06-15 April 2011 – Asuncion, Paraguay
News Presentations Photos Policy briefs Program Participants Speakers Announcement Suggested readings Venue
News
Repercussion in the country
The president of Paraguay, Fernando Lugo, and the mayor of Asuncion, Arnaldo Samaniego, officially declared the IAI Training Institute to be of national and municipalinterest, respectively, given its intellectual merit in providing capacity building on important issues such as agriculture, food and water security.
Presentations
Valoraciones y procesos adaptativos en el Chaco salteño, dinámica del clima y vulnerabilidad social – Ana Murgida
Ciencia y Tomadores de decisiones – Fernando Ruiz Toranzo
Processes and interactions in natural and agricultural ecosystems: land use, climate and biogeochemical cycles – Gervasio Pineiro
Land use effects on the water balance and climate of large areas -regional climate models – Hugo Berbery
Resources – Holm Tiessen
Análisis y predicción del tiempo– Jorge Anibal Sanchez
Cambio Climático y Producción de Cultivos: Impactos y Opciones de Adaptación – Maria Isabel Travasso
Aproximaciones de GECAFS para generar una investigación interdisciplinaria de escala regional en seguridad alimentaria – Mike Brklacich
Modelos basados en agentes: Introducción y ejemplos de aplicaciones para estudiar cambios en el uso de la tierra – Guillermo Podestá and Federico Bert
Questions
Managing landscapes – Opportunities in developing markets – Tamara von Bernard
Ecosistema:: estructura,, funciones y servicios – María Victoria R. Ballester
Población, energía y cambios en el uso de la tierra – María Victoria R. Ballester
Hiper-llanuras – Esteban Jobbágy
Impacts of agriculture on climate – Hugo Berbery
Creación de riqueza a través de la expansión de la agricultura – Tamara von Bernard
Mecanismos y forzantes sociales del cambio ambiental – Ana Murgida
Agroenergia e impactos en el ambiente – María Victoria R. Ballester
Mitigación de Riesgos Climáticos en la Agricultura – Norman Eduardo Breuer
Producción o Cuidado ambiental? – Fernando Ruiz Toranzo
Photos
Policy briefs
Cambio_de_uso_y_cobertura_del_suelo_un_componente_del_cambio_global
Cambio_en_el_uso_del_suelo_y_recursos_hidricos
Enfrentando_la_complejidad_de_los_impactos_del_cambio_de_uso_del_suelo_sobre_la_seguridad_alimentaria
Interdisciplina_Una_oportunidad_para_entender_los_sistemas_ambientales
Kegler_Eisenkolbl_Lopez_Sotillo_Maciel_Correia_Policy_Brief
La_distancia_un_exemplo_multidisciplinario_de_capibary_paraguay
Program
The 10 day program of the Training Institute had interacting components: lectures, discussion sessions, and practical exercises. The lectures helped participants to obtain a progressive understanding of the theoretical background and the multi-scale interactions of climate, ecology, biodiversity, hydrology, land use, economics, and social development. This was complemented with hands-on training. A field trip was part of the program to allow participants to interact directly with stakeholders (e.g. farming cooperative and a water resources agency involved in decision making on land and water use).
