Trent Ph.D. Candidate Receives Prestigious IDRC Doctoral Research Award
Marisol Campos-Navarrete's research explores local economic development in Indigenous communities in Mexico
Marisol Campos-Navarrete’s Ph.D. research studying economically self-sustaining enterprises run by local Indigenous women in Mexico recently received a significant funding boost of nearly $20,000, after being awarded a Doctoral Research Award from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).
Ms. Campos-Navarrete is a Ph.D. student in the Indigenous Studies program at Trent University and also received her Master’s degree from Trent in Sustainability Studies in 2017. She is known by her colleagues for boundless energy, enthusiasm and a strong commitment for equality and social justice.
Local traditional knowledges informing economic opportunities
Ms. Campos-Navarrete’s research studies 600 Tseltal peoples who have been working in collaborative groups to develop economically self-sustaining enterprises supervised by local Indigenous women and supported by a local organization, Ixim AC, in the Chilón and Ocosingo communities of Chiapas, Mexico.
Ms. Campos-Navarrete’s goal is to document, analyse, and understand how local traditional knowledges inform the participants’ endeavors to open economic opportunities in their communities. The results will serve to enable accessibility and to mobilize knowledge of best practices and further experiential lessons for other communities in the region to adapt and apply to their own unique needs.
Research aligned with Indigenous cosmovisions
“Marisol’s work is of great importance in acknowledging Indigenous peoples´ knowledges and capacities in fostering economic development,” says Dr. Claudia Magallanes Blanco, a member of Ms. Campos-Navarrete’s research committee. “The research is aligned with Indigenous cosmovisions based on key concepts such as Lekil Kuxlejal (Good Life), Comunalidad (Communality) and Buen Vivir (Good Living). The findings of her research will provide insight into the complex relationship between Indigenous notions of good life and economic development.”
An overarching dimension of Ms. Campos-Navarrete’s research is to emphasize the importance of locally grounded knowledges in informing policies redistributing public resources and forming regulatory frameworks related to the sustainable economic development of South East Mexico.
Knowledge, innovation and solutions to drive sustainable growth
The IDRC’s Doctoral Research Awards invests in knowledge, innovation, and solutions to improve the lives of people in the developing world and has supported close to 2,000 projects in the last ten years in aid of equity, diversity, and prosperity. IDRC’s Technology and Innovation program area, which is the category awarded to Ms. Campos-Navarrete, leverages science and advanced technologies to support knowledge, innovation, and solutions that drive sustainable economic growth and improve people’s lives in the developing world.
"This IDRC Research Award validates Marisol’s ongoing engagement with and commitment to collaborative models, approaches, and perspectives on sustainable development based in her work with Indigenous communities in Mexico,” shared Dr. Asaf Zohar, one of the co-supervisors overseeing Ms. Campos-Navarrete’s research. “It will enable her to continue to make significant contributions to a revitalized understanding of sustainable development as jointly embracing social, cultural, economic, and environmental dimensions of community well-being grounded in the traditions and knowledges of Indigenous communities.”
Although she was met with enormous challenges due to COVID-19, including not being allowed to return from Mexico and currently, not being allowed to enter Mexico for the final portion of her Ph.D., Ms. Campos-Navarrete has been able to pivot research attention to a virtual approach. The IDRC award will cover costs related to finishing her research. Ms. Campos-Navarrete’s enthusiasm and commitment to the Indigenous communities parallels her affection and confidence in her Trent University education and community.
“In getting this award I’m especially thankful for the advice and guidance of my friends and colleagues,” said Ms. Campos-Navarrete. “Getting this award is hardly an individual achievement. I cannot praise enough the amazing work of the Indigenous communities that are participating in my research, as well as the ongoing support from my family, my cohort in the Ph.D. program, and my research committee.”
Congratulations Marisol on behalf of the entire Trent community for this well-deserved honour and important investment in your research!
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