapara people as the part of the research project Goal 4+: Including Eco-cultural Pluralism in Quality Education in Ecuadorian Amazonia. She  is a doctoral researcher in global development studies in the University of Helsinki. Her PhD research deals with indigenous ecocultural knowledge and alternatives to extractivism in the Ecuadorian Amazon. This blog post introduces the topic and central arguments of the master’s thesis.

The focus of the thesis is on the education of indigenous peoples, especially on how education can facilitate territorial self-determination and political emancipation for them. Indigenous movements world-wide and in Ecuador have focused on creating education respectful of and relevant to indigenous cultural background and knowledge. The thesis explores further the interconnectedness of education and indigenous territorial politics, as they have been together in the forefront of the indigenous movement in Ecuador, and they link the epistemological struggle of recognising Indigenous knowledges to environmental issues prevalent in the country dependent on extractivism. As indigenous peoples often inhabit environmentally vulnerable regions, the thesis examines how for the indigenous groups of Ecuadorian Amazon the relationship between education and territory can aim to be mutually beneficial, encouraging both preservation of the diverse cultures and environment in the biocultural landscapes.

The Conambo river, Llanchamacocha

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Inicio proyecto Emergencia de Educación en la Amazonía

Texto: Nathaly Pinto

El día sábado 30 de enero, dimos inicio al proyecto Emergencia de Educación en la Amazonía. Un trabajo conjunto con Confeniae y estudiantes universitarios de nacionalidades amazónicas. 

El proyecto, que se nombra alineándose a acciones previas de organizaciones de la región, busca sumar al proceso de denuncia sobre la emergencia educacional en el territorio, particularmente en relación a educación universitaria impactada por la pandemia actual, y contribuir en el esfuerzo de los pueblos amazónicos por una educación digna, justa y plurinacional.

En este proceso participan como co-investigadores, nueve jóvenes representantes de once nacionalidades amazónicas. Los jóvenes, estudiantes de universidad, actúan como portavoces de las nacionalidades Achuar, Andwa, Shiwiar, Waorani, Shuar, Kichwa, Secoya, Siona y Cofán, y provienen de las seis provincias de la amazonía ecuatoriana, acercándonos con esto, a toda la región. Durante 4 meses –la duración de esta fase del proyecto, ellas y ellos se encargarán de 1) Reportar desde su perspectiva sobre el impacto de la pandemia en la educación, 2) Recoger datos desde territorio y 3) Co-diseñar materiales que ayuden a visibilizar su situación.

Como grupo de investigación, nos apoyamos en un trabajo previo en el que proponemos tres puntos de intervención de diseño que accionan para apoyar respuestas frente a la emergencia. Respondiendo esta acción en particular a:

1)    Intervenciones para visibilizar y ofrecer herramientas de comunicación, incidencia y acción sobre la propia situación. Conectado al tema generador Participación — Exclusión.

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Educational emergency in the Shuar territory

Text:  Tuija Veintie, Photo: Comunicación Confeniae

The Federation of the Shuar Nationality of Pastaza (FENASH-P) declared a state of emergency in education.

People gathered for the assembly in Tsuraku, Pastaza.

On 20 January 2021, the FENASH-P organized an emergency assembly to discuss and bring forward the untenable educational situation in the Shuar territory. The event gathered together people from 34 Shuar communities in Pastaza. 

The Shuar Federation together with the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) and Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazonian (CONFENIAE) state that intercultural bilingual schools in the Shuar territory in Pastaza lack adequate infrastructure, educational materials and even teachers, and the pandemic has seriously aggravated the educational inequality. The emergency assembly set an agenda for the necessary improvements in education in the Shuar territory: Continue reading “Educational emergency in the Shuar territory”

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Educational situation in the Amazon at the start of the year

Text: Nathaly Pinto

The year started with immense worries regarding the current situation of students in the amazon region. Marlon Vargas, president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazonian (CONFENIAE) expressed:

The organization is deeply concerned about the situation of education of the peoples and nationalities of Ecuador, as well as the peasant and proletarian sectors of the country for whom the right to education has become a privilege by not being able to access.

In a public declaration, shared on January 8, 2021 CONFENIAE’s anticipating the International Day of Education (an annual international observance day dedicated to education), Vargas highlighted how by prioritizing virtual education in the context of COVID–19, the Ministry of Education excluded indigenous girls, boys and teenagers from education, by ignoring the amazonic geographical contexts, lack of proper infrastructure and social inequities in the region.

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Ecuadorian repository of literature on Interculturality and Ethnoeducation: open access

Repositorio

A new bibliographic Repository of Intercultural Bilingual Education, Ethnoeducation and Interculturality is online.

The project has addressed the problem of fragmentation and loss of research on interculturality and etnoeducation. The Repository includes books, articles, essays, and theses that are in different public or private libraries and archives. This activity has been coordinated by the Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO), Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar Sede Ecuador (UASB-E), Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (PUCE), Universidad de Cuenca, Universidad Politécnica Salesiana (UPS), the publisher house Abya Yala, and UNICEF. Universidad Estatal Amazonica will also take part in this effort.

The digital repository is freely accessible for all:

http://www.repositoriointerculturalidad.ec/

 

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Covid-19 Pandemic among Indigenous Kichwa Communities in Ecuadorian Amazonia

Here is the link to a new article by Andres Siren et al: Resilience Against the Covid-19 Pandemic among Indigenous Kichwa Communities in Ecuadorian Amazonia, published by Preprints 2020 (online)

Abstract: There has been a very widespread contagion of covid-19 in Kichwa indigenous communities in Ecuadorian Amazonia, but the peak of contagion has already passed, and total mortality has been remarkably low. The Kichwa people themselves typically attribute this to the widespread use of medicinal plants.

 

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