About

Mission Patagonia

Standing on a wooden path in a meadow, a group of nature guardians look over their shoulders and smile.

Credit: Esteban Tapia Brunet

Mission Patagonia is an outdoor environmental education program in southern Chile, born in 2022 as a collaborative project between Associated Universities Inc. (AUI) and Melimoyu Elemental Reserve (or REM in Spanish). Mission Patagonia’s main goal is to promote the ecosystemic approach through an educational collective experience of people interested in educational and outreach projects. We faithfully believe that inspiring people to ecosystemic belonging will promote a sustainable society in harmony with the planet for future generations.

To achieve this, nature will be our greatest ally. Thus, for over a week, participants will experience different activities at Castro City (part of Chiloe’s archipelago), and at Melimoyu Elemental Reserve (Aysén region). The Reserve is a private protected area of over 16,000 hectares designated to conservation and surrounded by volcanos, glaciers, fjords and patagonic evergreen forests.

During the program, participants will be immersed in hands-on experiences based on an environmental education model developed by the REM team. Some of its elements are:

  • Environmental education goals established in the Tbilisi Declaration, the result of the first International Conference of Environmental Education led by UNESCO and UNEP in 1977. 
  • Experiential Learning Cycle of Kolb are continuous learning experiences based on reflections that are constantly modified by new experiences.
  • Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation, applied in the Effective Conservation Plan of Melimoyu Elemental Reserve, recognizes and applies environmental education as a management tool for effective conservation.
  • Integral Learning Method developed by Caserta Foundation is an educational approach that sees each person as a multidimensional being. It is understood that we bring these different dimensions of ourselves to all we experience and that can be leveraged to propel the educational process itself. 

It is also expected that participants can seize this experience to boost their networking and build new alliances with people who works in similar or complementary educational projects.

Silhouette of a nature guardian standing on a bridge and looking up at a starry sky.

Credit: Paul D. McKay

Credit: Jayden Conner

Reserva Elemental Melimoyu

Melimoyu—which means “four breasts” in the Mapudungun language—is a 16,000 hectare reserve of native forest located in the northern region of Aysén, Chilean Patagonia. This pristine geography, dominated by the Melimoyu volcano and its glaciers, is a conservation land that stands out for its great biodiversity, as it is located in a transitional zone between the temperate rainforest and the subantarctic Patagonian forest, where the mountains meet the ocean, giving way to the southern fjords, one of the few ecosystems of this type existing on the planet.

The place has a wide variety of native and endemic flora and fauna species, such as Arrayanes, Guaitecas Cypress, and majestic Nothofagus forests. The Darwin’s Frog, unique in its kind for the parental care it executes, and birds such as the Chucao and the Kingfisher, among many others. In addition, it is the gateway to the Corcovado Gulf, one of the main and recognized feeding and socializing areas for blue whales and other cetaceans that visit the rich waters of the southeastern Pacific Ocean every year.

The Melimoyu Elemental Reserve is founded and administered by Filantropia Cortes Solari (FCS) a philanthropic non-profit foundation lead by Francisca Cortes Solari, the first latin american woman present in UICN Patrons of Nature, of global environmental leaders. Learn more by visiting the Filantropia Cortes Solari website.

Aerial view of the Melimoyu Elemental Reserve.

Credit: Melimoyu Elemental Reserve

Two scientists, wearing blue lab coats and masks, in a lab. One scientist looks into a microscope at a lab bench. The other scientist walks past the lab bench holding a bottle with a nozzle.

Credit: Melimoyu Elemental Reserve

Associated Universities Inc.

AUI is a global leader in developing and delivering high-quality workforce development, education and training tools and initiatives. From our inception in 1946, AUI has contributed to the development of a scientifically and technically literate society through education and public outreach. AUI’s educational initiatives span a broad spectrum of ages, professions and disciplines, and pedagogical approaches. At the core of all these initiatives, however, is a deep fidelity to the goal of building the workforce of tomorrow through effective, efficient and innovative projects.

Associated Universities recognizes the importance of cultivating excellence, delivering value, enhancing education and engaging the public. The AUI Office of Education and Public Engagement (OEPE) builds on decades of experience across formal and informal education and outreach, and the management of large complex science projects and facilities. Through the OEPE, AUI works to identify and develop initiatives that are innovative and potentially transformative in STEM related education and outreach. Learn more at the AUI website.