Community-University Partnership in Water Education and Linkage Process. Study Case: Manglaralto, Santa Elena, Ecuador

Abstract

Universities have the mission to serve society by being pragmatic, diverse, and multidisciplinary. Similar to society in general, these centers have a common challenge: finding a way to articulate projects that favor the demands and needs of vulnerable rural sectors. In this case, the community-university partnership is based on the interaction of the Manglaralto population, represented by the Junta Administradora del Agua Potable Regional de Manglaralto and the Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL), both from Ecuador. Specifically, it is based on a collaborative relationship since 2005, through the Centro de Investigación y Proyectos Aplicados a Ciencias de la Tierra (CIPAT) of the ESPOL. This work aims to evaluate the community-university partnership through the results obtained in community work projects. In addition, it describes the resolution of problems reached on the sustainability of water resources in the parish of Manglaralto (Ecuador). The methodology was based on (i) the description of the existing community-university interaction framework, (ii) the analysis of the community projects that CIPAT developed in the period 2017–2020, and finally, (iii) the evaluation of the impact of the actions carried out on the sustainability of the coastal aquifer. The community-university partnership has generated relevant information (e.g., water reserves, extraction processes, aquifer recharge, and care of the resource) for the community and has allowed for the strengthening and transmitting of knowledge in different specialties (education, culture, and environment). In the 2017–2020 period, four community projects were carried out with students, researchers, and the inhabitants of the rural area of Manglaralto. These projects allowed wells for water extraction and engineering structures such as dikes and green filters that help the use and recharge the aquifer. In addition, the initiatives carried out made it possible to inform the population of the importance of the sustainable exploitation of water resources. In general, this work made it possible to identify a natural laboratory of human interaction in which the results obtained are based on the collaboration and contribution of all the participating actors.