In June, the TRAJECTS Latam Hub held its Mobile School to support the consolidation of its network from its regional center in Latin America and generate a space to discuss strategies aimed at just transitions in marine-coastal ecosystems based on the cooperation of diverse sectors. The Mobile School took place over 3 days in the Santa Marta, Colombia.
Day one of the event, saw the participants visit I.E.D Don Jaca, an education facility in Don Jaca, a community of small-scale fisheries, on the outskirts of Santa Marta. The Don Jaca community, who rely on the waters for their livelihoods, has seen a decrease in local fisheries due to the impact of maritime pollution from the coal transportation at the ports. There they shared an artistic activity with young people from the I.E.D. Don Jaca. The activity was initiated by the student movement at the University of Magdalena. The aim was to continue nurturing a sketch of the Caribbean where a vision of what is expected from the different student movements if the climate crisis is overcome. The participants used paintbrushes and paint to paint what they hoped for and interpreted what students and communities from Magdalena and Cesar had drawn.
Afterward, there was an ecotourism tour guided by the students of the I.E.D Don Jaca to the upper, middle, and lower parts of the neighbourhood. The tour ended on the beach in front of the coal ports with a talk by traditional fishermen whose work was affected by the construction of these ports. The participants asked questions and reflected on the large coal companies that come to the territories and negatively impact them in one way or another. However, Professor Andrés Osorio of the Centre of Excellence in Marine Sciences (CEMarin), concluded by noting that so far there is no evidence that coal dust causes pollution in the sea; rather the effects are related to the removal of the seabed at the time of construction. According to the fishermen, the port construction is in a strategic place for marine life as it is the mouth of a river and where fish spawn. The participants ended their with a swim on the beach at sunset.
On the morning of day two, network partners of the TRAJECTS Latam Hub, presented their different projects. Professor Yani Aranguren from Simon Bolivar University shared her project on flower species, Professor John Taborda shared on projects from the Caribbean Environmental Hub (HAC), and Professor Andres Osorio the research of the CEMarin Centre. During the break, participants were shown a prototype of a raft powered by solar panels for transporting goods in the stilt villages of Magdalena. Additionally, a tour was conducted of the solar panels that, thanks to the TRAJECTS Project, illuminate the free classrooms of the university's lake area. In the afternoon session, each of the research projects of the scholarship holders was presented using a pitch methodology, where each had only 5 minutes to present. This was not only an exciting but also enriching space, as groups were formed according to research similarities for the creation of a podcast by each of these groups.
Day two concluded with a live audience episode recording for the El Solar Podcast. The podcast is a platform to discuss the problems of extractivism in the Colombian Caribbean. The podcast episode discussed and reflected on what it means to be a recipient of a TRAJECTS scholarship and also built a shared vision of what they expect in the future from TRAJECTS. One of the scholarship holders offered this reflection:
“I want TRAJECTS to be a space for rediscovering the journey, a dialogue of knowledge between researchers, communities, and other actors, an exchange of experience between the grantees and the communities of what we have learned. A space for spiritual sharing, a space for sharing ideas and experiences from the territories. An opportunity to continue to grow in the future, a space for co-creation and coming together with friends. A network of connections of thoughts, feelings, and visions. Continue to strengthen the integral perspectives of transitions towards sustainability and increasingly include diverse and subaltern knowledge from non-academic communities that have much to teach us about how to relate differently to nature and the-more than human. A scenario where everyone has equal rights without hierarchies and a space where we can be ourselves”.
Listen to the full episode here.
TRAJECTS Latin American Hub on the El Solar Podcast. Available on Spotify.
On the final day of the mobile school, participants took a tour of del Magdalena with members of the Arboretum project, a project that shows not only the species of trees found at the Alma Mater but is accompanied by an interactive page with all the information about the species, its characteristics, common name, scientific name, family, where it is endemic to, etc. The tour ended with a group photo at one of the most famous trees in Magdalena, the Macondo, a fundamental tree in the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude by Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez, who, according to the guides, saw it in his grandmother’s courtyard, and is the namesake of the fictional town in his novel.
After the tour, the Arhuaco indigenous community weavers taught the attendees of the mobile school their community's ancestral weaving techniques. They demonstrated how indigenous thought is woven into a product created exclusively by women, the sale of which supports their families. They explained that the backpack is a pre-Columbian product made from Fique, a plant that can only be harvested and dyed by men and that the women are in charge of weaving. They also explained that it is woven while being calm, that is, you cannot weave if you are angry. Women begin to weave their first rucksack from a very young age to give it to the mamo to show that they already know how to weave. This was a space of peace, millenary wisdom, and a lot of learning.
The day concluded with a group photo in the Mar Caribe building of the University of Magdalena and in the evening, a dinner.
Participants of the TRAJECTS Mobile School, Universidad del Magdalena, 2024.
The mobile school offered the participants an opportunity to learn about the reality of coastal communities, energy, the ecosystem, and the research projects of the Universidad Del Magdalena. Immersing themselves in the Indigenous community taught them about the ancestral fabric and the patience and perseverance that must be had to complete a process. A perfect metaphor for the energy transition, these processes will only be achieved with patience, perseverance, and, above all, love.
This school was a propitious space to meet the new scholarship recipients and to further consolidate the union that the TRAJECTS Latam Hub network has. It was a delight to learn about the research, the motivations, and the wonderful people that exist in each territory where this project impacts.
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