The public science project strengthened relationships between a community and its environment

Promoting regional and community reconnection with the local ecosystem is the main goal of the project “Dialogues in Motion: Environmental Geology and Society around the Nongwen Estuary”funded by the Public Science Line of the Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation.

With a total investment of $8 million, this initiative had the Oracle Theater Cultural Center located in the same sector of the regional capital of Biobio as a beneficiary entity and closed last December. This project was developed by the Pusakai Association and led by an academic from the Department of Geosciences, Faculty of Chemical Sciences, University of Concepcion, Dr. Mauricio Espinoza Vargas.

“In the first stage,” the academic explained.We worked to salvage information from the memory of the people of the region about the concepts of geological hazards, biodiversity, recognition of space and historical memory. This was developed using different methodologies, such as group mapping with adults, where neighbors shared their knowledge and recognized problems, while we worked with schools on a workshop basis, where we worked to learn about the watershed concept and its relationship to the community. Topography, the importance of native forest in the Nongwen Basin and its relationship to water on its ability to improve infiltration and water quality. For this reason, we worked with a learning experiment with a 3D model of the pelvis developed in the course of the project.

The second phase included field reconnaissance activities in Nongwen Park. “We went to the site with neighborhood associations of the region, social and environmental organizations and neighbors of the sector where the Nunguyen River is born, and talked about the geology, biodiversity and hydrology that interact in this basin. We hope that soon we will go to the schools,” Espinosa explained.

“The third phase concerns cultural, artistic and evaluative activities, such as tree planting carried out on the banks of the estuary with local trees with some collaborating environmental organizations. In addition, there are two murals in development, painted by students of each school, where previously activities were carried out on how they dreamed of the estuary.” In a longer time, and what their dream should be like. For them, this is an important space in terms of natural and environmental conservation, where they learn about the important animals of the area, which must be protected from pollution.

“Another activity is the play.”Water Road, created in collaboration with the Bushakai Community Theater Workshop, is directed by the Oracle Centre. “This work relies a lot on movement, such as flow, which brings water into memory. In the work, a story is salvaged that was built from the experience of a neighbour, as he remembers his childhood,” Espinosa explained. “The work has been presented on several occasions at the Oracle Center, including an event that will coincide with the official closing of the project.”

In parallel, throughout this journey, “a geo-environmental map of the basin was built that evaluates the geological aspects and biodiversity, but also shows the threats that the sector faces in terms of geological risks and environmental problems that people face,” explained Professor Espinosa. identification. This was also presented at the closing ceremony.

Julia Fernandez Viveros A resident of the Strip, she has lived her whole life in the neighborhood and has promoted a large number of social and cultural initiatives, of which her recent integration into community theater workshops taught at the “El Oráculo” Cultural Center stands out. Which in turn allowed her to participate as an actress in the play “La Ruta del Agua.” He emphasizes: “This project is huge and wonderful, because it involves our entire environment, the entire ecosystem that surrounds us, so it was very interesting to be able to capture this play within the project with the love and contribution of everyone and the ideas that came out of people.”

In this sense, Julia highlighted that “this project raises awareness among people at a time when everything related to saving the environment and environmental issues is seen as something theoretical, but in this case it is something that is actually being experienced.” .