🌿📚 A Year of Powerful Knowledge Sharing: Publications and Presentations from Our Amazon Indigenous Wisdom Project (2024–2025) 🌎🔥
We are delighted to celebrate the outstanding contributions of our interdisciplinary and intercultural team across Brazil, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Portugal. From academic conferences and seminars to community events and international research forums, our team — made up of Indigenous leaders, students, researchers, and academics — has powerfully advanced the conversation on Indigenous knowledge, climate justice, and participatory research.
📘 One of our major achievements is the publication of our open-access e-book:
Portella, A., Rocha, E., Krebs, L., Albuquerque, D. S., Mascarenhas, G., Xavier, S. C., Langie, C., Klotzel, T., & Cardoso, S. (2025).
From the Amazon to the World: Confronting Climate Change Together, 1st edition, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh.
📖 Read the book here
Public Engagement, Visualisation and Knowledge Translation on climate change (2025–ongoing): This research has generated wide societal impact through a sustained programme of international exhibitions, public events, digital outputs (Story Map) and a forthcoming climate change documentary film (summer 2026), with particular emphasis on policy-facing engagement linked to COP30. A central highlight was the pre-COP30 public and policy engagement programme held in Brazil on 15 October 2025 (Towards COP30: Voices Echoing for Climate Justice in Brazil, October 2025), which Dr Adriana Portella coordinated and delivered as part of my British Academy–funded research. This event brought together policymakers, government representatives, academics, and the wider public to debate climate justice in advance of COP30. It functioned as a direct interface between research and decision-making to inform public debate and climate change policy discussions at national and international levels. This activity was complemented by an international exhibition of the 3D physical model of the Amazon Rainforest and social Cartography Indigenous drawings about climate change in Brazil (14–18 October 2025 at the Federal University of Pelotas) and in the UK (29 October – 4 November 2025 at HW, GRID Building during the Research in Action Week), as well as public engagement events such as Encounters for Climate and Indigenous Justice in the capital of Brazil, Brasilia, (4–9 August 2025), and The Participatory Workshops and Strategic Engagement with Indigenous Leaders in the Brazilian Amazon (14–19 December 2025). Together these initiatives have translated complex research findings into accessible, policy-relevant and publicly engaged formats. Collectively, they have strengthened dialogue between academia, government and civil society, enhanced public understanding, and contributed to societal and policy debates on climate change, inequality and territorial justice.
Here is a detailed overview of our achievements:
🔍 Publications and Presentations – 2024
Taís Beltrame dos Santos presented “Amazon Indigenous Wisdom: Shaping Climate Solutions in Brazil” at the 26th Postgraduate Research Meeting, as part of the 10th Integrated Week of UFPel (SIIEPE), held in Pelotas, Brazil (25-29 November 2024).
📄 Read the publication
Maria Elisa Gattiboni delivered the presentation “Amazon Indigenous Wisdom and Climate Solutions in Brazil: Work Package 1” at the 33rd Undergraduate Scientific Initiation Congress, also during the SIIEPE – UFPel (25-29 November 2024).
📄 Read the publication
Tifany Cardoso presented “Amazon Indigenous Wisdom: Work Package 2” at the 33rd Undergraduate Scientific Initiation Congress, also during the SIIEPE – UFPel (25-29 November 2024).
📄 Read the publication
Taís Beltrame (our Research Manger) delivered an oral presentation entitled Amazon Indigenous Wisdom: Shaping Climate Solutions in Brazil at the 2nd Gaúcho Workshop on Climate Change, held in Capão do Leão, Brazil (18–19 November 2024).
Dr Adriana. Invited speaker. III International Research Meeting – Persona–Environment Research Group University of A Coruña, Spain | 13 November 2024 (online). Invited speaker at an international research meeting on people–environment relations and interdisciplinary scholarship, presenting the project Amazon Indigenous Wisdom: Shaping Climate Solutions in Brazil.
Dr Adriana Portella. Invited Talk – Research Centre for Urban Studies, RCUS (19 March 2025): Delivered an invited talk to the RCUS Seminar Series at Heriot-Watt University (UK), presenting initial findings from a 30-day immersive field expedition in the Amazon Rainforest (9 February–12 March 2025), conducted as part of the British Academy–funded project Amazon Indigenous Wisdom: Shaping Climate Solutions in Brazil.
Dr Adriana Portella. Invited Talk – CABS and Psychology Research Seminar (30 October 2024): Delivered an invited talk to the CABS and Psychology Research Seminar at Heriot-Watt University (UK) presenting the British Academy–funded project Amazon Indigenous Wisdom: Shaping Climate Solutions in Brazil. The lecture engaged students with Indigenous-led participatory methodologies in climate justice and territorial governance, highlighting how community-based knowledge informs policy debates.
