Nathalia Etayo, M.A. student of Human Scale Development and Ecological Economics at the Universidad Austral de Chile in Valdivia, conducted a field trip to the valley of Putaendo in the region of Valparaíso along with two members of her thesis committee: Christian Henriquez, coordinator of the RLC Valdivia and Right Livelihood Award Laureate Juan Pablo Orrego.

During the fieldtrip, they met with people from the municipality of Putaendo as well as members from social organisations to discuss crucial environmental problems facing the municipality caused by various economic processes.

Moreover, strategies were planned to initiate a thorough investigation and characterisation of the region, applying methods of human scale development and ecological economy.