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"How to preserve and pass on the wisdom of our ancestors" was explored at the EPSULA conference in Ecuador with the participation of 4 representatives from the CJV
Four members of the Masaryk University Language Centre (CJV), the main coordinator of the international EPSULA project, took part in the EPSULA Conference held from 17 to 19 June 2025, in the historic city of Cuenca, Ecuador. This significant international event focused on the role of cultural heritage in empowering communities and fostering inclusive development. Held under the motto “Learning from, protecting and supporting cultural diversity,” the conference brought together academics, community leaders, and representatives from international organizations and civil society from across Latin America and Europe.
Academic coordinator Athena Alchazidu from CJV highly emphasizes the nature of the conference and its connection to global topics: "The idea of organizing a conference was taken up by both partner universities from Ecuador, which made the event special and we were able to visit both the Universidad de Azuay and the Polytecnica Salesiana. There were a number of interesting guests there, and it was also great that the conference was hybrid. Here we are talking about a transcontinental conference - an international conference, even within South America or Europe, is always based on some regional preferences. Whereas now people from opposite corners of the world participated. Which makes it unique, because it is a different perspective on certain problems that are universal, globally observed, or interesting in some way. The topic of the conference was "saberes ancestrales", which means wisdom inherited from ancestors and actually how to deal with it, how to preserve it, how to pass it on. Such wisdom has something to tell someone else outside of a narrowly defined regional local framework."
The rich programme included keynote lectures and discussions on diverse aspects of intangible cultural heritage. Among the presentations were sessions such as “Autorreconocimiento del patrimonio inmaterial de los pueblos Shuar y Achuar del Ecuador” by Luz Marina Castillo and Blas Garzón (UPS, Ecuador), or “El papel de las mujeres en la preservación y transmisión de la cultura e idioma Náhuat en Sonsonate, El Salvador” by Noemy Morales (UNICAES, El Salvador). The event featured over 15 sessions covering themes such as indigenous knowledge, the role of women in cultural transmission, language revitalization, and heritage-based tourism. Members of Masaryk University contributed three presentations, sharing insights on cultural diversity, documentation of ancestral knowledge, and international cooperation. "The conference represented an important milestone and an extremely relevant result for our project. For two and half year we have cooperated with partners to develop our Portal, with a collection of videos and a compendium of 12 educational modules. At the conference we had participants from everywhere in Europe and South America, creating the perfect international context where to share our results to generate as much impact as possible. I am extremely thankful we had the possibility to share once again in-person with all our partners and to get to discover such an incredibly rich country like Ecuador, " says Barbara Staffolani, the project coordinator.
The EPSULA Portal is available together with pictures and videos at the project website www.epsula.eu.
