Publications
El Currículo Situado como Herramienta de Transformación: Una Propuesta Metodológica para Articular el Paisaje Cultural Cafetero en la Enseñanza de las Ciencias Sociales en Colombia
Integrating the Coffee Cultural Landscape (CCL) of Colombia into social sciences education significantly enhances students' cultural identity, sense of belonging, and historical awareness. A situated curricular proposal, structured around three thematic axes—'Territory and Sustainability,' 'History, Memory, and Identity,' and 'Globalization, Economy, and Citizenship'—was implemented in ninth-grade public schools in Armenia (Quindío). This approach shifted teaching practices toward problem-based learning and classroom research, demonstrating a positive impact on both pedagogical transformation and student engagement. The study employed a qualitative methodology with semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and participant observation to diagnose current pedagogical practices and heritage references in the territory.
Nature tourism in Quindío (Colombia): towards governance for its development
Nature tourism in Quindío, Colombia, can be effectively developed through participatory and comprehensive governance that integrates environmental sustainability, social cohesion, and structural investment. This study identifies key challenges such as insufficient infrastructure, institutional fragmentation, and low normative appropriation, proposing inter-institutional coordination mechanisms, citizen participation, and multi-actor models to address these barriers. By updating territorial planning instruments and promoting innovation in tourism products, the research suggests a pathway for Quindío to leverage its cultural coffee landscape while strengthening local capabilities through participatory monitoring. The findings highlight the need for alignment with national and international governance frameworks to overcome rural digital divides and political-institutional fragmentation.
Spatiotemporal ecological quality responses to urban expansion in the UNESCO Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia
Urban expansion in Colombia's UNESCO-listed Coffee Cultural Landscape (CCLC) has led to divergent ecological outcomes between core and buffer zones. A study analyzing data from 2014, 2019, and 2024 found that while the core zone experienced an increase in ecological quality—measured by the Remote Sensing Ecological Index (RSEI)—the buffer zone saw a significant decline. This suggests that buffer zones may be more vulnerable to urban pressures despite their protective designation. The research used advanced spatial analysis, including Random Forest for land use mapping and Moran’s I for spatial organization assessment, alongside a novel framework decomposing urban pressure into built-up areas, impervious surfaces, and Production, Living, and Ecological Space (PLES). These findings highlight the need for targeted monitoring and adaptive management in cultural landscapes facing rapid urbanization.
Integration of Gastronomic Periphery into the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia for Territorial Tourism Development
A comprehensive strategy for integrating the gastronomic periphery of Colombia's UNESCO-listed Coffee Cultural Landscape (CCCL) into territorial tourism development has been proposed. This approach aims to enhance tourism in municipalities along the Armenia-Manizales route by leveraging local culinary traditions, craftsmanship, and agriculture, which have been underutilized despite the region's international recognition for coffee production. The study employs a comparative analysis of tourism and territorial development concepts, a detailed inventory of tourist resources, and a unique gastronomic route proposal to assess feasibility. By fostering sustainable growth through culinary tourism, this strategy seeks to deepen appreciation and preservation of local gastronomy while boosting economic activities in the CCCL periphery.
Regional cooperation as local development agendas
Regional cooperation strategies are deeply influenced by the socio-economic and cultural configurations of territories, shaping local development agendas. A case study of the Coffee Cultural Landscape in Colombia and Coopeumo in Chile reveals that such cooperation is not uniform but reflects historical, social, and economic contexts as perceived by inhabitants. These organizations serve as negotiation spaces that mitigate top-down economic policies, fostering locally sensitive development agendas. The findings underscore the importance of recognizing territorial perceptions in designing effective regional cooperation frameworks.
