Events

The David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS) invites you for a discussion with Edgardo Gomez Pisco, VASI's Local Facilitator, and Nancy M. Dammann, VASI's International Facilitator. Moderated by Ned Strong, Executive Director, DRCLAS. 

VASI, or Amazonian Vision for an integrated sustainability, was founded by a group of nine communities, undergraduate students from those communities, and scientists (both Peruvians and international), with the broad goals of improving the quality of life and contributing to conservation and sustainable development. The project has three main branches or foci: collaborative community-based scientific research, increasing opportunities for higher education, and applied projects. The first applied project is developing an integrated agroforestry system based around a native, flood resistant, highly aromatic variety of cacao. 

In terms of research, the communities have generated priority focal areas (health, education, timber, agricultural, and fishing) within which teams of scientists, students, and local residents will conduct rigorous investigations. At every step from study design to analysis and reporting, the research will be conducted collaboratively, and all results will first be reported to the communities. The hope is that by doing this, the research will be able to help the communities make more informed decisions and take more informed actions while also contributing more generally to scientific understanding of the Amazon, climate change and climate change adaptation, conservation, and decolonization efforts.