Yucatan, México

UADY is a group of professors and researchers that develops participatory action research (PAR) projects. The main participants in these projects are members of the rural communities where we work, as well as students who are knowledgeable about both the problems in rural economies and the management of natural resources.

Quintana Roo, Mexico

The Intercultural Mayan University of Quintana Roo (UIMQRoo) is part of a network of innovative higher education institutions known as intercultural universities that incorporate the traditional knowledge of Mexico’s indigenous peoples into the educational model. Their mission is to contribute to the socioeconomic development of the state of Quintana Roo and the region through the training of professionals (associates, undergraduate, and graduate students) and the development and implementation of innovative knowledge via an intercultural, multi-lingual educational model that has a strong link to different local, state, national, and international sectors. In addition, recognizing and promoting activities that advance the study, development, and strengthening of the Maya language and culture of the Yucatán Peninsula.

Santa Cruz, California

CAN is located at the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS) at UCSC. CAN interacts with UCSC through local internships, international field studies, the student organization, Friends of CAN (FoCAN), and through the sale of Agro-Eco® Coffee at campus dining halls and cafes. CAN co-founder and faculty member (emeritus), Dr. Stephen Gliessman in the Environmental Studies Department worked closely with CAN to develop its original field course offerings. CAN continues to work closely with the UCSC Environmental Studies program to offer local internships and international field studies. The Environmental Studies Internship Director coordinates the academic credit process for undergraduate students.

Santa Clara, California

CAN collaborates with faculty member, Dr. Christopher Bacon, in the Department of Environmental Studies and Sciences, and sells AgroEco® Coffee at the campus library’s Sunstream Cafe. Dr. Bacon serves as the lead researcher on CAN’s Food Security and Sovereignty Project in Las Segovias, Nicaragua. This project aims to decrease seasonal hunger through improved local access to basic foods and cooperative and youth empowerment. He has advised undergraduate and graduate students conducting research with CAN’s partner organizations in Las Segovias.

CAN also has worked with SCU’s Global Fellows Program. Fellows worked with CAN’s partner organization in San Ramon, Nicaragua, the UCA San Ramón Coffee Cooperative to develop and execute a business empowerment seminar program for 20 women within the coffee cooperative.

Seaside, California

Sanjay Lanka, a faculty member of CSUMB Business School collaborated with CAN to design an International Service Learning Course in San Ramón, Nicaragua. This international service learning experience focused on community economic development in Nicaragua. Through this course, students contributed to ongoing CAN projects related to food security and food sovereignty.

Burlington, Vermont

CAN collaborates with faculty member Dr. V. Ernesto Mendez, in the Department of Plant and Soil Science, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Dr. Mendez has led several field courses co-sponsored by CAN and UVM to Tacuba, Ahuachapán, El Salvador , where his research focuses on environmental conservation and rural development in three farmer cooperatives. He has co-organized two of CAN’s International Agroecology Shortcourses, held at UVM–“Participatory Action Research in Agroecology to Support Sustainable Food Systems ” in 2009 and “Agroecological Approaches for Climate Change and Food Systems Resilience” in 2013.