Proyectos vigentes

FOVI ANID Project Pacific Wetlands Education Network: Revisiting conservation from Mārama-rama Tupuna and Mātauranga Māori perspectives on biodiversity (PWEN) consists of an international transdisciplinary research network focused on supporting rights-based strategies for the protection of Rapa Nui wetlands. The network is strategically woven from the Pacific, as a methodological effort to address phenomena from localized and culturally relevant perspectives. Given the central role that biodiversity occupies in national and global agendas, and particularly in relation to the National Climate Change Adaptation Plan, the main goal of this project is to create an international and transdisciplinary cooperation network that contributes to the Rapa Nui Climate Change Strategy through the design of a biocultural sustainable management plan of Rapa Nui wetlands as not only uniquely fragile ecosystems and hotspots of biodiversity but also culturally-relevant sites that are highly vulnerable to the socioecological impacts of the climate crisis.

The network is comprised of varied institutions: Universidad Católica del Norte (UCN) as the National Principal Institution, Universidad de Tarapacá (UTA) as National Associated Institution, TEPUKU Center for Applied Research in Rapa Nui and Hōŋa´a Re´o Rapa Nui as Native Partners and National Associated Institutions, the University of Waikato (UoW) as the Principal Foreign Associated Institution, and the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) as second Foreign Associated Institution. With a focus on Rapa Nui-Māori relations, the Chile Aoteaora/New Zealand cooperation as a framework for this international network responds to three central criteria: 1. A shared cultural specificity: both Rapa Nui and Māori are Polynesian Indigenous Peoples connected through Mārama-rama Tupuna/Mātauranga Māori (Rapa Nui/Māori knowledge) as distinctive yet intimately related knowledge systems that provide a solid epistemological foundation for shared understandings of biodiversity; 2. The internationally recognized leadership of both countries on the conservation of biodiversity; 3. Collaborative relationships: there are well-established collaborative relationships between UCN and UTA and between UCN, TEPUKU and Hōŋa´a Re´o Rapa Nui with research areas including biodiversity, climate change and digital innovation in education; lastly, UCN, UoW and AUT are forging solid collaborative relationships on areas that include Indigenous data sovereignty, climate change, and digital innovation in Rapa Nui education. 

These relationships have resulted from collaborative and transdisciplinary research projects on areas including Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), with a shared commitment to ethically-minded and culturally-relevant research agendas.

The Rapa Nui wetlands system comprises three wetlands: Rano Raraku, Rano Aroi/Ava Raŋa Uka, and Rano Kau. Located in volcanoes’ craters, they are unique and extremely fragile social-ecological systems threatened by the impacts of climate change. While some research has been conducted and actions taken toward the protection of Rapa Nui wetlands, they have failed to incorporate Rapa Nui traditional ecological knowledges and cultural aspirations, thus neglecting Rapa Nui methodologies rooted in their relations to and understandings of their kāiŋa (territory). Through the three cooperation modalities (A, B and C), this project seeks to contribute to the design of a Rapa Nui strategy for the development of a community- and rights-based conservation and management plan for Rapa Nui wetlands that advances toward the preservation and protection of their biodiversity from Mārama-rama Tupuna (Rapa Nui knowledge) perspectives.

 Financiamiento: Fomento a la vinculación internacional (FOVI) Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo. 

Institución beneficiaria: Universidad Católica del Norte 

Instituciones nacionales asociadas: Universidad de Tarapacá, TEPUKU Centro de Investigaciones Aplicadas en Rapa Nui, Hōŋa a Re´o Rapa Nui. 

Instituciones extranjeras asociadas: University of Waikato y Auckland University of Technology