Lilly Briggs, Finca Cántaros Environmental Association

Interview with Lilly Briggs, Director, Finca Cántaros Environmental Association, Costa Rica.

0:00 Intro
7:10 Women Committed to the Earth
10:15 Mural project
15:18 Night walks
18:01 Nature’s healing power
21:14 San Vito town
22:40 The Children’s Forest of Coto Brus
25:55 Volunteers and restoration
29:22 Interview with David
30:35 Costa Rica
38:13 Academic lens
41:24 Sense of place
42:27 Cornell Lab of Ornithology
42:57 Curriculum adaptation
44:30 Students’ interest
46:53 Local people’s response
48:48 Significant life experiences
51:40 Learning from staff and participants
52:57 Describe yourself
56:08 Commitment to this cause
58:22 Suggestion for other organizations
59:50 Far future
1:00:28 Book recommendations
1:02:09 Your legacy
1:03:15 Outro

Interviewer, production: Alex Kudryavtsev, Cornell University

This video is created as a case study for the Cornell University Civic Ecology Lab's "Environmental Education and Community Engagement" course, originally funded by the U.S. EPA. Anyone is welcome to use this video, including for professional development of pre-service and in-service teachers, environmental educators, and community leaders.

Finca Cántaros Environmental Association is grateful to all the staff and team members who provided footage and photographs for this video, which are used with the permission of FCEA, including Randall Jiménez, David Rodríguez, and Jenn Lee.

#environmentaleducation #citizenscience #birds #fincacantaros #costarica #forestrestoration #treeplanting

[SooanKim-mq]

Hi Lilly, this is Sooan from Korea. Finca Cántaros Environmental Association is truly a beacon of hope for our planet. Succeeding in transforming cattle pastures into forests through community-driven projects is very inspiring for aspiring climate activists like myself. It's motivating to see how environmental education can make such a profound impact. I thought it was very effective to help the community members to build a personal connection with the forest so that they would feel more protective about it. You also opened up a new perspective for me to appreciate the wild animals’ roles in the ecosystem instead of being scared of them. Thank you for sharing this uplifting and motivational story.

[JHcornell-ij]

Hi Lilly, this is Jiyu from Korea. I find it suprising on how fast the Finca Cántaros region was able to change so fast. Its hard to find an example of such cases that were able to change nearly 360 degrees from being a cattle pasture with nothing but open fields to a giant forest in less than a decade.

I found your work and contribution to this very inspiring and realized that I had done soemthing similliar. I had actually personally went and planted trees in indonesia much like how you planted the trees in the Finca Cántaros region as well.

[EllaKim-js]

Hi Lilly! My name is Ella and I am a rising senior in high school. Your work with Finca Cántaros is remarkable and reflects the actions of an exemplary sustainability leader. You enhance local stewardship and biodiversity conservation by engaging the Costa Rica community in opportunities for hands-on projects like composting and forest restoration. Furthermore, as a girl who is pursuing her interests in sustainability leadership, I am deeply moved by your efforts to empower women and change the narrative of gender norms in the sustainability industry. You are adaptive, you find personal ways to connect others with your work, and you listen to the needs and wants of your community—a few of the many qualities necessary for successful sustainability leadership. I hope to inspire others through environmental education, just as your work with Finca Cántaros has inspired me.

[favourchimaobianele]

This is so beautiful. Lilly I want thank you for all you do, you are a role model. Your programs towards community engagement are educating, and has helped women of all ages to find fulfilment and understanding about their community and the environment. They now understand the need of the systems and how to care for its, thats amazing! I am Favour from Nigeria. thank you Finca Cantaros Environmental Association.

[JingtongSun]

I'm Jingtong from China.
I appreciate her spirit of contributing to communities in the world instead of just focusing on her own community. She adapted and tested a children curriculum from North America in Latin America for the first time about teaching people ornithology knowledge, and it is a brave practice because she needed to start from nothing. She also always continue to contribute to this world because she still organized her curriculum activities during her PhD. I think she is also a responsible leader with sincere care for communities because she agreed women from all ages participate in her education program after she heard of the need from the community. Her program is both innovative and sustainable because she also involved restoration and agricology on site, which provides a paradigm for creating sustainable farm.

