This roundtable presents and discusses findings from long-term ethnographic research conducted over the past seven years in Colombia and Ecuador, in collaboration with the Indigenous Regional Council of Cauca (CRIC) and the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE). The discussion is grounded in Indigenous epistemologies and the work of Indigenous intellectuals, foregrounding ways of knowing rooted in ancestral philosophies, spirituality, and lived territorial relations.

The Anthropocene has profoundly affected ecosystems and territories in the Pan-Amazonian and Andean regions, with significant impacts on flora and fauna, glaciers, water reserves, and páramos—understood as sacred spaces where water is born and sustained. These environmental transformations deeply affect Indigenous territories and challenge Indigenous cosmovisions and relational understandings of nature.

Climate change, particularly in high mountain areas, accelerates glacier melt, intensifies droughts, disrupts seasonal cycles crucial for food production, and leads to water scarcity. These processes contribute to the displacement of both animals and Indigenous communities, generating profound socio-spatial and cultural transformations that threaten traditions, knowledge systems, and modes of life.

Methodologically, the research draws on ethnographic approaches, including in-depth interviews, participant observation, and documentary analysis. A key focus of the roundtable is how Indigenous epistemologies and spiritual frameworks—particularly the teachings of elders and community knowledge holders—have long warned that a lack of respect for all living beings would lead to catastrophe. Today, these warnings resonate strongly with scientific evidence on climate change, opening space for dialogue between Indigenous knowledge systems and contemporary environmental science.

Speakers

• Vanessa Arteaga Bernal - Independent researcher in indigenous epistemologies Ecuador-Colombia
• Eduardo Erazo Acosta - Independent researcher in indigenous epistemologies Ecuador-Colombia
• Jose Wilman Tumbo Chepe - Indigenous leader and Indigenous council of Cauca Colombia
• Ayda Quilcue -  Indigenous leader and Indigenous council of Cauca Colombia