"Tendiendo Puentes hacia una Participación Ambiental Eficaz: El Camino de la Co-Creación en Derecho. El Formato Multimedia Chiquitano Para La Difusión Del Acuerdo De Escazú." - A Landmark Publication on the Escazú Agreement and the Chiquitano People

Tendiendo puentes hacia una participación ambiental eficaz: el camino de la co-creación en Derecho. El Formato Multimedia Chiquitano para la Difusión del Acuerdo de Escazú.

[Coordinadoras de proyecto] Giulia Parola, Margherita Paola Poto

[Autores] Silvano Chue Muquissai, Natasha Koessl, Gabrielle Natividad, Giulia Parola, Arianna Porrone, Margherita Paola Poto, Violeta S. Radovich.

"Tendiendo Puentes" has been published by Multifoco, Rio de Janeiro (Open Access, 2023), marking a significant advancement in the participatory process and the authentic implementation of the Escazú Agreement’s spirit. This publication shares vital research conducted with and for the Chiquitano, the indigenous people inhabiting ancestral lands across Mato Grosso (Brazil) and Bolivia.

The academic book, published in Spanish, is based on a four-year research project that has been designed, tested, restructured and edited to serve as a milestone in fostering effective environmental participation for all.

The project coordinators and editors express their profound gratitude to the inspiration from the group RICEDH, the encouraging words from Henry Jiménez Guanipa, and the support and peer review from Lina Muñoz Ávila. Our gratitude goes also to Elisa Marchi, whose initial inspiration led to the development of this co-created research.

The Spanish legal-language expert team, coordinated by Natasha Koessl and including Claudia Tomadoni and Violeta Radovich, played a crucial role in ensuring the language fostered inclusion and effective participation, with a focus on gender equality in terminology.

The book's unique methodology integrates visual law, legal design, and indigenous perspectives, with Arianna Porrone and Gabrielle Natividad contributing to the impactful comic designs and research methodology connected to it.

We are thankful to the steadfast support of Lise Myrvang from UiT The Arctic University of Norway, who was responsible for the publication funds granted in 2023, and to the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education (HKDIR), which supported this project as part of the ECOCARE research (HKDIR UTF-2020/10084). Acknowledgment is also given to Márcia Vilas Boas, the editorial coordinator for the publisher Multifoco, Series Agora, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The collaboration of Silvano Chue Muquissai and the Vila Nova Barbecho community, including children, teachers, elders, and experts, has been invaluable.

The book also honours the artists who contributed beautiful artistic patterns (in the artifacts and house patterns on our cover and throughout the whole book), recognizing the indigenous knowledge that has been erased and the commitment to reviving and restoring justice.

Fig. 1 Patterns of a Chiquitano rooftop, Vila Nova Barbecho, 2023 (photo: M. Poto)

Fig. 2 Handwoven Chiquitano basket, 2023 (photo: M. Poto)

Finally, the project coordinators and book editors, Giulia and Margherita, extend gratitude to themselves for their perseverance and commitment to their unconventional visionary ideas. We never stop pursuing our vision until it becomes reality.  

This open-access book will be distributed to the hands of the Chiquitano people, libraries, and key locations in Latin America and worldwide, serving as a legal testimony to the Chiquitano voices and faces, and embodying a groundbreaking milestone of participation.

The book is available here.