Science Summit at United Nations General Assembly (UNGA78)

Zoom link in the bottom
*Requires autentication 
Conference will be held in English and Spanish with translation to both Languages.


Geodiversity is the responsible for providing the foundations for the environment, society and therefore their economic, cultural, social, and political development. Located in Colombia, the Risaralda Basin is considered as an ecoregion bordering the Biogeographic Pacific, where the impressive landscape is immersed in a zone of high geo-biodiversity, known as Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena biodiversity hotspot. Located within Model Forest of Risaralda (MF) is composed of three sub-regions:
-The I: Otún River Basin, contain the large cities Pereira, Dosquebradas, Santa Rosa de Cabal.
-The II: Risaralda River basin, is located in the agricultural zone with coffee, cocoa, pineapple, sugar cane and fruit crops.
-The III is home to the large reserves of tropical rainforests.

Sociocultural, the Risaralda basin landscape is characterized by ethnic and cultural plurality: indigenous, afro-descendant, and rural groups. Geomorphologically modeled by: volcanism (Ruiz-Tolima volcanic complex), deglaciation, fluvial-torrential dynamics (Otún and Risaralda River basins) and high tectonic activity (Cauca-Romeral faults). Traditionally home to coffee crops and multicultural societies, the basin is considered part of the UNESCO Coffee Cultural Heritage Landscape as an outstanding example of an area that adapts to unique geographical and natural characteristics in the world, with the development of an exceptional culture, a high social capital. development of local economies and resilient processes in a postconflict country.

Providing knowledge and scientific dissemination in a participatory process the goal of this research project is to promote the sustainable economy of the region through science, promotion of local economies, cultural heritage, environmental education and geotourism, supported by transformative mechanisms such as sustainable productive projects. Therefore, the aim is to exhibit the necessity to generate geodiversity understanding not only for the academy but also for society and consequently involve the government authorities, ONGs, scientist and communities living in the study area to manage current environmental and economic problems arising from anthropogenic, social, natural and climate change processes to jointly contribute to the conceptualization of solutions for socio-climatic resilience that allow the use of geosystem services in a more responsible and sustainable approach to provide the society in the short and long term.