🎓 Publications and Presentations – 2025
📌 Dr Silvia Helena Cardoso gave two academic presentations of the project “Mae Mekea: Amazon Indigenous Wisdom – Shaping Climate Solutions in Brazil”:
- At the Postgraduate Specialisation Course in Environmental Education, UFPel, Brazil.
- In the undergraduate Geography and Social Sciences courses, UFPel, Brazil.
📌 At the 12th PROJETAR Conference (Reexisting in the Contemporary World: Interpret, Conserve and Transform), held in Pelotas, Brazil (14-18 October 2025), our team will do the following presentations:
Pre-COP30 Public Engagement Programme – Climate Justice Outreach (October 2025): Coordinated a week-long public and academic programme (14–18 October 2025) as part of the 12th PROJETAR International Seminar at the Federal University of Pelotas, Brazil. The programme included the screening of the documentary The Falling Sky (18 October 2025), participatory workshops and public debates on climate justice and Indigenous knowledge (15 October), and an international exhibition featuring the large-scale 3D physical model of the Amazon Rainforest (14-18 October 2025). The exhibition also presented Indigenous testimonies on climate change and social cartography drawings produced during a 30-day field expedition in the Amazon, as part of the British Academy–funded project Amazon Indigenous Wisdom: Shaping Climate Solutions in Brazil.
Pre-COP30 Capacity-Building Event – PROJETAR International Seminar in Brazil (October 2025): Coordinator and organiser of the COP30 preparatory meeting (Open Letter for Global Climate Justice) held within the Mitigate axis of the 12th PROJETAR International Seminar (15 October 2025) at the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel). The objective of the meeting was capacity building, strengthening participants’ understanding of climate justice, Indigenous knowledge and climate policy, and supporting informed engagement with global climate governance processes ahead of COP30. I ensured full integration of the preparatory meeting within the seminar’s academic and thematic framework. The event engaged 55 participants, including academics, policymakers, students, city council officers and civil society representatives.
📝 Portella, A; Cardoso, S.H; Xavier, S. C.; Kaxinawá, D. ; and Kaxinawá, M. (2025). Water Scarcity and Food Insecurity in the Brazilian Amazon: The Challenges Faced by Indigenous Communities. In Anais do Seminário Internacional Projetar: Reexistir no mundo contemporâneo – Interpretar, conservar e transformar. UFPel. DOI: 10.29327/9786527219705.1128268
📝 Langie, C. & Klotzel, T. (2025). Listening as a Creative Practice: The Mae Mekea Documentary. In Anais do Seminário Internacional Projetar: Reexistir no mundo contemporâneo – Interpretar, conservar e transformar. UFPel. DOI: 10.29327/9786527219705.1128268
📝 Xavier, S. C., Portella, A. A., Rocha, E., dos Santos, T. B., & de Avila Cardoso, T. (2025). Between Maps and Knowledges: Geographic Information Systems and Indigenous Wisdom in Climate Solutions. In Anais do Seminário Internacional Projetar: Reexistir no mundo contemporâneo – Interpretar, conservar e transformar. UFPel. DOI: 10.29327/9786527219705.1129916
📝 Krebs, L. F., dos Santos, T. B., Rocha, E., da Silva Albuquerque, D., & de Ávila Cardoso, T. (2025). Amazonian Indigenous Knowledge and Climate Crisis: Absences and Possibilities in Brazilian Legislation. In Anais do Seminário Internacional Projetar: Reexistir no mundo contemporâneo – Interpretar, conservar e transformar. UFPel. DOI: 10.29327/9786527219705.1133793
📝 da Silva Albuquerque, D., Mascarenhas, G. P., Portella, A., Beltrame dos Santos, T., & Cardoso, T. D. Á. (2025). Indigenous territorialities and environmental governance in the climate agenda: Dialogues and tensions. In Anais do Seminário Internacional Projetar: Reexistir no mundo contemporâneo – Interpretar, conservar e transformar (1st ed., Vol. 1, pp. 1–13). Federal University of Pelotas. DOI: 10.29327/9786527219705.1136050
Dr Adriana Portella. Invited Speaker. 1st Luso-Brazilian Conference: Law, Justice and Contemporary Challenges | 29–30 May 2025 (in person). Dr Adriana Portella presented “Amazon Indigenous Wisdom – Shaping Climate Solutions in Brazil” at the 1st Luso-Brazilian Congress on Law, Justice, and Contemporary Challenges, held at the Autonomous University of Lisbon, Portugal.
Dr Adriana Portella. Keynote Speaker – InfraLeaders 2025 (Heriot-Watt University, 11 September 2025). Invited keynote presentation to senior policymakers and infrastructure leaders on participatory, humanities-led approaches to climate-resilient governance, featuring the research project Amazon Indigenous Wisdom: Shaping Climate Solutions in Brazil.
