The international team involved in this network will examine aspects of linguistic and cultural hybridity in different indigenous communities of the Americas that engage with today's global languages: French, Spanish, English and Portuguese. The aim is to bring together experts on indigenous literatures, translation theory, historians, educational specialists, indigenous educators, writers and community leaders to 1) develop a cross-linguistic and cross-cultural understanding of the relationship between indigenous literatures and these global hegemonic languages and 2) devise pedagogical strategies to employ this literature in order to combat the erosion of indigenous cultures and knowledges. Through a series of symposiums and workshops the network will produce practical and flexible teaching methodologies that will help shape the teaching curriculums of indiegnous schools in Colombia, the United States, Mexico, Canada, and Brazil. In the long-term we aim to influence local and national educational policies in these countries. While studies abound on the hybrid character of indigenous literatures written in the dominant languages of the Americas, very little has been done how these types of texts can inform educational contexts and strategies. We aim to fill this gap by combining the theories of postcolonial translation and translanguaging with the educational approaches of creativities theory and critical pedagogy and the expert knowledge of indigenous teachers. According to postcolonial theory the act of translating texts from a subaltern language to that of the dominant culture usually results in the production of an 'other'. By bringing together historical experts on indigenous societies, indigenous literatures and translation theory in a two-day colloquium, we will identify the ways in which the power relations between indigenous peoples and the discourses of colonialism and modernity continue to influence such 'self' translations into 'accepted' and 'expected' representations of indigenous cultures. On the other hand, the theory of translanguaging has challenged this standpoint by proposing that linguistic, symbolic and philosophical aspects can be transferred from one language to another. The team will also examine, therefore, the possibility that indigenous writers are able to decolonise the four major languages by translating through the ideological and linguistic barriers in order to articulate codes and symbols that express meanings that stem from the respective indigenous cultures. The network will then explore how these new perspectives on indigenous literatures of the Americas can contribute to the field of indigenous education studies and indigenous schools. In a conference panel in the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association in North America we will share the knowledge accrued in the colloquium with educational studies experts, indigenous leaders and indigenous educators. The aim is to debate the ways in which this type of literature can be used in educational contexts, focusing on its potential to 1) educate students on the discursive positions imposed on indigenous communities and, therefore, enable them politically, and 2) educate indigenous students at risk of becoming culturally disenfranchised from their traditions and knowledges. The panel will promote an exchange of ideas between the knowledge of indigenous educators and academic experts of critical pedagogy and creativities theory. The outcomes of this collaboration will be employed in educational workshops in indigenous schools in La Guajira, Colombia. A report informed by this experience will also be prepared for schools in the other countries mentioned above. It will also be disseminated via an interactive multilinguistic website for researchers and indigenous teachers and students, and a multi-authored book that will provide a holistic vision of the benefits and risks of employing literature in educational contexts.

Our inter-disciplinary project addresses the first challenge of the Colombian Bio Resources call by examining: (1) the socio-ecological system of páramo habitat in Boyacá and Cundinamarca; (2) the value of biodiversity in this system to local communities and wider society; and (3) the response of páramo ecosystems to environmental change and anthropogenic pressures including social and political change. Through investigating the current and potential value of biodiversity and ecosystem services provided by páramos, both in monetary and non-monetary terms, the project will promote the economy of páramos in the Departments of Boyacá and Cundinamarca, thereby contributing to economic development and social welfare in Colombia. We will integrate ecosystem-based and historical conceptions of human-nature interactions to reveal how socio-economic, political and cultural changes have interacted with environmental pressures in shaping páramo ecosystems over time, and use this new understanding to inform future sustainable and equitable governance options. In this way we will address the programme's challenge of "functioning and resilience of socio-economic systems" by bringing together researchers from natural sciences and humanities. The history of high-elevation páramo habitat is fundamental in understanding the pressures this ecosystem now faces. For the Muisca people and for many páramo inhabitants today, páramos are sacred places from where the gods came that controlled water and the origin and maintenance of life. To European colonists, páramos were seen as the source of abundant mineral riches based around the legend of El Dorado. More recently, the critical importance of páramos in providing fresh water to the growing urban populations of Colombia and supporting unique biodiversity have come to the fore, along with the recognition that the system faces significant challenges from climate change and land-use pressures. These competing pressures are placing increasingly diverse demands on the system, and, despite a number of initiatives both nationally and internationally, tensions over the management and governance of the system persist. The páramo socio-ecological system is therefore ideal for addressing the challenges of the Colombia Bio Resources programme. Our project will show how an integrated environmental-historical understanding of páramo ecosystem patterns, processes and pressures can provide insights to new governance solutions. We will take a 500-year historical perspective to analyse changes in the socio-ecological system of páramos over time, focusing on the central role of human-nature interactions and how these have changed in response to differing social, political and cultural contexts. We will quantify how páramo habitat has changed, from decades to centuries. We will consider how these changes have impacted on ecosystem dynamics, and predict what further changes are likely to occur in the future under climate and other drivers of change. We will explore how human-nature relationships in páramo landscapes have changed and compare the perspectives of local communities with other private and state actors. We will identify the potential for páramo communities to obtain monetary values from páramos and the ecosystem services they provide, examining the synergies and trade-offs between different ecosystem services. Our research will provide a unique historical context for the development of future governance options, including new partnerships between different stakeholders underpinned by greater social and cultural understanding. The project will deliver recommendations for mechanisms to promote more sustainable and equitable futures for páramo landscapes, in the context of key political and social challenges such as post-conflict displacement, illegal mining, changing climate and increasing water demand from urbanization.