Plenary Sessions

NOTE: All plenary sessions will be simultaneously translated, either from English to Spanish or from Spanish to English.

Inaugural Plenary

Conversations on pluriversal territorial peace with Mayoras of the Casa Cultural El Chontaduro and Arturo Escobar

DATE: October 26, 2023

TIME: 9:00 am -

 10:30 am

LOCATION: Zona verde, Edifício docente

SPEAKERS: Mayoras de la Casa Cultural El Chontaduro, Arturo Escobar, and María Mercedes Campo

MODERATOR(s): Andrea Cardoso

Mayoras de la Casa Cultural El Chontaduro: Alicia Arrechea Alegria, Ana Judith Gamboa, Elena Hinestroza Vente, and Maria Elvira Solis Segura
This Afro-Colombian cultural house aiming to build a different world through peaceful participation. It advocates for the construction of a fair and equitable society, based on the collective construction of reality through art, dance, theater and other expressions.
Arturo Escobar
Colombian anthropologist and professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill whose areas of interest are political ecology, anthropology of development and social movements.
María Mercedes Campo
Black feminist. She has a degree in philosophy, studies in Environmental Administration and a Master in Regional Development and Territorial Planning. Maria is engaged in the defense of ethnic-territorial rights and the rights of black and indigenous women.

Plenary Sessions 1

Art and Environmental Sciences

DATE: October 26, 2023

TIME: 2:00 pm -

 3:30 pm

LOCATION: Playa Grande Auditorium

SPEAKERS: Simon Hoise and Sandra Vilardy

MODERATOR(s): Carolina Rueda

Simón Hoise
Architect, author and director of the system for the development of sustainable and participatory projects: living plans.
Sandra Vilardy
Current vice-Minister of the Environment in Colombia. She is a marine biologist and holds a PhD in Ecology and Environment. She is recognized for directing the initiative “National Parks: How Are We Doing?”. She has extensively worked in the defense of the ecosystems Ciénaga Grande in Santa Marta.

The Rights of Nature

DATE: October 26, 2023

TIME: 2:00 pm -

 3:30 pm

LOCATION: Julio Otero Auditorium Side B

SPEAKERS: Maria Mercedes Sánchez and Erik Gómez-Baggethun

MODERATOR(s): Paola Arias

María Mercedes Sánchez
Coordinator of the United Nations “Harmony with Nature” Programme. This Programme strengthens interdisciplinary collaborations aiming to promote a non-anthropocentric or Earth-centered worldview, in which humans are only part of a wider community of beings.
Erik Gómez-Baggethun
Professor in Environmental Governance at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and a Senior Research Associate at the University of Oxford. He is the current President-Elect of the International Society for Ecological Economics. Erik’s research deals, among others, with non-monetary valuation of nature.

African worldviews and human-nature relations

DATE: October 26, 2023

TIME: 2:00 pm -

 3:30 pm

LOCATION: Roque Morelli Auditorium

SPEAKERS: Michelle Pressend and Zafarani Uwingabire

MODERATOR(s): Ivan Lobo

Michelle Pressend
She is currently the Coordinator of the African Regional Hub of TRAJECTS – Transnational Centre for Just Transitions in Energy, Climate and Sustainability Academic. She is based in the Energy Research Systems Group at the University of Cape Town (UCT).
Zafarani Uwingabire
She holds a Master and a PhD from the University of Toulouse. She completed her bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics and agribusiness at the National University of Rwanda. Currently she is a post-doctoral researcher at the Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment in Dijon.

Public Policy and Water Management in Mexico and Colombia

DATE: October 26, 2023

TIME: 2:00 pm -

 3:30 pm

LOCATION: Julio Otero Auditorium Side A

SPEAKERS: Elena Burns and Erasmo Rodríguez

MODERATOR(s): Salvador Peniche

Elena Burns
She currently serves as Advisor on Strategic Water Issues in the Office of the President. She served as Deputy Director of Water Management at the National Water Commission (2020-2022). She was the Planning Coordinator of the Center for Sustainability Incalli Ixcahuicopa at the Autonomous Metropolitan University.
Erasmo Rodríguez
Civil Engineer, MSc., PhD. Associate Professor at the National University of Colombia. Expert in hydrometeorology and water management in hydrographic basins. Director of the Water Resources Engineering Research Group (GIREH) and the Urban Hydrology Research Group (SIHU).
Salvador Peniche (Moderator)
PhD in Social Sciences. Professor at the University of Guadalajara. Current President of the Mesoamerican Society for Ecological Economics. His research interests include lake and watershed management, natural resources, and agriculture.

