In May 2024, the WasiLab — an international institute for sustainability sciences — was inaugurated in Ecuador. The project aims to respond to the country’s socio-environmental crisis, including climate change, deforestation, biodiversity loss, pollution and growing inequalities exacerbated by political instability. The word “Wasi”, meaning “home” in Kichwa*, reflects the Lab’s vision: the urgent need to protect our common home, the Earth.
*Kichwa (or Quichua) is an Indigenous language, closely related to Quechua, mainly spoken in Ecuador.
As the first interdisciplinary centre for sustainability sciences in Latin America, the WasiLab stands out for its innovative scientific approach. By prioritising interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity, it promotes the co-creation of knowledge and builds alliances between science, research, education, society and public policy — paving the way for sustainable development pathways.
The Living Labs
Through living labs — an approach that recognises citizens, residents and users as key actors in research and innovation processes — the WasiLab fosters participatory, action-oriented and transformative research, while contributing directly to local development.
A doctoral school
The WasiLab also includes a doctoral school dedicated to training a new generation of scholars and practitioners working together to shift Ecuador’s development pathways towards greater sustainability.
