Carla Narbaiza

Carla’s academic formation began as an Engineer with integral preparation as a manager and researcher of natural resources and the environment, followed by postgraduate study in Geography. This added a territory-based perspective of the study of interconnection between natural environments and human environments.

She has worked for more than five years as University Lecturer, being part of an interdisciplinary team. This increased her capability to hear other points of view and reach common goals, thereby generating and guiding projects, in particular, focusing on complex systems. Also guiding richer discussions inside the classroom on multidisciplinary courses addressing cultural, social, and environmental issues. 

Moreover, she has worked extensively for several years to construct a bridge between science, policy, civil society, and the private sector as a Project Leader of native forests in the Tierra del Fuego region of Argentina. This work has strengthened her knowledge about nature conservation, human well-being, and natural resource management through the implementation of various “integral management plans” for land use in the private sector. This plans takes into account all types of landscapes, as well as including a branch of productive activities, such as agriculture, livestock, silviculture, and tourism. Cultural and social issues formed the background which guided the entire process in contemplation of pre-existing, and post-intervention activities.

Since this experience, she has written some articles, book chapters, and a book. One of the last ones was, ”La Prospectiva de la Patagonia Sur, en retrospectiva. Análisis crítico de una propuesta de Desarrollo Territorial Sostenible", in 2022, and the other one "El lugar del conocimiento. Saberes ancestrales y conocimiento académico", in 2020, whose English version she is now working on in association with Cecilia Escribano.

The interest that always guides her research is how to improve our understanding of land use from an academic perspective. But also, her incessant self-reflection and introspection led her to link other tools associated with the search for inner wisdom through art for example. Knowing if we want to achieve conservation and sustainable development at the same time that we find a new way of living in community with our nature, the shift begins with oneself.

In recent years, Carla has been working as an independent researcher: Spiritual Knowledge from food production as principal aspect to “Buen Vivir” (in English: right livelihood). This research emerged from a fellowship in the University of Osnabrück in Germany in 2016 and the interchange has been continued later with other researchers from the University of Bern in Switzerland. From 2022 Carla has led this project in the New Paradigm Research at the Laszlo Institute. The project is related to food production closer to agroecology and also related to the knowledge that can connect with our inner and ancestral wisdom. 

Following the subjects of this project, Carla started a trip in 2022, around some European countries using Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF), a global community conscious of ecological farming and sustainability practices, learning more about food production, experimenting and interchanging within organic farmers' lives, in England, Ireland, Denmark and Bulgaria. Now she is focusing on starting up the second part of the project, aiming a group of people interested to be part of this journey