Science-Policy Interface and South-South International Cooperation

DATE: October 26, 2023

TIME: 2:00 pm -

 3:30 pm

LOCATION: Neguanje

SPEAKERS: Pushpam Kumar and Pao-Yu Oei

MODERATOR(s): Roldan Muradian

Pushpam Kumar
Senior Economic Advisor for the UN Environment, in Washington D.C. He has a Ph.D. in Environmental Economics and has worked at the University of Liverpool and the University of Delhi during 1991-2010 as Associate Professor and Professor in Environmental Economics.
Pao-Yu Oei
Professor at Europa Universität Flensburg. He is head of the `Transnational Centre for Just Transitions in Energy, Climate and Sustainability (TRAJECTS),´ which is a DAAD climate centre targeting North-South-South cooperation with Colombia and South-Africa, to enhance knowledge exchange, capacity building and research on/with(in) the Global South.

Plenary Session "FILM"

Forest Defenders. Documentary “The Territory”

DATE: October 26, 2023

TIME: 5:30 pm -

 7:30 pm

LOCATION: Langosta azul, Neguanje and Playa Grande Auditorium

SPEAKERS: Ivaneide Bandeira Cardozo (Neidinha)

MODERATOR(s): Roldan Muradian

Screening followed by Q&A of the documentary film “The Territory”, which chronicles the work of a group of nature defenders from the Uru-eu-wau-wau people, in the state of Rondônia, Brazil.
Ivaneide Bandeira Cardozo (Neidinha)
She was born in the interior of Acre. She studied history and holds a master’s degree in geography from the Federal University of Roraima. She is currently the administrative-financial coordinator of the ethno-environmental defense association “Kanindé”.

Plenary Sessions 2

Feminisms and Environmentalisms

DATE: October 27, 2023

TIME: 8:00 am -

 9:30 am

LOCATION: Playa Grande Auditorium

SPEAKERS: Diana Vela-Almeida, Astrid Ulloa and Narlys Guzmán

MODERATOR(s): Gabriela Merlinsky

Diana Vela-Almeida
She works at the University of Utrecht, in the Netherlands. She combines political ecology, ecological economics and feminist critical geography to study extractivism, neoliberal environmentalism and socio-environmental resistance in the Global South.
Astrid Ulloa
Anthropologist from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, with a master’s degree and doctorate in Anthropology from the University of California, Irvine. She has a long trajectory of research on environmental movements and indigenous peoples, territorial feminisms, feminist political ecology, and extractivism.
Gabriela Merlisky
PhD in Social Sciences (University of Buenos Aires), PhD in Geography, specialized in geopolitics (University Paris 8), MA in Social Sciences of Work (University of Buenos Aires), BA in Sociology (University of Buenos Aires). She is based at the University of Buenos Aires.
Narlys Guzmán
Black woman. Mother, defender of life, the territory and the environment.

The Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Indigenous Peoples of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta: Scope and Challenges

DATE: October 27, 2023

TIME: 8:00 am -

 9:30 am

LOCATION: Julio Otero Auditorium Side A

SPEAKERS: Ati Gunnawi Villafaña Izquierdo, Judith Nuvita Coronado and Lejandrina Pastor Gil

MODERATOR(s): Ati Gonawindua

Ati Gunnawi Villafaña Izquierdo
Member of the Arhuaca indigenous community of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. She is linked to the Cabildo Arhuaco Magdalena-Guajira. She is co-founder and coordinator of the Latin American Youth Climate Scholarship (LAYCS) initiative.
Judith Nuvita Coronado
Native leader of the Kogui indigenous people of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. First woman of her community to obtain a degree in a Higher Education Institution. She is the health coordinator of her community. Her work is based on strengthening the knowledge and wisdom of the Mamas.
Lejandrina Pastor Gil
Leader of the Wiwa indigenous people of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. She was part of the Human Rights Commission to support indigenous communities in the face of the Ranchería River Dam in La Guajira. She is Advisor for Women, Family and Generation in the Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC).

A Critical Conversation with the Coloniality of Relational Values

DATE: October 27, 2023

TIME: 8:00 am -

 9:30 am

LOCATION: Roque Morelli Auditorium

SPEAKERS: Barbara Muraca and Paola Arias-Arévalo

MODERATOR(s): Katharine N. Farrell

Barbara Muraca
Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oregon. Her research focuses on environmental and social philosophy, process philosophy, and political ecology. She received her MA in Philosophy from the University of Turin, Italy, and her Ph.D. from the University of Greifswald, Germany.
Paola Arias-Arévalo
She is a mother, Latin-American, and an ecological economist doing inter and transdisciplinary research on the role of values in environmental governance and sustainability. She is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences at the Universidad del Valle, Colombia.
Katharine N. Farrell
She is a Member of Pi Sigma Alpha, the Political Science Honor Society of the United States, holding a BA in Political Science, a Master degree in Urban Policy Analysis and Management, a second Master in Environmental Engineering, and a PhD in Ecological Political Economy.

