ECO_CARE at the prestigious Water Security Climate Change (WSCC) Conference in Cuenca, Ecuador

In collaboration with PUCP’s Patricia Urteaga Crovetto and UiT’s ECO_CARE project manager Margherita Poto, Juliana developed an oral presentation for the 2023 WSCC conference on the use of co-creation in water governance research and policy implementation. The presentation, “Co-created participatory approaches to water security and multi-level governance that leaves no one behind,” highlighted case studies from Peru’s Northeastern Amazon and Northern Andean Highlands which utilized co-creation with local and indigenous communities in the mapping and assessment of environmental damages, drafting of official reports, and design of legal strategy. In addition to her well-received presentation, Juliana participated in numerous interdisciplinary lectures at the WSCC host institution, the University of Cuenca, primarily discussing the integration of citizen science into IWRM research and strategy in climate-vulnerable regions.

Following the insights gained at the WSCC conference, the ECO_CARE team will continue to work together to investigate the feasibility of upscaling co-created research methods adopted at the local level to the regional level throughout LATAM and the EU. In 2024, the team looks forward to developing co-creation methodological toolkits for stronger regulation, monitoring, and compliance efforts regarding extractivism in Amazonian and Arctic waters. 

Attending the 2023 WSCC was a wonderful opportunity for Juliana and the ECO_CARE team by proxy to engage in high-level open dialogue on achieving water security for all through the science-policy interface.

*Juliana and the team thank the participating staff and students at the University of Cuenca for their wonderful effort as WSCC hosts and the DAAD: German Academic Exchange Service for making her conference participation possible through the award of a travel grant.