ABOUT

The South American Institute for Resilience and Sustainability Studies (SARAS) is an interdisciplinary research institute aimed at contributing substantially to the production of knowledge and capacity building in processes and mechanisms that determine the sustainability of ecosystem services, key to determining human well-being.

It was designed to generate critical insights allowing South America to build sustainable futures. It seeks integration across a broad range of innovative approaches, combining disciplinary domains (social, natural and exact sciences), knowledge, and art and science interactions.

The construction and operation of SARAS seeks to promote and support the networking and collaborative work, through space and facilities for workshops, courses and academic activities.

It is a joint initiative between the University of Wageningen (Netherlands), the University of the Republic (Uruguay), Resillience Alliance (USA), the Ministry of Education and Culture (Uruguay) and Maldonado Municipal Government (Uruguay).

It is directed by a Advisory Board and a Administration Board, the latter belonging to the organizational structure of SARAS Foundation.

The idea of SARAS Institute was conceived in 2005 between Marten Scheffer and Néstor Mazzeo. In January 2006, in collaboration with Ruben Budelli, a first document was drafted that established its mission, goals and structure. At the same time, Mayor of Maldonado Oscar De los Santos was approached in order to explore the possibility of establishing SARAS Institute in that department. With the strong support of the Municipality, a search for a suitable location was carried out by Jorge Hourcade, Ruben Budelli, Gabriel Aintablian and Néstor Mazzeo. Since the summer of 2007 the Advisory Board of SARAS began meeting regularly to discuss guidelines and redefine the Institute’s main features, targets and goals. At local level, contacts were made with María Simón, Rodrigo Arocena, Gregory Randall and Omar Macadar. In this phase the Uruguay team consisted of Ruben Budelli, Hugo Fort, Gabriel Aintablian and Néstor Mazzeo.

The Institute’s academic life began between 2008 and 2009 with various scientific publications and several research projects presented at national and international level. In connection with the approved projects, a five year programme of annual conferences on relevant topics in Latin America was established. The cycle of annual conferences started in 2010 with the topic Sustainable Future of Water Resources in Latin America.

In 2009 SARAS was granted a substantial support from the University of the Republic (Udelar) as well as financial backing from the Ministry of Education and Culture. In 2011 additional support from the Municipality of Maldonado was approved. Thanks to these contributions, Mariana Meerhoff and Nicolás Marchand joined the work team.

Construction of the Institute premises and the design of the surrounding park began in 2010 with the collaboration of Amalia Robredo, María Puppo, and Carla Bruzzone, of the Udelar Architecture Department. On 8th July 2012 SARAS was established as a foundation in order to resolve the legal and administrative format of management. In 2015 the first phase of SARAS building at Bella Vista was finished, funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Municipality of Maldonado. These institutions provided economic support to SARAS until 2016. Until 2020, the Ministry of Housing, Territorial Planning and Environment (MVOTMA), Uruguay, provided most of the basic economic budget of the institution.

Every year the SARAS Institute prepares an Annual Report with information about projects, scientific activities, main research areas and networks, graduate and postgraduate courses, publications, and other information.