Campus Villarrica UC begins 2022 with the inauguration of an important open-air museum
Located in the Interdisciplinary Complex for Sustainable Development, Michel Durand Q. (CIDS) of the UC, the Regional Interactive Museum of Agroecology and Sustainability, MIRAS Araucanía, opens its doors to the public. During its white march, the museum became a relevant antecedent in terms of education for sustainable development for schools and colleges in the area.
This initiative, conceived from the UC Center for Local Development (Cedel UC) and financed by the Public Science program of the Ministry of Science, Knowledge and Innovation, summons the entire community of Villarrica and the region of La Araucanía, as it is a initiative that seeks to illustrate the behavior of the hydrographic basin and how the different elements of its biodiversity converse with each other.
"This is a regional milestone," says the director of the museum, Martín Bascopé, a researcher at Cedel UC and an academic at the Villarrica Campus. "It has a component of cultural diversity, local knowledge, citizen commitments and knowledge regarding agroecology and sustainability. that doesn't exist elsewhere."
reflect and discover
During its white march, the museum tested the impact it can have on children and adolescents who attend the tour, the first target audience for which the space was designed.
According to the general coordinator of MIRAS Araucanía, Claudia Ríos, an agricultural engineer also in charge of the El Boldo Agroecological Garden that is part of the tour, the experience makes children compare their knowledge with what the museum can give them. “They come to be shown, and as they go along the journey, they discover what they already know about sustainability,” she explains.
With this, the agronomist refers to the different reflections that can be achieved from everyday life. “There are reflections about medicinal herbs and how they can help us in our daily health; New foods and new ways of eating them are also tried, such as kale leaves and edible flower species, so there is also a reflection on how we can diversify our diet.”
Idk how mfs can learn pre calculus, ap bio, quantum physics, and every other science but can't learn how to behave… https://t.co/NskzdaG1HN
— golden goose Mon Nov 05 00:15:49 +0000 2018
the tour
When we speak of "opening its doors", the term goes beyond the nature of the museum. And it is that of the five stations that it contemplates, only one is indoors in the Leandro Penchulef Museum, a room located in the Monseñor Paul Wevering building on the Villarrica Campus and that addresses one of the MIRAS lines: interculturality. With unique pieces in the country, the space relates the Mapuche culture from different archaeological finds made during the last decades.
The rest of the seasons are an open-air invitation to delve into the ecosystems that coexist in the Villarrica Lake basin. In this way, the tour begins with the recreation of a nalca leaf that describes the movement of waters within a basin. Next, through a footbridge that connects with the CIDS Meeting Square, the museum will invite a station that will represent the five rivers of the basin, a space preceded by a moment of appreciation of the biodiversity of the lake, from the same footbridge that borders the wetland there.
This moment is followed by the appreciation of anamorphic structures that through their complicated forms will describe different species of the lake. Later, children and adolescents will have the opportunity to interact with small wooden signs placed in a way that describes patterns of a Mapuche loom, and through which they will be able to learn more about 58 species of flora and fauna. In addition, each poster has a QR code that invites you to delve deeper with images, videos, sounds, local knowledge data, distribution and conservation status of each species. Then, everyone's favorite is the Sala Sabores y Saberes station, next to the El Boldo Agroecological Garden of the CIDS, a 300-square-meter space on the shores of Lake Villarrica, with six large terraces and a medicinal border that meets the biological corridor function. In this space, those who attend will be able to interact and learn about the plants found there and learn more about their seeds and development. Finally, the tour will lead to a raffle where attendees can commit to specific actions regarding sustainability and care for the environment.
Open to the public
After its inauguration, the Regional Interactive Museum of Agroecology and Sustainability, MIRAS Araucanía, will be open to the entire community that wants to participate in a tour that will illustrate important aspects of our biodiversity and how we can understand our role within it.
"The museum allows it to be a family experience for both adults and children," says Bascopé, "a memorable experience that will surely help to continue engaging more people and citizens with agroecology and sustainability."
To visit it, you can schedule the visit directly on the website www.miras.cl to have a guided tour. Otherwise, you can also go to the Interdisciplinary Complex for Sustainable Development, Michel Durand Q. (CIDS) between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. to enter the museum and discover the Villarrica Lake basin on your own.
More information: www.miras.cl.Instagram: MIRAS Museum/mirasclFacebook: MIRAS/mirasclYoutube: Miras Museum/mirasclAddress: Bernardo O'Higgins 501, Villarrica, Araucanía