Economies for Life, Diverse Economies and "Other" Economies - First Dialogue. Towards a Research Agenda.

DATE: October 27, 2023

TIME: 8:00 am -

 9:30 am

LOCATION: Julio Otero Auditorium Side B

SPEAKERS: Ati Quigua, Luz Angela Rodríguez, Ignacio Krell Rivera, Carlos Eduardo Maldonado and Maria Paz Aedo

MODERATOR(s): Alexander Rincón

Alexander Rincón Ruiz
PhD in Ecological Economics from the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona. He is associate professor at the Faculty of Economics of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia and coordinator of the Economics, Environment and Alternatives to Development Research Group-GEAAD.
Ati Quigua
Public Administrator from ESAP. Master in Government and Public Policy from Universidad Externado de Colombia and PhD candidate in Law from Universidad del Rosario. Iku (Arhuaca) indigenous leader. She has been Peace Commissioner of Colombia and currently serves as Councilwoman of Bogota (2020-2023).
Luz Angela Rodríguez
Economist from Universidad de Los Andes. Master in Environmental and Natural Resources Economics from Universidad de Los Andes and PhD in Environmental Policy from Duke University. She is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Environmental and Rural Studies of the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana.
Ignacio Krell Rivera
Sociologist from the University of Chile. He is co-director of MAPLE-Microdesarrollo and has worked as a researcher on issues related to sustainability, traditional knowledge, spirituality and indigenous rights.
Carlos Eduardo Maldonado
PhD. in Philosophy from the University of Leuven, Dr. Honoris Causa from the University of Timisoara and has postdocs in Philosophy of Science (Pittsburgh), Complexity in History (Washington) and Philosophy of Complexity Mathematics (Cambridge). He works at El Bosque University, Colombia.
Maria Paz Aedo
Sociologist from the University of Chile, Master in Ecological Humanities, Sustainability and Ecosocial Transition from the Polytechnic University of Valencia and Autonomous University of Madrid. PhD in Education from the Bolivarian University. She works at the Center for Socio-environmental Analysis, CASA.

TRAJECTS' “South-South- North Understanding for Sustainability Transitions”

DATE: October 27, 2023

TIME: 8:00 am -

 9:30 am

LOCATION: Neguanje Auditorium

SPEAKERS: Eduardo Gudynas and Wangũi wa Kamonji

MODERATOR(s): Pao-Yu Oie

Eduardo Gudynas
Senior Researcher at the Latin American Centre for Social Ecology (CLAES), Montevideo, Uruguay. His work focuses on the relationship between environmental issues and alternatives to development, and he is involved with various social movements seeking to advance such alternatives.
Wangũi wa Kamonji
Regeneration practitioner, Collective Afrika. Her work is motivated by the question of how to heal the colonial traumas of past and present, and (re)create new-old regenerative realities for the present and future of the Afrikan continent. Her current research is a decolonial project exploring Earth-centered governance.

Plenary Sessions 3

Building Life Alternatives: Peruvian and Colombian Women Facing Extractivism

DATE: October 28, 2023

TIME: 8:00 am -

 9:30 am

LOCATION: Playa Blanca Auditorium

SPEAKERS: Yolanda Flores Montoro, Celia Fasabi and Laura Brito Boriyu

MODERATOR(s): José Carlos Silva Macher and Raquel Neyra

Yolanda Flores Montoro
She is an Aymara woman and member of the Human Rights and Environment Association. She advises peasant communities on cases of violation of the rights of defenders, environmental rights, human rights, indigenous peoples issues and Mother Earth.
Celia Fasabi
She is a Community Health Agent in the community Nuevo San Juan, Loreto, Peru; She is Vice President of the Federation of Indigenous Women Huaynakana Kamatahuara Kana, an association of Kukama women that has initiated a legal procedure to declare the Marañon River as a subject of law.
Laura Brito Boriyu
She is part of the Wakuaipa Communication Collective of the Wayúu people in La Guajira, Colombia. This group is made up of young communicators and audiovisual producers, who denounce the localk socio-environmental consequences of one of the largest open-pit coal mines in the world.
Jose Carlos Silva Macher (Moderator)
PhD in Environmental Science and Technology from the ICTA-Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona. MSc in Environment and Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Associate Professor and Academic Director in Economics at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP).
Raquel Neyra (Moderator)
PhD in Sociology of Public and Social Policies from the University of Zaragoza. Post-doctorate at IDEA-UNAL. Master’s degree in international economics and MBA from the University Paris I-La Sorbonne. Activist and researcher in socio-environmental conflicts, violence and coloniality.

