Gestión comunitaria del territorio-agua frente al Cambio Climático en Quilloac-Cañar

Abstract

The objective of this research is to analyze how the inhabitants understand, organize and manage the water-territory of Quilloac, province of Cañar (Ecuador) in the face of climate change and, at the same time, the existing actions and conflicts at the time of managing it. To carry out this research, the approaches of the political ecology of agriculture and community management have been used, highlighting the importance of social cartography as a theoretical-methodological input. From a mixed methodology, the information obtained in the participatory mappings carried out by teachers, students and parents of the Unidad Educativa Intercultural Bilingue Quilloac, was georeferenced in Geographic Information Systems. Likewise, semi-structured interviews and a content analysis were applied, which shows that community actions in the face of climate change have an impact on the educational, social, economic and cultural spheres, based on the strengthening of the local Cañari identity. In addition, the páramo is highlighted as a community area of protection and conservation, since it allows the availability of water sources that generate water for the community. However, there are still economic and socio-cultural patterns that hinder the proposed objectives, generating tensions and even frictions within and between communities.