The article recognizes the contribution of local and traditional knowledge of cultures in the co-production of scientific knowledge to adapt to the effects of climate change.

The prestigious international journal Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability recently published an article involving 4 researchers from the Universidad de Los Lagos alongside academics from Mexico, Chile, Brazil and Canada.

This article entitled “Multiple knowledge systems and participatory actions in the slow-onset effects of climate change: recommendations and perspectives in Latin America and the Caribbean” in which researchers seek to advance the literature on multiple knowledge systems – scientific, traditional and local – that can support and encourage the co-production of knowledge on the effects of slow onset of climate change in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Dr. Allan Iwama, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Los Lagos is the leader of the CoAdapta | Litoral, who worked in collaboration with researchers Francisco Araos – CEDER and Citizen Science Laboratory Researcher, Jeremy Anbleyth-Evans – postdoctoral researcher at CEDER and the Citizen Science Laboratory, and Francisco Ther-Ríos – Academic of the Department of Architecture, all from the Universidad de Los Lagos.

“This approach involves recognizing the cultural heterogeneity of traditional knowledge (e.g. indigenous and indigenous knowledge) and local knowledge, and how this can be linked to practical actions to adapt to climate impacts and global change. The integration of traditional and local knowledge with scientific knowledge in impact and risk assessment may be necessary to develop both short- and long-term planning. The authors review how and why the traditional and local knowledge system should be integrated into climate change adaptation in Latin America and the Caribbean, and offer a critical perspective and vision towards incorporating this knowledge system on climate risks and adaptation in Latin America and the Caribbean.”  explains the researcher of Ceder ULagos, Francisco Araos.

As noted, this work is the result of the CoAdapta | Litoral [ANID/FONDECYT postdoctoral project 3180705] https://www.coadaptalitoral.net/ coordinated by Dr. Allan Iwama, who develops his research with the artisanal fishing communities of Dalcahue, the Mon Fen indigenous community of Yaldad of the commune of Quellón, and the artisanal fishermen of Maullín. In addition, there is work in Brazil, on the north coast of Sao Paulo and the south coast of Rio de Janeiro, with communities of caiçaras (fishermen) and quilombolas.

SLOW-ONSET EFFECTS OF ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE

“When we refer to slow-onset effects of climate change, we focus on understanding the contribution of traditional and local knowledge on the threats associated with global temperature rise, loss of terrestrial and marine biodiversity, land and forest degradation, sea-level rise, desertification, soil salinization, glacier shrinkage and ocean acidification. Processes that, unlike extreme weather events such as floods, storm surges, severe droughts, heat waves, tropical cyclones, take much longer to make their effects explicit and, therefore, are more difficult to identify and face,” explains Dr. Iwama.

The research led by Dr. Iwama was launched in 2018 and shows that the integration of traditional and local knowledge with scientific knowledge is fundamental and necessary for co-production of observations on climate change. According to the researcher, the initiatives that place among their objectives this integration of multiple knowledge, allow recognizing the local and daily experiences of the effects of climate change perceived by people in their territories, in addition to raising awareness among the population directly affected about the possibility of coping with its effects. Likewise, it allows the development of territorial planning, in the short and long term, that is relevant and capable of facing large-scale environmental transformation processes.

In addition, Dr. Víctor Marchezini, researcher at CEMADEN – National Center for Monitoring and Alerts of Naturais Disasters of Brazil; Dr. Arturo Ruiz-Luna, researcher at CIAD – Center for Research in Food and Development, A.C in Mexico; Dr. Gonzalo Bacigalupe researcher at CreaSUR at the University of Concepción and the University of Massachusetts Boston, College of Education and Human Development; and Dr. Patricia Ellie Perkins, York University, FES – Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, Toronto, Canada, and director of the Environmental Economics, Common Governance and Climate Justice program https://qesclimatejustice.info.yorku.ca/

The article highlights initiatives such as the Observation and Monitoring System in the Indigenous Amazon (SOMAI) –  http://www.somai.org.br/#!/ Cemaden-Educacao –http://educacao.cemaden.gov.br/  Glaciers project in Peru – https://www.proyectoglaciares.pe/ as well as global initiatives, such as the LICCION (Local Indicators of Climate Change Impacts Observation Network) – https://licci.eu/liccion/