[stevengreenleaf]

Pura Vida! I am enjoying hearing your story. We are on a similar path in some ways as we build our location and develop our efforts. I would love your advice on funding. So far I have done everything out of my own pocket, but I want to ensure that we will be sustainable long after I'm gone. Thanks.

[AlexandraRoss-mj]

Hi Lilly! I'm Allie from New York. I really admire the Women Committed to the Earth project because it enables women to have a say and an education in their environment. By including all ages of women in the program, it brings in more diversity of opinion, and allows more groups to be reached by the program. One of the most touching projects however was the Mural Project, where one women painted a group of people holding hands in a circle around baskets of food. I believe that part of unsustainable practices related to food stem from a disconnect between people and their environments. As shown by the women's portrait, when people have a meaningful connection to their environment and they can see the impact that they can have, then it makes them care more deeply about the resources that come from that environment. I admire how Briggs uses hands on learning and projects, fosters collaboration, and uses transformative leadership to help make those meaningful connections for people.

[joyoseni]

Thank you Lilly for the amazing work you're doing with your foundation in forest restoration. One thing I find fascinating is the healing power of nature 😊

[JingtongSun]

Hi, Lily, I'm Jingtong Sun from China. The video is really inspriring. These are my comments: I appreciate her spirit of contributing to communities in the world instead of just focusing on her own community. She adapted and tested a children curriculum from North America in Latin America for the first time about teaching people ornithology knowledge, and it is a brave practice because she needed to start from nothing. She also always continue to contribute to this world because she still organized her curriculum activities during her PhD. I think she is also a responsible leader with sincere care for communities because she agreed women from all ages participate in her education program after she heard of the need from the community. Her program is both innovative and sustainable because she also involved restoration and agricology on site, which provides a paradigm for creating sustainable farm.

[HyeonhoMoon]

Hello Lily, this is Sean from South Korea and I want to thank you for your inspiring project on Costa Rica. I was amazed by how you extended your research from North America to South America and how you are even in the process of fulfilling your dreams as an educator. In fact, I think you are a very clear example of a concept that I’ve learned in my class room recently—a transformational leader, which is a type of leader that inspires coworkers. You broadening the scope of who can participate in the sustainability activism and encouraging locals to preserve biodiversity really was an epitome of what transformational leadership would demonstrate. I believe that you had a huge, positive influence in the local community by bringing a new wave of self-driven sustainability. I want to thank you for your actions as a sustainable leader and wish you could keep up the good work in the near future.

[ZitongLyu]

Hi, Lilly. I'm Flora from Nanjing, China. I really enjoyed the video when I watched it! Finca Cántaros enhances local stewardship, engages women in sustainability leadership, and preserves biodiversity through those programs people created. For example, the Earth Program opens for collaboration and cooperation, which helps women to learn and contribute to the nature. They listen to community and pay attention to what the community wants. They also really focus on creating self efficiency and confidence for women to support others and overcome mental barriers so that they can perceive goals and dreams. Additionally, they focus on creating time and space. They help change people’s thoughts about nature through the programs so that people could understand ecosystem in different ways. In the best situation, people can provide protective actions. In the video, two important points are mentioned: 1. staying involved in stewarding the forest 2. continuous contact and engagement with participants. Moreover, the Recovering program with Google platform helps with the functional diversity. There are two different regenerations which are assisted regeneration and natural regeneration. They provide communities with a lot of educations on nature.

[EmilySheridan-ki]

Hi Lilly I'm from Watertown, NY and I work to develop strategies for communication and engagement within New York's Great Lakes, promoting broad and diverse partnerships and supporting science informed management. I really liked the points you made about women in the environmental field being seen as leaders, as well as the need to engage with communities to implement and steward projects to promote sustainable outcomes. Thank you for sharing your experience with us.

