Remote Learning Opportunity: Virtual Field School: Sustainable Communities & Environmental Change in Latin America
Rebecca Smith
Virtual Field School: Sustainable Communities & Environmental Change in Latin America
Course Overview
This spring, field experts from across Latin America are offering a certificate course in conservation, culture, and environmental change, all from the comfort and safety of your home. The course offers seminars, virtual field-trips, and one-to-one mentorship by experts whose work with local communities has been funded by the National Geographic Society.
The five participating instructors first came together to create the Virtual Field School as a collaborative solution and response to COVID-19, which has detrimentally impacted their five NGOs and community partners, who are struggling to survive economically during this time of crisis. All five course instructors will donate 100% of their teaching fees to their partnering non-profit organisations, to be able to continue their important conservation and community-engaged socioeconomic development work, now and in the future.
In this Virtual Field School, participants will first travel the seas of Costa Rica and Honduras, where they will learn about marine biodiversity, the impacts of tourism, and sustainable development. They will then head to the high Andean mountains of Peru to learn from Quechua artisans about their traditional knowledge in light of the environmental, cultural, and economic changes they face. Finally, they will visit the remote forests of Paraguay to better understand the complex realities of primate conservation in a country highly focused on industrial agriculture.
This course is an interdisciplinary social science and humanities field school aimed at both the university student and life-learner alike. It is for anyone interested in sustainable development, nature conservation, and socio-ecological change. This is an incredible opportunity to gain an inside look at critical development and conservation issues, while supporting local communities and grassroots non-profit organisations - all with zero carbon footprint!
Dates and CostsThe online course runs from 15th February - 30th April 2021 (ten weeks), and has a limited capacity of 25 students. The course costs $395 (+ transfer fee). The course will be offered in both English and Spanish.
- Mosqoy, Peru (www.mosqoy.org)
- Fundación Para La Tierra, Paraguay (www.paralatierra.org)
- Rescue Center for Endangered Marine Species - CREMA, Costa Rica (www.cremacr.org)
- Wildlife Conservation Association, Costa Rica (www.nosarasustainability.org)
- Bay Islands Conservation Association, Honduras (www.wearebicautila.org)