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- The Las Piedras River welcomed 2017’s Innovadores (Future Leaders program participants) with calm blue skies despite being peak rainy season!
- Future Leaders got to know one another during the ride to Las Piedras Amazon Center (LPAC).
- Summit 4 welcomed Varun Swamy, PhD as guest lecturer on tropical ecology. He has spent a significant amount of time doing research in Madre de Dios.
- Thanks to Varun, our Future Leaders learned about the global value of the Amazon’s biodiversity.
- These stick insects are just one example of the incredible wildlife encountered by the Future Leaders. Thanks to Ana Amable for this photo!
- This beautiful forest fungus was another odd yet wonderful natural feature that the Innovadores discovered. Such wonders to be explored in the Amazon!
- LPAC offered the Innovadores up-close-and-personal experiences with the Amazon rainforest!
- Future Leaders bonding with each other and with their “classroom!”
- Nature is not without its troubles! Luckily, Eber was there to help Katerym cross the creek.
- Team building exercises provided opportunities for Innovadores to problem solve and share some laughs.
- The Future Leaders instructors Jason, Liz, Varun, and their colorful mascot take a break in the outdoor “cafeteria.”
- Jason teaches about sustainability and how to achieve sustainable development throughout the Future Leaders Summit
- The Innovadores listening attentively during one of the Future Leaders sessions.
- The Future Leaders program champions collaboration and learning with local stakeholders – such as these panel speakers living and working in the Las Piedras watershed.
- For the 2017 business case challenge, Future Leaders participants generated entrepreneurial ideas that advanced the mission of ARCAmazon: Advancing sustainable development and conservation in the Las Piedras watershed.
- The Innovadores continued their group work during a few late nights.
- The winning team presented a strategic marketing plan that would promote ecotourism at LPAC to urban areas of Madre de Dios.
- Thank you to our Future Leaders teaching team pictured here: Jason, Liz and Varun for providing the Innovadores the wildest Future Leaders Summit yet!
- The 2017 Future Leaders program in the Las Piedras resulted in an incredible bonding experience for our participants – between each other, the surrounding Las Piedras community and the environment they want to protect.