Spatiotemporal Land Use and Land Cover Changes and Their Impact on Landscape Patterns in the Colombian Coffee Cultural Landscape (2014–2034)
Urban expansion and deforestation are significantly altering the Colombian Coffee Cultural Landscape (CCLC), a UNESCO World Heritage site, with urban areas projected to increase from 1.46% in 2014 to 15.64% by 2034, while forest cover is expected to decline by 77.8%. Concurrently, coffee-growing areas may shrink from 77.91% in 2019 to 68.40% by 2034, leading to heightened landscape fragmentation and spatial heterogeneity. The study employed a hybrid Cellular Automata and Artificial Neural Network (CA-ANN) model, validated with multispectral Landsat 8 and Synthetic Aperture Radar (Sentinel-1) data, achieving high accuracy (Kappa coefficient of 0.84). These findings underscore the urgent need for conservation strategies to mitigate anthropogenic pressures on this culturally significant landscape.
Towards participatory governance in the management of cultural heritage ecosystems: The Colombian Coffee Cultural Landscape
Research identifies three distinct visitor and resident segments within Colombia's Coffee Cultural Landscape, each characterized by varying levels of engagement and valuation intensity. These groups' perceptions of government actions significantly influence their participation, underscoring the potential for participatory governance models to enhance sustainability and local economic development in cultural heritage ecosystems. The study innovatively combines latent class modeling with multiple correspondence analysis to classify audience behavior, providing actionable insights for heritage management strategies.
Agroecology and local development in coffee communities of the Colombian Coffee Cultural Landscape
Traditional agroecological systems in Colombia's Coffee Cultural Landscape play a pivotal role in environmental conservation, economic development, and community strengthening. This study reveals that integrating agroecology with cultural identity is crucial for the sustainability of this globally recognized site. Researchers employed interviews, focus groups, and participant observation to analyze sociocultural determinants driving local development in southwestern Colombia. Their findings underscore the importance of collaboration among local actors and public policies that support these practices, offering a blueprint for sustainable coffee cultivation and community resilience.
Planting Futures: Preservation of the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia
The Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia (CCLC), recognized by UNESCO for its outstanding universal value, faces significant threats from climate change, market volatility, and socio-economic pressures. This study focuses on developing a design intervention to mitigate these risks while preserving the unique cultural practices and landscape associated with small-scale coffee production in the Quindio Department. The CCLC embodies the innovative agricultural techniques and social capital of the Antioquian farming community, which has thrived despite challenging conditions using vernacular building materials and low mechanization. By addressing these vulnerabilities, the research aims to safeguard this heritage site for future generations, ensuring the continuity of its cultural significance.
Políticas en favor de Industriales y en Detrimento del Campesinado: Colombia, Risaralda, Santa Rosa de Cabal Durante la Primera Etapa de la Revolución Verde (1970-1990)
Between 1970 and 1990, Colombia's Coffee Cultural Landscape underwent significant transformations due to policies aligned with global coffee market demands. The National Federation of Coffee Growers implemented strategies that led to the replacement of traditional Arabic seeds with genetically modified ones, causing widespread deforestation, loss of biodiversity, and disruption of peasant-ecosystem relationships. These changes included the elimination of shade trees, displacement of birds, and abandonment of hydrographic basins, while farmers served as experimental subjects for new agricultural practices. The study highlights how industrial interests, mediated by institutional policies, reshaped both the landscape and social structures in Risaralda's Santa Rosa de Cabal during the early Green Revolution phase.
Understanding ‘outstanding’: An urban-rural cultural landscape facing tourism development. Case study of Salento, Colombia
Tourism development in Salento, Colombia, has significantly transformed the town's economic and social structure since the early 21st century. This transformation, while boosting tourism, has also introduced challenges such as gentrification and inequality, which can negatively impact quality of life. The study employs a case study approach to analyze these changes, focusing on the interplay between urban-rural cultural landscapes and tourism dynamics. By examining Salento's experience, the research highlights the complexities of balancing tourism growth with sustainable development and social equity in UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Bamboo Construction Inspired by Vernacular Techniques for Reducing Carbon Footprint: A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
A life cycle assessment (LCA) reveals that vernacular bamboo houses in Colombia's UNESCO-listed Coffee Cultural Landscape emit 60% less carbon than conventional clay brick homes, with a footprint of just 107.17 kg CO2-eq/m² compared to 298.44 kg CO2-eq/m² for brick structures. The study highlights the potential of Guadua angustifolia Kunth bamboo, used in adapted traditional techniques like 'cemented bahareque,' to achieve climate-neutral housing while preserving cultural heritage. The research compares a bamboo house (GaKB) with a clay brick house (CBH), demonstrating that vernacular construction methods can significantly reduce embodied carbon emissions without sacrificing resilience or cultural significance.
