EDUCATIONAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF A WATERSHED. MANGLARALTO, SANTA ELENA-ECUADOR

At the north of the province of Santa Elena, Ecuador, is the Manglaralto parish, which geographically is in a watershed that naturally provides the water resource for the development of this area. ESPOL University, through a research project and another one related to the community by establishing guidelines for an education plan that are articulated in academic formats and adapted to the needs of the community, starting by raising awareness and finding strategies and solutions for their progress. The aim of this paper is to present the diverse actions and strategies that originated and executed in the basin through an education plan that articulates research and social projects to analyze guidelines of water management in the basin.

The study methodology is based:
i) The description of the situation of Manglaralto,
ii) The education plan according to research and social projects and their evolution over time,
iii) The results of actions carried out in the education plan with a view to sustainability of the basin, were carried out through various events, graduation projects and community workshops and
iv) The present situation, learning and educational interaction related to the works and solutions to their problems and future challenges.

It is reflected that the strategies born from the educational plan have achieved participation from community water board, with college and school students, coordinated by university students, that have influenced on important environmental considerations that push towards sustainable development. The education plan and the interaction of research and social projects from the academy, become dynamic agents of development.