Community-led projects: initiatives developed entirely by community leaders in the Vaupés region, and those for which Sinergias provides technical assistance.

Community tools and resources for peaceful living. Approaches to issues of coexistence based on processes of sovereignty and knowledge management.

“In Search of Well-being” was a project carried out in the indigenous community of Santa Marta (Mitú, Vaupés) aimed at promoting the use of medicinal plants and traditional medicine as community-based care practices. Through dialogue and learning sessions with traditional healers, families, and caregivers, ancestral knowledge was documented and passed on, intergenerational learning was promoted, and a community space was established for planting and caring for medicinal plants. The process was carried out in collaboration with the Cuduyari Indigenous Union Association (ASOUDIC), recognizing indigenous knowledge as the foundation of well-being, cultural identity, and local health practices.
A shared analysis by traditional knowledge holders regarding the consumption of chicha was conducted in the indigenous community of Ceima Cachivera (Mitú, Vaupés), with the aim of understanding, through traditional knowledge, the social issues associated with the consumption of chicha and other alcoholic beverages. To this end, individual and collective analyses were conducted with five male and one female traditional healers from different indigenous communities, as well as community meetings and dialogue sessions with women.
Duti Mariro Nisetira, designed for the benefit of the Bogotá Cachivera indigenous community, aims to strengthen and preserve ancestral knowledge of traditional botanical medicine through the creation of a community garden and processes for the intergenerational transmission of knowledge. The initiative responds to the progressive loss of this knowledge: its weakening in the generational transition and the limitations of non-intercultural health models in the region.
The “Protectores de la Selva” initiative was carried out in the indigenous communities of Bogotá Cachivera, Murutinga, and Timbó in the Vaupés region, involving young people from associations affiliated with AATAC, with the aim of understanding the factors that influence the well-being and mental health of indigenous youth. Through 17 surveys, discussion groups, and a youth gathering, among other activities, information was collected and organized regarding perceptions, causes of distress, and indigenous conceptions of mental health—understood as spiritual, family, community, and territorial balance. The process identified critical factors such as the loss of traditional practices, the decline of intergenerational guidance, and the weakening of spiritual protection. Additionally, diagnostic inputs and guidelines were generated for future psychosocial care strategies based on indigenous knowledge, which can be integrated with community and institutional actions.
~Amia: Pamí ~imarore mea᷉ro᷉ memeni kᵿreaiye – Community Tools and Resources for Peaceful Living was carried out between 2024 and 2025 in partnership with the National University’s Amazonia Campus and brought together three research teams from Ceima Cachivera, Macaquiño, Tucunaré, and Mituseño Urania. Through participatory research and intergenerational dialogue involving families and young people, knowledge related to the good life of the AATIAM communities was documented and shared. The teams worked on three lines of inquiry: fishing and respect for sacred sites; young people’s relationship with culture and community leadership; and the identification of ancestral symbols related to the environment and traditional communication. Notable results include the Cubeo primer *The First Steps to Good Living*, now used in local schools, as well as resources to strengthen the transmission of knowledge, communication skills, and future community research that contributes to the implementation of the Indigenous and Intercultural Health System (SISPI).