Coffeescape: análise da produção bibliográfica internacional sobre paisagens culturais do café
A systematic review of international literature on coffee cultural landscapes identifies six key thematic categories—planning, patrimonialization, culture, tourism, industrial heritage, and biodiversity—while revealing a strong focus on qualitative, ethnographic methodologies rooted in Humanist-Cultural Geography. The study, which analyzed 41 publications predominantly linked to Colombia, highlights the interdisciplinary potential of research on coffee landscapes, emphasizing their geographic complexity. Most studies adopt phenomenological and complexity approaches, combining bibliographic analysis with field immersion, observation, and semi-structured interviews. This work underscores the need for future research to explore the patrimonialization of agrifood cultural landscapes globally.
Cultural landscapes in Latin America and the Caribbean
The Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia (CCLC) is recognized as a 'relict or fossil landscape' within the UNESCO World Heritage system, symbolizing the enduring memory of slavery in the Americas. This study highlights the CCLC's unique challenges and opportunities for conservation, focusing on four key areas: education to enhance competitiveness and entrepreneurship aligned with CCLC values; promotion of tourism and community-based initiatives; financing for environmental sustainability; and public policy development for housing construction and conservation using traditional techniques. The research underscores the importance of integrating cultural, economic, and environmental strategies to safeguard this significant landscape, offering a model for similar sites in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The complex socio-ecological landscape in Latin America: Transdisciplinary knowledge production to address diversity
A novel analytical category, the 'complex socio-ecological landscape,' has been developed to study adaptive behaviors in cultural landscapes. This concept was applied to Colombia's Coffee Cultural Landscape (UNESCO World Heritage Site), revealing its dynamic interactions and resilience. The study also highlights how participatory transdisciplinary knowledge production in the Cañamomo-Lomaprieta indigenous reservation has strengthened ancestral governance, mitigating vulnerabilities from small-scale gold mining. These findings offer a model for addressing extractive pressures in similar Latin American landscapes.
Classification and sensitivity of taxonomic and functional diversity indices of anurans in the Andean coffee cultural landscape
A study reveals that the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia supports higher functional diversity of anurans (frogs and toads) in areas with greater anthropogenic intervention, such as those surrounding houses. This suggests that landscape mosaics—including both natural and human-modified habitats—can play a crucial role in conserving diverse functional traits among anuran species. The research found that Rao's quadratic entropy, functional dispersion, and average functional diversity were the most sensitive metrics to land-use changes, indicating that these indices are particularly effective for monitoring the impacts of landscape transformation on biodiversity. While taxonomic diversity did not vary significantly with seasonal climate changes, larger-bodied species showed a preference for anthropogenic landscapes. These findings underscore the importance of integrating functional trait measurements into conservation strategies to better understand and mitigate the effects of land-use change on anuran assemblages.
Nature’s Contributions to People Shape Sense of Place in the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia
Farmers' nonmaterial experiences, such as peace, inspiration, and family cohesion, are the most significant drivers of their emotional attachment to Colombia's Coffee Cultural Landscape (CCLC), countering urban migration trends. A study in Pereira revealed that these intangible benefits—rootedness, tranquility, and supportive identities—outweigh tangible factors like agricultural practices or proximity to cities. Using mixed qualitative methods, including interviews and observations, researchers found that inclusive stakeholder engagement is crucial for preserving this sense of place amid rapid urbanization. The findings underscore the need for transparent, equitable mechanisms to empower local communities in safeguarding the CCLC's cultural and ecological heritage.
