Internships from classrooms to the community

Internal URACCAN scholarships work on the creation of an orchard, through a workshop entitled "Bio-intensive agriculture methods", which is coordinated by the Institute of Natural Resources Environment and Sustainable Development (IREMADES), in conjunction with BlueEnergy.

Teacher Xiomara Treminio, coordinator of IREMADES, stated that "we have managed to coordinate this theoretical-practical training with the students and gardeners of the enclosure, for the elaboration of an orchard with the bio-intensive methodology, which is very simple and adapted to our context in which less space is occupied and can be grown more".

"Our goal is to support the supplementation of the diet of the scholarships and thus ensure food and nutritional safety, because we know that vegetables and fruits are sources of nutrients; young people have integrated into the whole process and we hope to have good results, including the sustainability of the garden."

The Licda. Lisseth Newball, head of Student Welfare, emphasized the importance of integrating young people into this activity that promotes good practices, both food and environmental.

"The 27 young inmates we have are putting a lot of effort into the work, so we want to thank the team that is being part of this process, the BlueEnergy facilitators and the IREMADES," she said.

Improving the structure of the soil and making fertilizer

For his part, the second year student of Agroforestry Engineering, Luis Solano, explained the practical work they are developing is "a double excavated to form the bio-intesive bed, subsequently to facilitate the follicular development of plants, we are learning to bring these practices to our communities".

In addition, Ing. Marvin Solís, extensionist technician of IREMADES, explained about the elaboration of a compost to be used in bio-intensive beds, which improves the structure of soil and fertilizer of plants and crops.

Interinstitutional coordination

In the same sense, the objective of BlueEnergy facilitators seek to strengthen in university learnings and skills, complementary to the skills and knowledge acquired in their study process, as well as to appropriate young people in their training process, to insert professionals with greater skills and knowledge, based on agroecology.

It should be noted that this workshop is part of a package of trainings aimed at community as part of BlueEnergy's agro-ecologically focused food and nutrition security strategy, and as one of the activities carried out in concert with the university to contribute to the development of young Costaeños.