IAI Training Institute on Land Use Change Analysis and Water and Food Security in the La Plata Basin Region

April 06-15, 2011 - Asuncion, Paraguay

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 ruraldevelopment 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).

The president of Paraguay, Fernando Lugo, and the mayor of Asuncion, Arnaldo Samaniego, officially declared the IAI Training Institute to be of national and municipal interest given its intellectual merit in providing capacity building on important issues such as agriculture, food and water security. (decreto6414_Paraguay.pdf, Interes_Municipal_Paraguay_Event.pdf)

Science-Policy Forum and Training Institute Program / Programa del Foro científico-político & Instituto de Capacitación

Training_Institute_Agenda_01-4-2011_EN.pdf
InstitutoCapacitacion_Programa_01-4-2011.pdf

The following themes were addressed:

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.

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).

Organizers

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI)

Holm Tiessen, Director
Christopher Martius, Assistant Director for Science Programs
Marcella Ohira, Assistant Director for Capacity Building
Luciana Londe, Assistant Capacity Building Division
Roseli Luz, Assistant Science Division
http://www.iai.int

Local Organizers

Constantino Guefos Kapsalis, Dean, FaCEN/Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Paraguay
Fernando Méndes, Director LIAPA/FaCEN/Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Paraguay

Program Coordinator

Vicky Ballester, Universidade de São Paulo- Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura (USP/CENA)

Program Collaborators

Esteban Jobbágy, Universidad Nacional de San Luis, Argentina
Guillermo Podesta, University of Miami - Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, USA

Field Trip Coordinators

Alicia Eisenkölbl, Universidad Catolica de Paraguay
Clyde Fraise, University of Florida
Norman Breuer, University of Miami
Julian Baez, Universidad Catolica de Asuncion, Paraguay

Field Trip Program / Programa para la Salida de Campo

EN-DraftPROGRAM_FIELD_TRIP_29-3-2011.pdf
SP-PROGRAMApreliminar_FIELD_TRIP_29-3-2011.pdf

Field Trip Speakers

ALICIA EISENKÖLBL Paraguay	NELSON TUCHOLKE Paraguay
ROLAND WOLFF Paraguay

Suggested Reading Material

"Use of Ecosystem Functional Types to represent the interannual variability of vegetation biophysical properties in regional models". The VAMOS Newsletter is available from http://www.clivar.org/organization/vamos/Publications/vamos_nl7.pdf and the note in English and Spanish is in pages 15-19. (suggested by Hugo Berbery)

"Remote sensing estimates of supplementary water consumption by arid ecosystems of central Argentina". (suggested by Roxana Aragón)

"The hydrologic consequences of land cover change in central Argentina". (suggested by Roxana Aragón)

"Set-asides can be better climate investment than corn ethanol". (suggested by Esteban Jobbagy)

"El desafío ecohidrológico de las transiciones entre sistemas leñosos y herbáceos en la llanura Chaco-Pampeana". (suggested by Esteban Jobbagy)

"Protecting climate with forests". (suggested by Esteban Jobbagy)

"Modelos Basados en Agentes (MBA): definición, alcances y limitaciones". (annex´s list) (annexs) (suggested by Federico Bert and Guillermo Podestá)

"NetLogo is a multi-agent programmable modeling environment. It is used by tens of thousands of students, teachers and researchers worldwide. <more>". (suggested by Moira Zellner)

Ejercicios que siguen se organizaron para presentar algunas aplicaciones básicas de los SIGs para el análisis de los cambios en el uso de la tierra. (suggested by Vicky Ballester)

"Policy-Briefs" desarrollados por los participantes durante el Instituto de Formación

At the TI participants were tasked with developing short communication materials (or “policy briefs”). The objective was to develop skills to communicate complex ideas to diverse audiences are important skills required in modern, multidisciplinary science.