Coffee and Potato Agroecosystems: Social Construction of Spaces as a Concept to Analyse Nature's Contributions to People
A triad of social spaces—lived, perceived, and conceived—provides a framework to analyze nature's contributions to people (NCP) in Colombia's coffee and potato agroecosystems. Lived spaces capture intangible values tied to local traditions, while perceived spaces highlight material NCP and regulating services, emphasizing their future maintenance. Conceived spaces focus on biophysical values, integrating diverse spatial views for territorial planning. This approach enhances decision-making by recognizing the relational dimensions of NCP, supporting inclusive governance and land-use management at local scales.
Land cover changes in coffee cultural landscapes of Pereira (Colombia) between 1997 and 2014
Between 1997 and 2014, coffee crops in Pereira, Colombia—a UNESCO-listed cultural landscape—shrunk at a rate of -3.97% annually, largely due to political-economic shifts like the dissolution of key coffee agreements. Meanwhile, urban areas expanded by +4.14%, reflecting broader transformations in agricultural practices and land use. The study used Landsat satellite imagery (1997 and 2014) alongside GIS tools to track these changes, revealing how sociocultural factors, such as smallholder adaptations, contributed to the decline of coffee cultivation while increasing landscape heterogeneity.
The cultural landscape of coffee in Tolima, Colombia: heritage assessment, sustainability and management
A new management framework for the Tolima Coffee Cultural Landscape (CCLT) in Colombia has been proposed, offering a model that empowers local communities while ensuring heritage protection and sustainability. The study leverages an ethnohistorical approach to highlight the deep sociocultural ties between nature and culture, challenging conventional UNESCO frameworks with a context-specific Latin American perspective. By integrating qualitative and quantitative assessments, this work bridges academic research and policy, providing tools for governance that support economic resilience and cultural preservation. This approach sets a precedent for regional policies aimed at safeguarding intangible heritage while fostering sustainable livelihoods.
The Potential Role of Ecoacoustics in the Study of the Coffee Natural Landscape of Colombia
Ecoacoustics emerges as a promising tool to deepen our understanding of the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia (CCLC), a UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 2011. This study highlights the potential of ecoacoustic methods, such as non-negative matrix factorization and acoustic indices, to bridge the gap between visible and audible features of this landscape. By analyzing anthropophonic, geophonic, and biophonic sound sources, researchers can enrich the study of the CCLC, offering new insights into its biodiversity and ecological dynamics. The research outlines both short- and long-term directions for future work, aiming to integrate ecoacoustic approaches into conservation and sustainable development strategies.
Valores del paisaje en la vida cotidiano de los cafeteros, referentes para la gestión sustentable del patrimonio territorial en el Quindío, Colombia
Coffee growers' daily interactions with their landscape hold significant implications for the sustainable management of Colombia's UNESCO-listed Coffee Cultural Landscape. This study reveals that beyond historical influence, coffee growers actively shape and redefine their cultural heritage through everyday practices rooted in socio-cultural and spatial traditions. Using a phenomenological-interpretative approach, researchers identified key values and meanings assigned to farms by growers, which guide processes of appropriation, valuation, and vindication of rural heritage. These findings provide actionable insights for heritage conservation strategies, emphasizing the importance of local perspectives in sustainable landscape management.
Accessibility as a Coverage Benefit Analysis Tool That an Airport Can Provide to a Region. Case Study: Colombian Coffee Cultural Landscape
A new airport in Colombia's UNESCO-listed Coffee Cultural Landscape (CCL) offers significant accessibility benefits, reducing travel time by 16% and increasing access to tourist points by 1%. This study introduces a methodology combining geographic location analysis with geostatistical methods to quantify the coverage advantages of airports in heritage regions. By modeling population and tourist equipment reach, researchers demonstrate how infrastructure like Coffee Airport in Palestina, Caldas, can serve as a catalyst for economic development while preserving cultural heritage. The findings underscore the potential of accessibility metrics to guide sustainable regional planning.
