Gaia Pacha - Environmental Technology, Environmental Education, Research

 

Gaia Pacha Foundation is a leading non-profit in South America, in the area of environmental technology, environmental education, climate research and environmental research (particularly socio-economic impact studies of agricultural practices). Supervised internships and volunteer work in the fields of biology, ecology, project management and environmental technology are possible; you can also participate in research activities.

 

 

 

Gaia Pacha is a non-profit foundation based in Cochabamba, Bolivia, which was founded in 2006 by 14 young graduates from the field of environmental technology. Their task is to explore the fragile interaction between man and nature, in order to develop sustainable techniques and technologies that meet the needs of the Bolivian society in an environmentally sound manner.

 

Since 2008, Bolivian and foreign students and specialists have been integrated as interns and volunteers in the team; there were in the first 4 years, 41 foreign and 77 Bolivian interns and volunteers. They are particularly active in the fields of environmental education and research.

 

The environmental education is aimed at sensitizing target audience about environmental issues, so that they are able to make better decisions and positive changes in their behavior, in favor of the environment.

The research is to determine scientific methods and techniques from the fields of natural and social sciences that can be implemented as practical solutions for the environment and society of Bolivia. The focus is in the areas of climate change and evaluation of socio-economic impact and ecology in agricultural practices.

 

In the area of environmental education, Gaia Pacha has its presence in places such as schools, community centers, cultural centers, etc.

Gaia Pacha has airtime on the alternative radio station "Lachiwana”. Volunteers/Interns research on environmental issues, and work on content for the program "Lachiwana Verde" which airs in Cochabamba and other parts of Bolivia.

Gaia Pacha has conducted three times a year since 2006, the "Day of the Pedestrian”, a campaign for environmental awareness. There are creative activities designed for children and adults. Each campaign addresses different environmental problems; e.g. the Madidi National Park, the perception of climate change among the rural population of Bolivia or product recycling. The campaign "manzanas Verdes” revolves around education about topics such as saving energy, water and waste management, in cooperation with the four cultural centers of Cochabamba. In the cultural centers, topics are presented through artistic activities, like films.

Gaia Pacha also works with high school students and trains them to become environmental managers. 10 groups of environmental leaders have been trained since 2011, and there are projects developed with them, as they can carry out environmental activities within their schools and communities.

In the field of environmental research, Gaia Pacha collaborates with organizations such as Habitat Para La Humanidad Bolivia, the Faculty of Forestry of the Universidad Mayor de San Simón (UMSA), the Center for Students of Environmental Engineering of the Catholic University of Bolivia (UCB) and the Cordillera University. This collaboration always leads to current research topics.

Volunteers in the field assist in research and will also contribute to the research activities, both in the field of secondary research (literature analysis), as well as primary research and will write reports.

Another topic of work is climate change. Gaia Pacha has studied the perception of climate change in 43 communities in five areas of Bolivia, and created the documentary "The weather is getting tired” (El tiempo se está cansando). Another research project conducted in 2011, was to evaluate the state guidelines for the prevention and mitigation of climate change. This happened in three cities of Bolivia. A current project is the use of geological data to make a timeline that will show the temperature change throughout history.

A further area of research of Gaia Pacha is the socio-economic impact studies of agricultural practices. For this, Gaia Pacha explored the influence of quinoa production in Colchak'a Oruro. A current research project deals with the socio- economic and environmental evaluation of soybean production in Santa Cruz. Here, soil and water quality are measured, the efficiency of the technologies used in the cultivation is determined and the influence of soyabean on local biodiversity studied.