These documents aim at describing the main aspects and implications of a complex issue to a general audience. Throughout the TI, participants worked in six teams to develop a suite of policy briefs on topics associated with land use and cover change, water resources, food and water security, and interdisciplinary research. The resulting documents are:

1. Interdisciplina: una oportunidad para entender los sistemas ambientales (Elaborado por PABLO BALDASSINI, ISMAEL DIAZ ISASA , ROXANA PAOLA ECLESIA, ANA LAURA MELLO VILLAMARIN, MARIANA ISABEL NIN NICOLA, ANA PAULA DIAS TURETTA y ANDRES WEHRLE)
2. Enfrentando la complejidad de los impactos del cambio de uso del suelo sobre la seguridad alimentaria (Elaborado por Olga L. Puertas, Arturo Ruiz Luna y Pompeyo Ferro)
3. Cambio de Uso y Cobertura del Suelo (Elaborado por ADRIAN CAL, DARÍO CEBALLOS y ROMINA CARDOZO)
4. La seguridad hídrica en América Latina (Elaborado por BARBARA ANNETT, MARIA LAURA CARIAGA, IVAN RICARDO CASTRO DIAZ y FERNANDO FELIPE MUNOZ MUNOZ)
5. Ejemplo Multidisciplinario de Capibary, Paraguay (Elaborado por JOEL EDWARD CORREIA, ARELYS SOTILLO ENRIQUEZ, LIDIO LOPEZ CALLEJAS, DIEGO FRANCISCO DAVID MACIEL DEL PUERTO y TÂNIA KEGLER BOGADO)
6. Cambios en el Uso de la Tierra y Recursos Hídricos (Elaborado por ALLAN YU IWAMA DE MELLO, GABRIEL HENRIQUE LUI, MARIA VALLEJOS, MAURICIO BRUNO CERONI ACOSTA y RACHEL BARDY PRADO)

Forum Presentations

"Hiper-llanuras" (by ESTEBAN JOBBÁGY)

"Impacts of agriculture on climate" (by HUGO BERBERY)

"Creación de riqueza a través de la expansión de la agricultura" (by TAMARA VON BERNARD)

"Mecanismos y forzantes sociales del cambio ambiental" (by ANA MURGIDA)

"Agroenergia e iimpacttos en ell ambiientte" (by VICKY BALLESTER)

"Mitigación de Riesgos Climáticos en la Agricultura" (by NORMAN BREUER)

"Producción o Cuidado ambiental?" (by RUIZ TORANZO)

TI Presentations

"Land use effects on the water balance and climate of large areas -regional climate models." (by HUGO BERBERY)

"Resource appropritation is fundamental for production - Resource limitation is a risk for productivity" (by HOLM TIESSEN)

"Cambio Climático y Producción de Cultivos: Impactos y Opciones de Adaptación" (by MARISA TRAVASSO)

"Aproximaciones de GECAFS para generar una investigación interdisciplinaria de escala regional en seguridad alimentaria" (by MIKE BRKLACICH and JOHN INGRAM)

"Modelos basados en agentes: Introducción y ejemplos de aplicaciones para estudiar cambios en el uso de la tierra" (by GUILLERMO PODESTÁ and FEDERICO BERT)

"Managing landscapes Opportunities in developing markets" (by TAMARA VON BERNARD)

"Ecosistema: estructura, funciones y servicios" (by VICKY BALLESTER)

"Población, energía y cambios en el uso de la tierra" (by VICKY BALLESTER)

"Curso Perguntas 1"

"Gerencia de Pronósticos Meteorológicos" (by JORGE SÁNCHEZ)

"Valoraciones y procesos adaptativos en el Chaco salteño, dinámica del clima y vulnerabilidad social" (by ANA MURGIDA)

"Ciencia y Tomadores de decisiones" (by FERNANDO RUIZ TORANZO)

"Processes and interactions in natural and agricultural ecosystems: land use, climate and biogeochemical cycles" (by GERVASIO PIÑERO)

