Through the management of the Conecta ULS 2195 Project, the teachers, directors and supporters of the educational establishments that make up the Microcenter of Subsidized Private Schools of Combarbalá, participated in two workshops given by the Seremía de Medio Ambiente de Coquimbo, the first of them was focused on Recycling and the second on Water Resources.

Thanks to the sustained working alliance between the Conecta ULS 2195 Project, -an initiative led by the Academic Vice-Rector of the University of La Serena (ULS) and the Directorate of Linkage with the Environment and Extension (DIVEULS)-, with the Seremía de Environment of Coquimbo, whose regional authority is Leonardo Gros - who is a member of the Advisory Committee of said project -, during the second semester of 2023, two environmental education workshops were held for teachers of the Microcenter of Subsidized Private Schools of Combarbalá.

The first activity was a Recycling workshop, taught by the Head of Circular Economy and Waste of the Seremi de Medio Ambiente of Coquimbo, Juan Luis Novoa, who explained that “this training consisted of general concepts of waste, recycling and reuse methodologies to that teachers in the commune of Combarbalá can apply them in their establishments or together with civil society in the territory

The second instance was a Water Resources workshop, given by the Head of the Policy and Regulation Section of the Seremi de Medio Ambiente of Coquimbo, Sergio Troncoso, who reported that “we had a conversation with the teachers of the commune of Combarbalá regarding the quality and quantity of water and the problems that are being generated by the distribution and access to the water resource, added to the way in which it could be protected and the instruments that the Ministry of the Environment (MMA) and other services have, since "The territories face different situations than the provincial capitals, which is why it is so important that they are aware of the Water Code, the authorization of water resources for human consumption and the protection of biodiversity."

In relation to this, the Seremi of the Environment of Coquimbo, Leonardo Gros, pointed out that “the University of La Serena, the only State university in the Coquimbo Region, is developing interesting work linking with the environment through its Conecta project. ULS, of which as MMA we are part, which has been a great opportunity to get closer to the territory by doing training and environmental education talks on water matters and the circular economy, so we hope to continue working in the medium and long term with the university and its Conecta ULS project in order to link the public policies of our ministry and the academic work that the ULS does.”

These workshops included the participation of the director of the La Colorada de Combarbalá school, Luis Renato Tapia, and teacher Angela Coronado; the director of school No. 16 in the town of Los Sapos de Combarbalá, Violeta Zepeda; the director of the San Isidro school, Marta Zepeda; the director of the Chépica private school, Amélia Véliz; and the director of the Rincón de Las Chilcas school, Teresa Cortés.

In relation to this initiative, the director of the San Isidro school, Marta Zepeda; He expressed that “we are very happy because during this year the University of La Serena and the Seremia de Medio Ambiente de Coquimbo have trained us with their workshops related to caring for the environment and water resources, therefore, I hope we can continue with others workshops for the future.”

In addition to this, the Institutional Coordinator of the DIVEULS, Nando Verelst, maintained that “the environmental dimension is extremely important to be able to develop the Conecta ULS project, since we seek to promote sustainable development, contemplating problems in the social and environmental spheres, therefore "The link we maintain with the Ministry of the Environment has allowed us to have a better impact through these Water Resources and Recycling workshops, which are super relevant."

It should be noted that Conecta ULS 2195 is a project that is carried out with funds from the Ministry of Education (MINEDUC), with the main objective of enhancing the capabilities of management teams, teachers, and students of educational establishments in lagging areas of the provinces of Limarí. and Choapa, based on joint work with academics and students from the ULS, through Active Learning Methodologies.

Written by Romina Onel, Conecta ULS Project