[taraprasadgnyawali]

Hi Lilly, Namaste is Tara Prasad Gnyawali, an ex-employee of World Wildlife, Nepal. I have watched this informative, encouraging, and motivational Video. Highly appreciated the efforts and dedication that you made in Costa Rica. I have learned three better things from this learning video. a. Learning by real practice in the real field. b) Practice in a real field to demonstrate and motivate young very promptly. c) Consistency and dedication to the passion of the mentor (environment educator) is a must. d) Just Classroom education may not work effectively because working in a real natural environment gives you real pictures. For example, you mentioned, the engagement of kids during plantation teaches them when they grow the plants also grow continuously. However, the different aspects of sustaining ecosystem chain, wetland ecosystem, forest ecosystem, and landscape ecosystem sustain living creature life. I also learned how you correlate the ecosystem as the food supply for wildlife (birds and reptiles), how forestation provides habitats for birds, and how you educate this living example to your student. I really obliged and benefitted from this learning video and information. And thank you for demonstrating and giving us a small beautiful natural rich country Costarica. Thanks a lot, Lilly

[MingyueFan-gg]

Hi Lily, this is Mingyue from China. After watching the video, I am deeply impressed with your outstanding contributions to elevating local environmental stewardship, women's roles in sustainable leadership, and biodiversity conservation.Your leadership and organizational skills are admirable, and your passion for environmental education and community involvement is worth learning from.

[jessawells]

Hello! My name is Jessa and I am an EE youth programs coordinator at a botanic garden in Colorado.

What an inspiring organization! Your dedication to restoring such a beautiful landscape along side community members is wonderful to see. Community involvement is community investment. It is impressive to see how each of your programs works with a different subsection of the community, your don't just cater to kids and nature lovers but you work with a diversity of groups. It seems like you and your organization are doing amazing work!

[고대현-xg]

Hello.
This is Ko Dae-hyun, who lives in South Korea.
Thank you for your amazing passion and dedication.
I saw it through the opportunity of Cornell University's Environmental Education and Community course.
especially
I love to see birds
I look forward to seeing you in Costa Rica at a good opportunity.
at the same time
Forest conservation, environmental education, and community connection
I've heard a lot about the activities of the association.
Thank you.

[ZongKaiZhang-kz]

This video has truly inspired me. First of all, I greatly admire her ability to identify issues within the curriculum based on her own passion, and her determination to address these issues. She actually went to Costa Rica and integrated into the local community. This kind of determination is a key factor in becoming a sustainability leader.

Secondly, during her education project, she not only focused on environmental aspects but also paid special attention to the local women's community. Through the Night Walk education project, she changed the long-standing local perceptions of the environment. By combining continuous projects with efforts in environmental protection and education, she truly achieved sustainable development in both the local environment and education.

Additionally, as a foreigner, her ability to integrate into the local environment and engage in effective cooperation and communication with Costa Ricans is also a crucial factor in becoming a sustainability leader.

[ZhemingTu]

Hi Lilly, Im Daniel Tu from China. First i want to offer my many thanks to you and your project, it is absolutely amazing to see how individuals can eventually make an impact in a larger society. It is also amazing that your project originates from your passion and interests towards Latin American cultures. I think this is a great example that showcased how our interests can driven us to contribute to the community. This made me realized the importance of environmental education and the role sustainability leaders played in this education.

[lunadarakelondra]

This is an excellent example of a program that morphed and evolved into what the community needed and wanted. It started out as an educational forest reclamation program for girls, but grew to include women and others. It began as a tree growing project, that grew to include birds and other wildlife. It has also grown to include contributing and participating organizations from all around the world. Great work! This is quite the example to follow!

[KimberlyCooke-vo]

I appreciate your acknowledgment of being an outsider in this community. I wonder do you have a co-director who is from the community? How is the community involved in decision-making? How is local knowledge being centered? These are topics that we are working to expand in our work in Louisiana. Thank you for all you do!