IRES Track 1: Nature-Based Solutions Research in Urban Latin America: International Research Experience for Students (NBS-RULA-IRES)

在全球气候变化的背景下，世界各地的城市都在寻找创新的方式来设想和实施基于自然的解决方案，以应对复杂的城市发展挑战。拉美城市为北美学生提供了独特的机会，让他们培养跨越不同社会和政治文化的关键技能，同时向科学家和专业人士学习如何推动更具弹性和可持续发展的城市。这一国际学生研究体验(IRES)项目与Natura(人类世基于自然的城市复原力解决方案)项目合作，支持对15名学生进行跨文化和国际研究方法的培训和发展，以促进对城市地区基于自然的解决方案的益处的科学和文化理解。在为期三年的时间里，该项目每年将汇集五名美国本科生和研究生，花十周时间向主办城市的专业人士和科学家学习如何在瓜亚基尔(厄瓜多尔，2022年)、圣地亚哥(智利，2023年)和埃尔莫西洛(梅西科，2024年)提供符合当地需求的创造性解决方案。此外，学生将参加与东道国教师共同教授的跨学科、双语的在线春季学期课程，以制定他们的研究建议，并在出发前熟悉当地的情况。培养有能力应对气候变化和城市化的新一代学生需要大学传统上没有教授的关键社会能力，如协作技能以及跨越社会不同学科和部门的沟通和导航能力。IRES项目的学生通过与合作研究团队的直接实地体验来培养这些技能，以了解和干预拉丁美洲城市不同文化背景下的城市化和气候变化带来的环境和社会挑战。在拉丁美洲，许多城市面临气候和其他环境威胁，再加上快速的城市化和增长，部署基于自然的解决方案(NBS)提供了一条替代发展道路，有可能满足社会、生态和基础设施需求。尽管国家统计局做出了承诺，但它们并未被广泛纳入学术研究或区域规划议程。我们提出了一项面向学生的国际研究体验(IRES)计划，该计划将与Natura(基于自然的人类世城市复原力解决方案)项目相联系，专注于与拉丁美洲城市的当地从业者和科学家合作，研究、设想和开发应对城市挑战的创新NBS。拟议项目的主要目标是帮助学生学会跨越不同的社会和政治文化，以便他们可能成为人类世有效的变革推动者。该IRES项目每年将有五名本科生和研究生前往瓜亚基尔(厄瓜多尔，2022年)、圣地亚哥(智利，2023年)和埃尔莫西洛(梅西科，2024年)，波哥大(哥伦比亚)和圣何塞(哥斯达黎加)作为候补。作为培训的一部分，美国研究生将参加与东道国教师共同教授的跨学科、双语的在线春季学期课程，这将帮助他们在出发前制定研究建议并熟悉当地情况。主办机构的导师，瓜亚基尔的Escuela高级理工学院(Espol)、圣地亚哥的大学市长(UM)、埃尔莫西洛的索诺拉技术研究所(ItsOn)、波哥大的拉萨尔大学(ULS)和圣何塞的哥斯达黎加大学(UCR)都是或将成为Natura的合作者，并且已经在这些城市领导国家统计局的研究。在这项建议中，我们强调学生的创造力和适合当地的情况；因此，每年潜在的研究主题都会因应特定的需求而变化。研究生将撰写研究计划作为申请的一部分，并在课程中进一步完善；本科生在逗留期间将在研究生或主持研究的背景下开发小项目。作为IRES项目的一部分，所有学生都将体验到关于拉丁美洲城市环境和社会挑战的跨学科合作研究。对美国学生的附带好处将包括文化理解和语言学习，以及可能与他们的论文或荣誉研究相结合并为主办城市的整体知识到行动努力做出贡献的项目，所有这些都将有助于培养一支在全球参与气候科学研究和实践的美国劳动力队伍。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Cities all over the world are looking for innovative ways of envisioning and implementing nature-based solutions to complex urban development challenges in the context of global climate change. Latin American cities offer unique opportunities for North American students to build critical skills for working across diverse social and political cultures while learning from scientists and professionals about ways of advancing more resilient and sustainable cities. In collaboration with the NATURA (NATure-based solutions for Urban Resilience in the Anthropocene) project, this International Research Experience for Students (IRES) project supports the training and development of 15 students in cross-cultural and international research approaches that advance a scientific and cultural understanding of the benefits of nature-based solutions in urban areas. For three years, this program will bring together a cohort of five U.S. undergraduate and graduate students annually to spend ten weeks learning from host city professionals and scientists about creative solutions that respond to local needs in Guayaquil (Ecuador, 2022), Santiago (Chile, 2023), and Hermosillo (México, 2024). Furthermore, students will participate in an interdisciplinary, bilingual, online spring-semester course co-taught with faculty from their host country, to develop their research proposals and become familiar with the local context prior to departure. Training a new generation of students capable of tackling climate change and urbanization requires crucial social competencies not traditionally taught in universities, such as collaboration skills and the ability to communicate and navigate across different disciplines and sectors in society. Students in this IRES project are developing these skills through direct field experience with a collaborative research team to understand and intervene in the environmental and social challenges of urbanization and climate change across diverse cultural contexts in Latin American cities. In Latin America, where many cities face climatic and other environmental threats compounded by rapid urbanization and growth, the deployment of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) offers an alternative development pathway with the potential to satisfy social, ecological, and infrastructural needs. Despite their promise, NBS have not been broadly incorporated into academic research nor into regional planning agendas. We propose an International Research Experience for Students (IRES) program that will be linked to the NATURA (NATure-based solutions for Urban Resilience in the Anthropocene) project, focusing on working with local practitioners and scientists in Latin American cities to study, envision, and develop innovative NBS to urban challenges. The main objective of the proposed program is to help students learn to work across diverse social and political cultures so that they may be effective change agents in the Anthropocene. This IRES program will bring a cohort of five undergraduate and graduate students each year for ten weeks to Guayaquil (Ecuador, 2022), Santiago (Chile, 2023), and Hermosillo (México, 2024), with Bogotá (Colombia) and San José (Costa Rica) as alternates. As part of their training, US graduate students will participate in an interdisciplinary, bilingual, online spring-semester course co-taught with faculty from their host country, which will help them to develop their research proposals and become familiar with the local context prior to departure. Mentors at the host institutions, Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral in Guayaquil (ESPOL), Universidad Mayor in Santiago (UM), Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora in Hermosillo (ITSON), Universidad de LaSalle in Bogotá (ULS), and Universidad de Costa Rica in San José (UCR) are, or will become, collaborators of NATURA and are already leading research on NBS in these cities. In this proposal, we emphasize student creativity and fit with the local context; hence, each year potential research topics will change in response to specific needs. Graduate students will write research proposals as part of their applications and further refine them in the course; undergraduate students will develop small projects within the context of graduate student or host research during their stay. As part of the IRES program, all students will have experience with transdisciplinary, collaborative research on environmental and social challenges in Latin American cities. Ancillary benefits to U.S. students will include cultural understanding and language learning, and projects that potentially integrate with their dissertation or honors research and contribute to the overall knowledge-to-action efforts in the host city, all of which will contribute to the development of a globally engaged U.S. workforce in climate sciences research and practice.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.