The Living School of the Amazon (Escuela Viva de la Amazonía, EVA) is an initiative to train and support future generations of Indigenous leaders who will advance the permanent protection of the Amazon rainforest. The school is an essential component of ASHA’s Bioregional Plan, providing capacity building and training on leadership, governance, legal rights and project design technology within the framework of Indigenous ethical values and worldviews. On 9 March 2023, EVA welcomed its first cohort of 34 students representing 11 Indigenous nations for a one-year programme. Currently, ASHA is in the second cohort of 41 students who will be graduating in March 2025 while preparing to recruit the third cohort for 2025. The programme is both practical and ontological, teaching Indigenous cosmovision. Students attend lectures and workshops by inspiring Indigenous leaders who share traditional ecological knowledge and Indigenous worldviews. They also engage in internships with Indigenous organizations to work on projects and campaigns contributing to land conservation, community health and bioeconomy. Students are provided accommodation and meals so they can focus exclusively on their studies. The programme culminates in an independent project presentation delivered to their peers. ASHA’s vision is to grow the leadership school and expand into the Peruvian Amazon, while garnering resources to build a more permanent campus with adequate dorm facilities. In the next phase, ASHA plans to create opportunities for international students to come and learn from the Indigenous-focused programme and share skills from the modern world with Indigenous youth. There are also plans to create an online course library and resources and make the materials available to a broader set of people in the region. In the long term, there is also a desire to create a four-year university degree track from this one-year course, partnering with international academic institutions.CASE STORY The Living School of the Amazon (EVA) The Future is Collective: Case Studies of Collective Social Innovation 14

The Future is Collective Case Studies of Collective Social Innovation 2025