Promoting sustainability science in Ecuador
May 2024, WasiLab - an international institute for sustainability sciences - was inaugurated in Ecuador. The project aims to respond to the country's socio-environmental crisis. (climate change, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, pollution, growing inequalities exacerbated by political instability). The choice of the word “Wasi”, “house” in Kichwa*, underlines WasiLab's vision: the urgent need to preserve our common home, the Earth.
The WasiLab, Latin America's first interdisciplinary center for sustainability science, stands out for its innovative scientific approach. By emphasizing inter- and trans-disciplinarity, it promotes the co-construction of knowledge and the creation of alliances between science, research, teaching, society and politics, with a view to paving the way for sustainable development.
Living labs"
Through living labs - a method in which citizens, residents and users are considered as key players in the research and innovation processes to encourage participative and committed research - WasiLab promotes transformative and collaborative research while investing in local development.
A doctoral school
WasiLab is accompanied by a doctoral school aimed at training a new generation of academics and stakeholders working together to transform unsustainable development trajectories in Ecuador.