Speakers

Speaker´s list

ANA MURGIDA Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina	JOHN INGRAM GECAFS Program, UK
CLYDE FRAISSE University of Florida, USA	JORGE ANIBAL SÁNCHEZ GARCÍA DINAC, Paraguay
CONSTANTINO GUEFOS KAPSALIS Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Paraguay	JULIAN BÁEZ Universidad Catolica de Asuncion, Paraguay
EDGAR MAYEREGGER Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganaderia, Paraguay	MARIA ISABEL TRAVASSO Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Argentina
ESTEBAN JOBBÁGY Universidad Nacional de San Luis, Argentina	MIKE BRKLACICH Carleton University, Canada
FEDERICO BERT Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina	MOIRA ZELLNER University of Illinois, USA
FERNANDO MÉNDES Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Paraguay	NICOLAS BAMBACH University of California, USA
FERNANDO RUIZ TORANZO Asociación Argentina de Consorcios Regionales de Experimentación Agrícola, Argentina	NORMAN BREUER University of Miami, USA
GUILLERMO PODESTA University of Miami - Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, USA	ROXANA ARAGÓN Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
HOLM TIESSEN Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research, Brazil	TAMARA VON BERNARD Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
HUGO BERBERY University of Maryland, USA	VICKY BALLESTER Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil

Participants

Participant´s list

ADRIAN TABARE CAL ALVAREZ Uruguay	FABIOLA MARIA DEL CARMEN DAPELLO CHAVES Paraguay	MARIANA ISABEL NIN NICOLA Uruguay
ALICIA STELLA RAFFAELE VAZQUEZ Uruguay	FELIX POMPEYO FERRO MAYHUA Peru	MAURICIO BRUNO CERONI ACOSTA Uruguay
ALICIA EISENKÖLBL Paraguay	FERNANDO FELIPE MUNOZ MUNOZ Colombia	OLGA LUCIA PUERTAS OROZCO Chile
ALLAN YU IWAMA DE MELLO Brazil	GABRIEL HENRIQUE LUI Brazil	PABLO BALDASSINI Argentina
ANNA LAURA MELLO VILLAMARIN Uruguay	GABRIELA CIVEIRA Argentina	RACHEL BARDY PRADO Brazil
ANA PAULA DIAS TURETTA Brazil	GRISELDA CARDOZO Paraguay	ROBERTO TAKAHASHI Paraguay
ANDRES WEHRLE Paraguay	HUGO ROJAS Paraguay	ROMINA CARDOZO Paraguay
ARELYS SOTILLO Cuba	ISMAEL DIAZ ISASA Uruguay	ROXANA PAOLA ECLESIA Argentina
ARTURO RUIZ LUNA Mexico	IVAN RICARDO CASTRO DIAZ Colombia	TANIA KEGLER BOGADO Paraguay
BARBARA ANNETT Paraguay	JOEL EDWARD CORREIA USA
CARMEN PAEZ Paraguay	LIDIO LOPEZ CALLEJAS Bolivia/Argentina
DARIO SEBASTIAN CEBALLOS Argentina	MARIA LAURA CARIAGA Argentina
DIEGO FRANCISCO DAVID MACIEL DEL PUERTO Paraguay	MARIA VALLEJOS Argentina

Site and Date

The Training Institute was held from 6-15, April, 2011 at the National University of Asuncion (UNA) in Asuncion, Paraguay.

Forum Venue (April 6 - morning)

The Forum was held at the National University of Asunción (UNA), “Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales de la Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Campus Universitario de San Lorenzo”.
Forum Site: “Salón Auditorio de Bienestar Estudiantil”, Campus Universitario San Lorenzo”

Training Institute Venue (April 6-15)

The Training Institute was held at the National University of Asunción (UNA), “Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales de la Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Campus Universitario de San Lorenzo”.
Training Institute site (afternoon of April 6 and following days): “Aula A17, Campus Universitario San Lorenzo”

General Information for Speakers and Participants

General_Information_TI_Asuncion_ENGLISH.pdf
Informaciones_Generales_TI_Asuncion_ESPANOL.pdf

Language Requirement

The Training Institute was conducted in English and Spanish and participants must be proficient in one and have a sound understanding in the other language.

Travel Support

Funds were available for travel support, including airfare, lodging and meals per diem. Travel arrangements were made for all successful applicants through the IAI.

Any inquiries concerning this IAI Training Institute should be sent to: iai_ti_paraguay2011@dir.iai.int

Announcement

ANNOUNCEMENT_OF_OPPORTUNITY_EN.pdf
ANNOUNCEMENT_OF_OPPORTUNITY_SP.pdf

Photos

Field Trip

TI program - lectures, discussions and hands-on exercises

Social Events

Scientific Forum

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