LOCAL COMMUNITY PRACTICES AND ANCIENT KNOWLEDGE AS KEY FACTOR PROMOTING CLIMATE ACTION IN URBAN GOVERNANCE
Journal
Proceedings of International Structural Engineering and Construction
ISSN
2644-108X
Date Issued
2025
Author(s)
Gabriela Luna-Machado
Type
journal-article
Abstract
The effects of climate change are evident at a global level and increasingly recurrent at a local level. Urban areas suffer the effects of the climatic phenomenon and rural areas are increasingly prone to the consequences of a lack of planning in environmental terms, mitigation and adaptation actions. Local development focuses on the priority challenges of the villages, however, the impact of climate change is not yet recognized and addressed as urgent. Local practices are based on ancestral knowledge and provide localized solutions to the various challenges faced by the community, such as floods and landslides. Similarly, these community practices can contribute to local climate action. The research analyzes local actions promoted by community practices and ancestral knowledge in the face of climate change in the context of the agricultural and historical canton called Colta, located in the province of Chimborazo, Ecuador. The study is documentary and field-based with a qualitative approach and is developed through direct observation, documentary review and analysis, and interviews with strategic actors. The results expose the need to link local knowledge and practices to territorial planning through what are locally called “sustainable agricultural production units” to propose initiatives from the local municipality with the help of non-governmental organizations in a multilevel governance model. Recognition of local identity in planning instruments will enable the achievement of a strategic and appropriate plan for the community in the search for collective benefit.