Dr Adriana Portella. Keynote Speaker – PROJETAR International Seminar (UFPel, Brazil, 14-18 October 2025). Invited keynote speaker at the 12th PROJETAR International Seminar (Brazil), one of Latin America’s leading conferences in architecture and urbanism. Delivered a plenary lecture on Amazon Indigenous Wisdom, addressing climate justice, participatory methodologies and Global South research leadership, further consolidating international academic recognition (15 October 2025).
Research in Action Week and GRID Exhibition – Heriot-Watt University (2025): In October 2025, Dr Adriana Portella delivered an invited presentation entitled Amazon Indigenous Wisdom at the School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society (EGIS) as part of Research in Action Week (30 October 2025). This presentation highlighted the role of humanities-based and participatory methodologies and Indigenous Knowledge in shaping future climate policy. The activity was accompanied by the curated exhibition Amazonian Social Cartography: Mapping Lives, Territories, and Resistance, held at the GRID Building, Heriot-Watt University (29 October–4 November 2025). Together, these activities constituted a form of public pedagogy and CPD, using visual and narrative methods to communicate climate research beyond traditional academic audiences. They operated as an experiential research communication, visual methods and interdisciplinary climate education.
COP30 Academic Engagement and Public Engagement Activities ( 10-15 November 2025): In November 2025, Dr Adriana Portella, Bimi Yuxibu, Kene Meni Shanenawa, and Silvia Cardoso represented the British Academy (BA) and Heriot-Watt University (HW) as an Observer at the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), in Belem, Brazil. As part of this engagement, we delivered research-informed public presentations across multiple forums, including the Blue Zone (Higher Education for Climate Action Research Pavilion, 15 November 2025), the Green Zone (Architecture and Urban Planning Council of Brazil Pavilion, 12 November 2025), COP of People (11-12 November 2025), and Aldeia COP (an Indigenous-led space, 14 November 2025). These activities functioned as CPD, translating research into accessible formats for policymakers, civil society organisations and Indigenous leaders. This engagement constituted an intensive form of public pedagogy and international capacity building in climate literacy and justice-oriented policy dialogue.
🎓 Publications and Presentations – 2026
📝 Cartografias Tangíveis e Saberes Indígenas: Visualização Espacial e Justiça Climática (Tangible Cartographies and Indigenous Knowledge: Spatial Visualisation and Climate Justice). Xavier, S. C., Felix Dalla Vecchia, L. & Portella, A., 2026. In: PIXO. 10, 36, p. 380-391 11 p.
📝 Clima em Escuta: Metodologias Participativas da Floresta para a Emergência Climática (Listening to the Climate: Participatory Forest Methodologies for the Climate Emergency). Portella, A. & Xavier, S. C. 2026. In: PIXO. 10, 36, p. 100-118 19 p.
Dr Adriana Portella. Keynote Speaker – Climate–Nature–Indigenous Peoples Nexus Symposium (British Academy & University of Leeds, 5 February 2026). Invited keynote contribution to an interdisciplinary international symposium, presenting the Amazon Indigenous Wisdom project with particular emphasis on the co-developed participatory methodologies created in partnership with Indigenous communities in the Amazon Rainforest.
Dr Adriana Portella. Keynote Speaker – Urban Planning Society (Heriot-Watt University, 13 February 2026). Invited keynote presenting the Amazon Indigenous Wisdom project with particular emphasis on the co-developed participatory methodologies created in partnership with Indigenous communities in the Amazon Rainforest.
Forthcoming:
Global Disorder and Indigenous Rights: Water Scarcity and Food Insecurity in the Amazon Rainforest, 2026 (In preparation). Indigenous and Multidisciplinary Perspectives in Urban Management. Springer, (Cities Research Series). Book Chapter.
Listening to the Amazon: Indigenous Knowledge, Climate Governance, and Living Territory, 2026 (In preparation) Routledge. (Annabelle Harris – Senior Editor- Environment and Sustainability). Book.
Territories of Reciprocity: Indigenous Climate Knowledge and the Reimagination of Amazonian Futures, 2026, (In preparation) Innovation and Sustainability in the Global South: Ecological Stewardship beyond Eurocentric Perspectives . Irene, D. B. (ed.). Routledge, (The Routledge Studies in Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the Global South series). Book Chapter.
Mae Mekea. Voices of the Amazon, 2026. (In preparation). Book. Heriot-Watt/UFPel, UK, Brazil.
🪶 These publications and presentations reflect the heart of our project: bridging Indigenous wisdom and scientific knowledge to build fair, inclusive, and effective climate solutions. We are deeply grateful to all team members — students, researchers, Indigenous leaders, and partner institutions — who have made this extraordinary output possible.
🌍 Together, we are reshaping global conversations on climate governance — from the Amazon to the world.