13/03/2009
GEO Amazonia is reference in architecture projects

Students of New York city Columbia University (USA) will use the data and information of the GEO Amazonia report offered yesterday by ACTO as a basis to prepare their final graduation projects. These will focus on the construction of architectural solutions in the Amazon as a way to contribute to the region's development by fostering sustainability and preservation. The idea is to create new ways to inhibit deforestation resulting from haphazard land occupation and to provide basic services such as drinking water to the greatest number of people possible.

Following a visit of the university delegation to the Amazon, ten students and two professors met with the ACTO Environment Coordinator, Luis Oliveros, and Administrative Director, Flávio Sottomayor, for over two hours on March 12th at the headquarters on the Organization in Brasilia, Brazil.

According to the ACTO coordinator, the future architects will be able to offer a great contribution to the environment. “We hope that the GEO Amazonia will be a good reference to help them design new models of urban occupation according to sustainable criteria", he stated. From the Brazilian capital the group traveled to Rio of Janeiro to meet with professionals of the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE).

The meeting with the ACTO officials gave the students a chance to learn about the main causes of deforestation in the Amazon and the problems that affect the ecosystem and population. Mike Jacobs, the architecture professor responsible for the excursion, considered the meeting very informative. “I'm impressed by the amount of information available and by the work developed by ACTO. What we learned here is certain to be of great value for our project", he affirmed. 

The information offered to the students is available in the GEO Amazonia, a study concluded in January by ACTO and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), with technical support of the Peruvian University of the Pacific. The GEO Amazonia is the most complete and extensive study ever conducted on the region. The report not only diagnoses the main problems, but reveals four possible future scenarios for the Amazon and suggests lines of action to be incorporated by governments, institutions and stakeholders.