Conceptualizing sub-national regional cooperation
Regional cooperation is best understood through a geographical lens, where the region itself plays an active role beyond just being a container for agreements. The Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia exemplifies this with its bottom-up process that led to a regional trademark, showcasing how diverse local actors and socio-economic conditions shape cooperation. This case highlights the limitations of rigid jurisdictional boundaries and preexisting categories like inter-municipal cooperation or metropolitan areas. The study, based on 19 semi-structured interviews, emphasizes the need for flexible, context-dependent approaches to regional cooperation.
Conditions of Territorial Accessibility Offered by the Network of Sustainable Tourism Routes That Are Part of the Coffee Cultural Landscape - Colombia
Research on the Coffee Cultural Landscape (CCL) of Colombia reveals that there is no direct relationship between sociodemographic and socioeconomic variables and tourism's contribution to the region's GDP. The study assessed territorial accessibility using models based on isochronous curves, which analyze travel time to determine population coverage along sustainable tourism routes within the CCL. Despite the importance of infrastructure in enhancing tourist potential, the findings highlight that tourism plays a minimal role in the economic output of this UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Cultural landscape memory artifacts visibilization, a codesign strategy
A participatory design approach successfully engaged senior citizens from Colombia's coffee cultural landscape to create memory artifacts that visualize their experiences as victims of armed conflict, empowering them to assert their rights and claim recognition for the site's UNESCO World Heritage status. This collaborative strategy leveraged local knowledge and storytelling to bridge the gap between community narratives and international heritage designation, offering a model for inclusive cultural preservation in conflict-affected regions.
Consumption of coffee in the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia (CCLC): the "bad consumer" and the rise of specialty coffee
In the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia (CCLC), local coffee consumption patterns are shifting from traditional, often 'bad' consumer behaviors to a growing preference for specialty coffee. This study, based on three months of anthropological fieldwork in the Eje Cafetero region, reveals how structural changes within the coffee chain—such as the rise of cafés especiales—are influencing these trends. The research highlights both the benefits and limitations of specialty coffee development, offering a nuanced analysis of consumption strategies in a patrimonial context.
From ‘Sustaining heritage’ to ‘Heritage sustaining broader societal wellbeing and benefits’
The Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia (CCLC) exemplifies how heritage can sustain broader societal wellbeing and benefits, moving beyond traditional conservation models. This study highlights the site's exceptional status as a living, productive agricultural landscape with robust legal protections, including land use management and denomination of origin instruments. The Management Plan is structured around values that contribute to Outstanding Universal Value, addressing sustainability challenges through a cultural landscape model. Risk-related changes in agricultural land use are mitigated by integrating conservation agriculture into national food security policies, such as CONPES. This approach demonstrates the potential for heritage sites to drive societal benefits while ensuring long-term sustainability.
Sustainable development and nature-culture linkages in the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia
The Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia (CCLC) exemplifies sustainable agricultural practices and the intricate linkages between nature and culture. This landscape, recognized for its centennial tradition of small-scale coffee production at challenging mountain altitudes, showcases collective work ethics and associative management passed down through generations. These practices have not only ensured continuous land use but also fostered innovative natural resource management strategies, adapting to difficult geographic conditions. The study highlights the resilience and adaptability of this cultural landscape, serving as a model for sustainable development in similar regions.
Modelo de Diseño para la valoración y apropiación social del Patrimonio en El Paisaje Cultural Cafetero Colombiano
A dynamic and eco-efficient design model can significantly enhance the social appropriation of UNESCO-listed heritage sites, fostering economic, social, and environmental sustainability. This study focuses on Colombia's Coffee Cultural Landscape, recognized for its cultural significance. By integrating community participation and effective communication strategies, the proposed model facilitates a deeper connection between inhabitants and visitors with the site's fundamental components, ensuring long-term conservation of its cultural identity and biodiversity. The research employs a holistic approach, combining spatial and temporal dimensions to promote responsible and participative attitudes among stakeholders, thereby safeguarding the landscape's heritage value.
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