In her role as UNESCO Chair in Community Sustainability: From Local to Global, Liette Vasseur spoke at the Environmental Sustainability Research (ESRC)’s  Sustainability Transdisciplinary Seminar Series on January 12. The seminars are a component of the Master of Sustainability program.

Her topic was “The case study of San Juan, Ecuador: Bringing ecosystem governance for a more sustainable community.”

Here is a brief synopsis of the talk:

“The Andean Páramo is a fragile ecosystem that hosts high diversity and plays an important role in moderating climate and water discharge towards the Amazon basin. The Chimborazo region of Ecuador is highly vulnerable to the advance of industrial/ conventional agricultural activities and the changing climate, which is severely effecting water management and ecosystem health. Vasseur’s presentation discussed a large project that involves the indigenous population of San Juan and discussed the way forward to enhance community sustainability and resilience through concepts such as ecosystem governance, ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change and landscape restoration.”