To Look into the World. My Geography Master’s Degree at UNAM

From Lima, Peru, to Mexico City
Not so long ago I got a CONAHCYT (Mexico’s National Council for Humanities, Science and Technology) scholarship to study a degree in Geography and Land Use Planning at UNAM. I just graduated from this program, after studying in 2013, back in my country, a bachelor’s degree at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP). 

There are not many opportunities to get a master’s scholarship in Peru, but you can look for a scholarship to study graduate programs in other countries. 

After I finished my college degree, I started working at the National Registry of Identification and Civil Status in Peru (RENIEC). Then I worked at Peru’s National Land Use Strategic Planning Centre (CEPLAN). By working in these two places, I got to develop experience and knowledge in geographic land use planning. I worked for three years at CEPLAN as a Geographic Information System (GIS) consultant (this institution is leader in land use planning in Peru). All the experience earned made me realized how many important subjects converged together with land use planning and its management. Later, while working with regional and provincial governments, I got to realise that this was completely my thing! 

Before these I did not know which master’s degree I wanted to study. I got a diploma in Land Use Planning from the National Agrarian Un, in which I learned truly a lot of information with many guest teachers from Colombia and other countries. 

I presented a research project to the diploma which allowed me to do some research about other Latin American countries and their land use structure. I made a comparative analysis between Colombia and Peru, in which, thanks to my reference data, I found that Mexico was the best developed Latin American country in my interest subject. 

Even Colombian geographers went to study to Mexico! And there my interest went! I went back to the PUCPto look for my teachers’ advice, and I found professor Hildegardo Córdova, an important Peruvian geographer and member of the Geographic Society of Lima (SGL), and I told him about my interest in studying a master’s degree in economic geography. He said: “It may be one of two… I recommend you chose UNAM or the National University of Colombia.” 

There is no doctorate program in geography in Peru. There is a master’s program, but it was not the subject that I wanted. I also wanted to study in a country similar to Peru in economical and geographical aspects. That is the reason why I thought I had to study in Latin America, since (to set an example) the European general context is very different. Then, my two options were Colombia (which shares the Andes with Peru) and Mexico (which some people say may not have so much in common, but I think otherwise). 

I made some online research, shyly scrolled through UNAM official webpage, I called to the service numbers and finally convinced myself. This happened back in 2016! I was worried about that time that I had not finished my bachelor’s degree, so I started my theses to get it. It took me two more years, but I was finally able to apply for UNAM in 2019. I didn’t make the first at my first try. In 2020 I decided to try again, and I did it! Moreover, I got the scholarship (an achievement that would not have been possible for me if I had applied to Colombia’s university, since I would need to work a part time job while studying). 

When I was enrolling, I made a mistake by choosing Geomatics instead of Economic Geography, but since I had experience in economic geography, a bit of geomatics, and land use planning, UNAM’s Academic Committee accepted my
change into Geography-Land Use Planning, and I got my master’s degree. 

The university admitted me in 2020, when COVID-19 pandemic started, and I was not able to travel immediately because of this and because my mother had recently passed away; I was not even feeling in the mood to travel anymore. I wrote a letter to the Graduate Academic Committee telling them about my situation and I was lucky enough because they made the decision to keep my place until 2022, when I finally travelled to Mexico. 

I did not want to study geography through a remote studying system, since in this area you need to meet and explore territories by traveling practice, there is nothing better that onsite learning for geography. In 2022 schedule classes were going back to normal, sometimes we had to study with a hybrid learning system, but the experience of being there, present, was a whole other thing. I finished my master’s degree in 2024. 

Land Use Planning
The Land Use Planning area in Peru faces complex issues. In my country we use the Economic-Ecologic Zoning System (ZEE), but specialists have divided opinions about this matter. To set an example, territorial systems are not applied for land use planning analysis, and the scale of the study is not always appropriate. This means that there are many differences in this aspect. While in Colombia land use plans have already been completed in almost all the government levels, in Peru few issues have been so far addressed and a GIS is not yet available. 

