The fourth conference of the Raúl Bitrán Chair 2017 did not propose a negative analysis and tried to envision possible solutions through education.

A space for conversation and reflection was generated in the conference “Biodiversity: our common future?”, belonging to the cycle “Science and Technology at the Dawn of the Unknown” of the Raúl Bitrán Chair of the University of La Serena. In the activity, speakers Dr. Javier Simonetti and Dr. Ernesto Gianolli talked about how biodiversity is severely threatened by human activities themselves, putting many forms of life at risk.

The rapporteur, Dr. Javier Simonetti, professor of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Chile and president of the Kauyeken Association, pointed out that this presentation allowed us to talk about “the true meaning that biological diversity has for the human population. There is something we have lost and it is our contact with nature. We have become detached from the world around us and that has countless consequences, including for our well-being. In addition, we talked about the ways in which we could rebuild those relationships with the rest of the beings that populate the planet so that we all live better and have a better common future.”

The activity was moderated by Dr. Ernesto Gianoli, professor at the Faculty of Sciences of the U. de La Serena, who highlighted: “I thought it was a fantastic activity. I really liked the participation of people through the online channel that they enabled. In itself I found the activity very useful. It is a very current issue that people today have a need to become aware of what is happening with biodiversity in Chile. We learn from examples of the past, and without remaining in a rather negative analysis, the speakers have tried to envision possible solutions through education.”

The invitation to this series of conferences is open to the community, especially students, in the Aula Magna located at Benavente 980, La Serena. It was also broadcast live and can be seen at the link http://vcenter.reuna.cl/videos/video/2611/ and on the unit's Facebook, ULS Extension Center.

Source: DIVEULS press