Science-Policy Forum and Training Institute Program
Program in English – PDF
Programa en español- PDF
Themes
1. Concepts on environmental change:
• Ecosystems goods and services
• Land cover and land use change, natural and human factors
2. Interactions between land-use, ecosystems, climate and hydrology: natural and agricultural ecosystems
3. Alternatives of energy generation from ecosystems, including biofuel crops and natural ecosystem biomass
4. Land cover and land use change effects on water and nutrient cycling
5. Decision Support Systems to help agriculture and natural resource industries mitigate risks associated with climate variability and change
6. GIS technology as a tool of landscape analysis
Adrian Tabare Cal Alvarez
Alicia Eisenkölbl
Alicia Stella Raffaele Vazquez
Allan Yu Iwama de Mello
Ana Laura Mello Villamarin
Ana Paula Dias Turetta
Andres Wehrle
Arelys Sotillo Enriquez
Arturo Ruiz Luna
Barbara Annett
Carmen Paez
Dario Sebastian Ceballos
Diego Francisco David Maciel del Puerto
Fabiola Maria del Carmen Dapello Chaves
Felix Pompeyo Ferro Mayhua
Fernando Felipe Muñoz
Gabriel Henrique Lui
Gabriela Civeira
Griselda Cardozo
Hugo Rojas
Ismael Diaz Isasa
Ivan Ricardo Castro Diaz
Joel Edward Correia
Lidio Lopez Callejas
Maria Laura Cariaga
Maria Vallejos
Mariana Isabel Nin Nicola
Mauricio Bruno Ceroni Acosta
Olga Lucia Puertas Orozco
Pablo Baldassini
Rachel Bardy Prado
Roberto Takahashi
Romina Cardozo
Roxana Paola Eclesia
Tânia Kegler BogadoSpeakers
Ana Murgida
Clyde FraiseUniversidad Nacional de Asunción-UNA
Paraguay
Edgar Mayeregger
Esteban JobbágyUniversidad Nacional de San Luis
Argentina
Federico Bert
Fernando MéndezAsociación Argentina de Consorcios Regionales de Experimentación Agrícola -AACREA)
Argentina
Guillermo Podestá
Holm Tiessen
Hugo Berbery
John IngramGECAFS Program
UK
Jorge Anibal Sanchez
Julian Baez
Mike Brklacich
Nicolas Bambach
Norman Breuer
Roxana Aragón
Tamara von Bernard
Vicky BallesterAnnouncement
Full announcement – PDF
Full announcement – PDF
Objectives
The goal of this Training Institute was to provide scientific information and knowledge to support land use planners, decision-makers, and stakeholders on rural development, land use change and conservation in the La Plata Basin (LPB) region. Scientific information and data on land use, hydrology, and climate were integrated to guide sustainable social and economic rural development in the region. Participants also became familiar with data analysis tools and evaluated the consequences of land use change on water and food security.
The Training Institute explored the interactions between natural and human components of agroecosystems in the LPB, taking advantage of an interdisciplinary approach for land use change analysis using existing data sets. We assessed risks and opportunities offered by increasing global demand for agricultural commodities and biofuels, and the impacts of agricultural expansion and intensification on ecosystems goods and services. Emphasis was on the interactions between land-use, ecosystems, climate and hydrology. Through lectures, discussions, case studies and hands-on exercises, we explored climate, social and economic contexts and their links to drivers of land use change. We also sought to encourage communication and collaboration between the scientific and policy communities and to explore the science-practice interface. Presenters and participants both contributed to the discussions and outputs for a mutually beneficial learning experience.
The Science & Policy Forum and Training Institute were funded by Canada´s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the US National Science Foundation (NSF). A co-sponsor was the Global Environmental Change and Food Systems (GECAFS) program.
The Training Institute was co-organized with and hosted by the Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (FaCEN)/Universidad Nacional de Asunción (UNA).
Organizers
Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI)
Holm Tiessen, Executive Director
Christopher Martius, Director for Science Programs
Marcella Ohira, Director for Capacity Building
Luciana Londe, Assistant for Capacity Building
Roseli Luz, Assistant for Science
Local Organizers
Constantino Guefos Kapsalis, Dean, FaCEN/Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Paraguay
Fernando Méndez, Director LIAPA/FaCEN/Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Paraguay
Program Coordinator
Vicky Ballester, Universidade de São Paulo – Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura (USP/CENA), Brazil
Program Collaborators
Esteban Jobbágy, Universidad Nacional de San Luis, Argentina
Guillermo Podestá, University of Miami – Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, USA
Venue
National University of Asunción (UNA)
Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales de la Universidad Nacional de Asunción – Campus Universitario de San Lorenzo
Site for the Forum and first day of the course: Salón Auditorio de Bienestar Estudiantil, Campus Universitario San Lorenzo
Site for the other days of the course: Aula A17, Campus Universitario San Lorenzo