Economies for Life, Diverse economies and "Other" Economies - second dialogue. Towards a Research Agenda

DATE: October 28, 2023

TIME: 8:00 am -

 9:30 am

LOCATION: Julio Otero Auditorium

SPEAKERS: Maria Luisa Eschenhagen, Lina Gómez Rico, Tatiana Roa, Melina Angel and Carlos Rodríguez

MODERATOR(s): Alexander Rincón

Maria Luisa Eschenhagen
PhD in Latin American Studies. She works at the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana. She is recognized for her extensive experience working on issues related to higher environmental education, critical history of development, alternatives to development and environmental thinking.
Lina Gómez Rico
Administrator. Master in Ecological Economics and Human Scale Development. Researcher at the Center for Environmental Studies of the Universidad Austral de Chile. Coordinator of Community Based Tourism projects. She works at Manfred Max-Neef Foundation.
Tatiana Roa
Engineer. Master in Latin American Studies. She works at Censat Agua Viva. Her research has revolved around extractivism, water justice and energy sovereignty. She is a member of several organizations such as Oilwatch, Alianza Libre de Fracking and Mesa Social Minero Energética.
Melina Angel
Professional Biomimeticist and Biologist from the National University of Colombia. Master in Biomimicry from the University of Arizona. She is co-founder of Biomimicry Quebec in 2010 and Biomimicry Colombia in 2011. She has taught biomimetic design at several universities in Canada and Colombia.
Carlos Rodríguez
Biologist from the Universidad de Los Andes. Master in regional and urban development planning from CIDER and PhD in Natural Sciences from the University of Amsterdam. He has worked extensively on issues related to the management of the tropical forest by indigenous communities.

Conservation in collective territories

DATE: October 28, 2023

TIME: 8:00 am -

 9:30 am

LOCATION: Neguanje Auditorium

SPEAKERS: Juan Camilo Cárdenas, Jose Pretel Torres, Jenny Gallo Santos and Jacinto Zarabata Coronado

MODERATOR(s): Diana Puerta, Lina Moros, Iván Lobo

Juan Camilo Cárdenas
Professor of the Faculty of Economics, Universidad de Los Andes. Director of the Center for Sustainable Development Goals for Latin America and the Caribbean (CODS).
Jose Pretel Torres
Legal Representative of the Community Council of the Black Community of Juanchaco. Agronomist. Master in Management and Development Practice from the Universidad de Los Andes.
Jenny Gallo Santos
Biologist. Master in Environmental Management from Universidad de los Andes. Advisor to the Ministry of the Environment of Colombia and Lecturer at the School of Administration of the Universidad de los Andes.
Jacinto Zarabata Coronado
Kogui indigenous leader Pueblo Viejo, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.
Diana Puerta (Moderator)
Director of the Master’s Degree in Environmental Management and the Master’s Degree in Development Management and Practice at the Faculty of Administration of the Universidad de los Andes. Coordinator of Executive Education courses in: “Sustainability Management,” “Senior Management in Sustainability,” and “Female Leadership.” Professor of sustainability in the Online MBA and the Executive MBA as well as Technology-Based Entrepreneurship for Regeneration.

Sustainability science: current trends and the future of academic publications

DATE: October 28, 2023

TIME: 8:00 am -

 9:30 am

LOCATION: Roque Morelli Auditorium

SPEAKERS: Begüm Özkaynak, Jampel Dell’Angelo, and Sergio Villamayor-Tomas

MODERATOR(s): Erik Gómez

Jampel Dell’Angelo
Associate Professor of Water Governance and Politics in the Department of Environmental Policy Analysis at the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Since 2021, he serves as Editor-in-Chief of World Development.
Begüm Özkaynak
Professor in the Department of Economics at Boğaziçi University (BU). She holds an MPhil in Economics from the University of Manchester, and a PhD in Ecological Economics from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Since 2022, she is Editor-in-Chief of Ecological Economics.
Sergio Villamayor-Tomas
Senior researcher at the Environmental Science and Technology Institute (ICTA, Autonomous University of Barcelona), and affiliated faculty at the Ostrom Workshop (Indiana University). Since 2019, he is Editor-in-Chief of International Journal of the Commons.