Ecothropic

I've traveled with Ecothropic to Chiapas. The
program enriched my understanding and left me contemplating the multi-faceted impact of climate-change and the approaches needed for communities to adapt and thrive. While visiting a coffee farm, the farmers shared how they formed a co-op, engaged with fair trade buyers to sell their coffee, and diversified their crops, all while meeting social challenges in their community. From the city markets to the farms and from the coast, along the river, and in the jungle, we met people from different communities who shared their perspective, experience, and knowledge.

I've traveled with Ecothropic to Chiapas. The
program enriched my understanding and left me contemplating the multi-faceted impact of climate-change and the approaches needed for communities to adapt and thrive. While visiting a coffee farm, the farmers shared how they had formed a co-op, engaged with fair trade buyers to sell their coffee, and diversified their crops, all while meeting social challenges in their community. From the city markets to the farms and from the coast, along the river, and in the jungle, we met people from different communities who shared their perspective, experience, and knowledge.

In May 2019 and February 2020, I traveled with Ecothropic to eastern Cuba, and I learned more in those two trips than in 20 years of research. I have spent most of my professional career researching and reading about resilience - what does it mean? what does it look like? - how is it related to climate change adaptation? These questions have guided a lot of my professional work for nearly the past two decades. The trip to Cuba, the people we met, and the stories we heard defined resilience in a way that no peer-reviewed journal article or conference proceedings has been able to capture. For me, I learned what resilience IS. I witnessed it. I felt it. Now, I know what resilience is, because of my experience on the Cuba trip. Thank you Britt for this mind-expanding learning adventure!

I learned that it is important to understand a system before engaging with it, whether it is an ecosystem or a person... Cuba showed me what people can do by relying on each other. Cuba being a small island that has been truncated financially by the United States is a real example of resilience and community driven solutions. Because of their limited resources, Cubans must make use of everything with as much efficiency as possible and maintain the quality of their resources over time. This results in amazing solutions and innovations for agriculture such as crop rotations and water management solutions. Ecothropic showcases these unique and resourceful aspects of Cuba through direct access to the people creating them. Which is the most valuable way of learning in my opinion.

This trip with Ecothropic gives students the opportunity to see conceptual changes to the environment and culture applied to real people and their livelihoods. The concepts of watershed management and community based solutions are embodied in the people and experiences that Ecothropic connects students with. Whether that be learning about the history of a city through a scavenger hunt or taking a canoe ride with a local indigenous leader and hearing stories on the lake of their ancestors. I got to speak with local leaders and especially local indigenous and female leaders of their communities which was especially rewarding. The relationship that Britt has with each of the community members showcases the respect they have for each other which is incredibly gratifying.