Venezuela Planning Visit: Developing a Model for Assessing Social and Ecological Implications of Declining Freshwater Quality in the Maracaibo Basin, Maracaibo, July 2009

University Of Texas At Austin, Austin TX

Investigators

Abstract

Abstract Proposal: OISE-0944185 PI/Institution: Bjorn Sletto, University of Texas at Austin The proposed U.S.-Venezuela planning visit will allow U.S. PI Dr. Bjorn Sletto from the University of Texas at Austin (UT) and colleagues in Venezuela (Daniel Castro, Johnny Alarcon and Mercedes Ferrer from the Universidad de Zulia) to discuss and plan an interdisciplinary, collaborative research program to assess the links between forest management, indigenous territoriality, and urbanization in the Lake Maracaibo Basin, Venezuela. Participants intend to: 1) formulate key research priorities and questions; 2) identify key sources of institutional and scientific knowledge, data, and institutional support; 3) begin to build a common knowledge base that will be made available to policymakers, scholars, and students via the Internet; and 4) develop long-term educational and collaborative opportunities for a diverse group of graduate and undergraduate students from the University of Texas and the host institution, Universidad de Zulia. By including students from minority groups from the University of Texas, women and indigenous people, and outstanding international scholars from the U.S. and Venezuela, the proposed planning visit will foster a more creative engagement with the social and political-economic causes of the water crisis in the Lake Maracaibo Basin that will allow participants to envision innovative research approaches to this important research area.