World Bound Educators: Ecuador

A professional development adventure for sustainability advocates and climate leaders

DETAILS
Date: July 5 – 15, 2024
Group Composition: Minimum of 8 to run; maximum of 25
Facilitator: Liam Barnes
Locations: Quito (Ecuadorian capital), Otavalo (largest Indigenous settlement in Ecuador), Cuicocha (lagoon), Cochasqui (archaeological site), Cayambe (volcano),Tena and Napa River regions.

PRICE (USD)
$2399.00 + GST (register a friend to get $150 off per friend!)
Deposit: $500.00 + tax
Visit our Grant and Funding Support page for ideas about how to offset the cost of this course.

Includes: Course instruction, accommodation, land transportation shuttle to amazon and highlands, most meals, white water rafting, hiking and admissions, World Bound Professional Development Certificate of Completion
Does not Include: Flight to Ecuador, hotel stays in Quito and anything not mentioned above

More info: office@firesideadventures.ca

Escape the distractions of daily life and join us for a once-in-a-lifetime adventure

This past summer, our experiences with World Bound Ecuador blew us away. It’s hard to describe the incredible scale of Ecuador’s diversity, from its biosphere, to its arts and cuisine, to the way Ecuador integrates Indigenous perspectives into its efforts to combat climate change. To us, Ecuador provides the perfect setting for a fun, challenging, and profoundly educational professional development adventure!

On this course, educators will encounter the dazzling history and culture of Quito, raft into the Amazon to see the damage of illegal gold-mining and reforestation efforts, meet the incomparable women of Sinchi Warmi, and participate in a Quechua homestay to learn their perspectives on climate change and how their traditions allow them to live light on the land.

Learn to take climate action
On this course, we’ll meet with people who are taking concrete action to stop the advance of climate change through reforestation, fighting illegal gold mining, supporting biodiversity through conservation, and much more. Participants will learn more than just theory, they’ll return home with the praxis of leaders prepared to take action in the fight against climate change. These skills include organizing activism, sustainable agriculture, and circular economy.

Ecuador-focussed climate change curriculum workshops and workbook
As with all our professional development adventures, we provide workshops (totalling 10 hours) and education materials (K-12) relating to climate change education. Education materials for this experience will be Ecuador-focussed, to teach kids about one of the world’s great biodiversity hotspots, home to the Galapagos, the Andes, and the World’s Lungs: the Amazon. Of course, both our expedition and curriculum are intended to be more broadly transferable to climate change education being taught in the classroom. 

Connect with our World Bound Ecuador youths

We have timed this course to provide a point of overlap with our World Bound youths, so that both groups can experience a collaborative workshop on climate change education. Both youths and educators will sit together, surrounded by the Amazon rainforest, while sharing their hopes, fears, and ideas for action with one another.

Learn from International and Indigenous Knowledge Keepers
Climate change is an international crisis brought on by industrialization. The more we can create an international network of activist educators, who are willing to learn the wisdom of cultures who are deeply connected to the natural world, the more hope there is. Participants will consult with Indigenous knowledge keepers from the Amazon to the Andes, learn from the sustainable entrepreneurship women of Sinchi Warmi, and engage with people trying to balance Ecuador’s need for stability and dependence on exports like chocolate and roses.

Ecuador: The world’s most diverse and beautiful classroom

Ecuador has one of the best outdoor and diversified classrooms on the planet. This small country boasts an enriched and diversified culture, biosphere, history, people, and perspectives on climate change education. A gateway to the Amazon, the Andes, and the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador is one of the world’s best kept secrets. On top of this, the impacts of a changing climate and geopolitical pressures make it an incredible ground zero to expand our understanding of international climate change education. 

Another reason we love Ecuador is the friends that we’ve made there. Our partner, Equator Face, is a fully Indigenous owned and operated professional travel company who we trust and proudly work alongside. The Quechua homestay experience is a deeply powerful learning experience because of the warmth and generosity the community and the host families provide to us as visitors. Huasquila Eco-Lodge – our home in the Amazon – is a family-run, sustainable eco-lodge with the depth of knowledge, experience, and resources needed to help educators understand the importance of their roles in the climate change education movement. 

Like all of our experiences, we’ll cater to your group’s collective and individual outdoor experiences and interests while handling all the gear, food, and logistics… sweet and simple! We highly recommend extending your adventure travel by visiting more of Ecuador including the Galapagos Islands, the Cotopaxi and Cuenca volcanoes, or go deeper into the Amazon to places like Cuyabeno National Park to observe pink dolphins, sloths, and even anacondas.

Please reach out to office@firesideadventure.ca to learn, book your group or join a group. Your adventure starts with giving yourself permission to have a larger than life experience.

Highlights of the Adventure Ahead:

• Expand your knowledge of Ecuador’s culture and experience it as a curious and respectful visitor – not a tourist. Enjoy the music of Quito, the taste of roast guinea pig (and so many other amazing foods you’ll never find at home), and the feel of weaving baskets with your own hands.

• Challenge your mind and body as we paddle the Amazon River, hike the Andean highlands, and participate in sustainable agricultural work.

• Visit the women of Sinchi Warmi who are carving out a place for themselves from Ecuador’s culture of machismo that emphasizes collaboration, reciprocity, and sustainability.

• Participate in a unique, two-day homestay with the indigenous Quechua families in the Andean highlands. Learn their language, handicrafts, cuisine, and perspective on the world we share. 

• Explore the endless waterways, biodiverse jungles, and hidden caves of the Amazon rainforest while learning about the damage and the healing being done in this region, connected to climate change and our industrialized, global economy.

Funding Support for Educators

Fireside Adventures views this experience as essential professional development for empowering educators in their role as conscientious climate leaders.  As such, we are committed to assisting educators with whatever they need to access available professional development funding to offset the cost. Visit our Grant and Funding Support page for ideas about how to offset the cost of this course, or contact us with any questions or support needs.