Itinerary:  February 15–23, 2025

Saturday, Feb. 15

 Arrive in Costa Rica, transfer to city of Cartago

Sunday, Feb. 16

  • Meet and greet with Indigenous students and TEC staff.
  • Lunch with their Costa Rican counterparts in Orosi
  • Students and faculty will spend two days on campus to meet their partners face to face to begin a relationship that will continue in zoom for the second half of the semester.
  • Orientation and tour of Cartago – visit to Irazú volcano, or Lankester Botanical
  • Garden, Cachi and Orosi Valley) with indigenous students.

Monday, Feb. 17

  • Welcome activity and campus tour https://www.tec.ac.cr/
  • Speaker: The Costa Rican Environmental Context, Realities and Challenges
  • Dance Class
  • TEC University is a showcase for sustainable technology, development and extension programs for Indigenous students that promote Indigenous access to higher education and Indigenous resilience.
    • On their campus TEC has:
  • Waste Collection Center
  • Water Treatment Plant
  • Solar Panels Complex
  • Green Bikes and Electrical Vehicles Programs
  • Crocodile and alligator farm
  • Whitetail deer farm
  • Organic garden of medicinal and aromatic plants
  • Museum and butterfly production area 
  • Forest Management and wet tropical forest trails

Tuesday, Feb. 18

  • Campus Tour.
  • Speaker: Diana Segura Sojo – Overview of TECs work with Indigenous students and community extension initiatives.
  • Soccer match

Wednesday, Feb. 19

  • Travel to San Vito, Las Cruces Tropical Forest Botanical Garden
  • Speaker: TBA
  • Tour of Las Cruzes and the Tropical Forest Botanical Garden

Thursday, Feb. 20

  • Travel to Bruncajc Indigenous Territory - So Cagrú initiative
  • Speaker TBA
  • Tour of So Cagrú and Bruncacj Museum

Friday, Feb. 21

  • Travel to Brorán Indigenous Community
  • Workshop with Mano de Tigre Association and indigenous women from Buenos Aires (CR) community development initiative
  • Speaker TBA
  • Travel to Vista Ballena hotel at Uvita Beach

Saturday, Feb. 22

  • Visit Marino Ballena National Park
  • Travel to Alajuela (near San Jose Airport)

Sunday, Feb. 23

  • Travel Back to Canada

Our TEC partners will hire a small bus for the group and organize travel in-between sites. Accommodation information will be shared at a later date.

Examples of LAMS 1102 speakers in 2023 and 2024:

  • Indigenous women from Talamanca spoke about the initiatives they are taking to return to ancestral practices such as seed sharing and weaving. 
  • Indigenous Peoples' representatives at CONAGEBIO (National Commission for Biodiversity Management of Costa Rica) spoke about ancestral practices on ancestral land use vs western monoculture plantations as a land use model.   
  • A representative of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization in Costa Rica discussed the impacts of industrial scale agro-exports on the environment and showcase initiatives to promote the traditional agro-ecological practices of indigenous peoples.  
  • The Land Back Movement: Indigenous women leaders spoke about how they have used peaceful strategies in the recovery of ancestral lands by occupations and how this has led to a violent and deadly backlash by state police.   
  • Members of the Barruca and Maleku Indigenous peoples discussed how they successfully lobbied their government for access to the Marino Ballena and Caño Negro National Parks for ancestral use.  
  • UN Reporter on Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change spoke about Indigenous Resistance
  • REDD+ Network. Shared Indigenous experiences with forestry management.
  • Community leader spoke about recent struggles in the community of Cipreses, Cartago on the prohibition of agro-chemicals and the fight for clean water.