There is also a controversy in the country of the responsivity for the land use structure. Is it the Ministry of Environment responsible or others? The Ministry of Environment has a sectoral responsibility, while the land use planning is a multi-sectoral matter, so it is not yet clear. The environmentalist view loses sight in comparison of other dimensions since territory is a system composed by many other aspects such as social, economic, and institutional. Therefore, another entity should oversee land use structure, a multisectoral one. 

There were those who thought that environmental matters should be responsibility of CEPLAN, where I worked for three years. Others proposed that it was something that should be dealt by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (its head is a kind of premier that coordinates the rest of the executive branch in Peru). I saw that in Colombia the land use structure issue is oversee by the ministerial level, almost directly from the presidency. In my opinion, given the number of factors involved, land use planning should be seen from multisectoral instances with great capacity for political operation. 

When I was first making my analysis, other countries had already developed a full legislation in this matter. In Peru there was not even a single law, I think my country has a terribly lack of knowledge in land use structure. And a single law cannot change everything, but it is a starting point that Peru is missing.  

Peruvian territory is difficult, very rugged, with huge mountain ranges and jungles. During the last few years, the population has continued to grow, and without land use planning, this makes people settle informally in ravines that tend to produce a lot of mud and debris avalanches caused by rains and thaws or natural disasters such as large forest fires (which are currently happening in the Amazon). 

Every year, especially in the north and in the highlands, the rains have negative impacts in Peru. Roads are blocked by mudflow and landslides. Mexico’s population suffers a lot with storms and hurricanes, while Peru’s population suffer through the rainy season causing another type of problems: people are living at risk in unsuitable and vulnerable areas. If we also consider Peru’s political situation, the things get even worse. 

¡Viva México!
I truly like UNAM. It is an enormous university, literally a real city. And I thought my graduate content program was great since it reinforces and encourages research practices. Every teacher has a high education level, I was also interested in many subjects, for example, economic geography and some other technological courses and territory analysis. I felt that at UNAM I was going to improve my academic knowledge: professors asked us to read and research a lot of texts that I have not even known of in my academic formation at the PUCP; they asked us to analyse, to write and to elaborate complex and neat academic works. 

I soon discovered thet UNAM was like a backbone to Mexico’s development. If Peru had its own UNAM, at this level, we could already have many incredible projects, because as a Peruvian I can see my country’s own potential. Peru resources and attractions are different from Mexico’s. 

Today, after this whole process, and now graduated, I am currently preparing my thesis on topics related to Geo-Tourism. One of the reasons why I wanted to go to Mexico was the UNESCO World Geoparks that already exist in Mexican territory (see UNAM Internacional N°3, 300-313) I was interested in meeting the people who have managed these geoparks. 

To study Geography was the right decision academically for me. When I went to the Central Andes region, where my mother was born, I started thinking about the qualities of the territory. I heard about a project from the Geological, Mining, and Metallurgical Institute (INGEMMET) about Geoparks. Therefore, I started to investigate, while I was still studying at PUCP, I spent weeks doing research in the highlands thinking about the possibility of creating a geopark there. I noted the area had resources that could be valuable for tourism, such as some of the oldest dinosaur prints in South America. Then I review some bibliography and did a formal paper that I presented to INGEMMET. Even though INGEMMET project was unfortunately cancelled, I kept the information, and I decided to use it in my master’s degree thesis. 

Both in Mexico and in Peru, the main work source for geographers is GIS, which consists of map making, geographical mapping, data management, etc. Tourism is not a priority in Peru, since mining and other economic activities come first. But I wanted to focus on the geoparks path, and my project was approved at UNAM. I have received great support from Carles Canet, manager of the Comarca Minera Geopark, who has read my work and has provided me with information. My thesis topic has two branches: economic geography (geography of tourism), geology and geological heritage. 

I visited the Mixteca Alta Geopark and I can say that my experience in Mexico has helped me see how these extensive projects are managed. Geopark management is very complicated, there must be a lot of institutional support and interest from local governments, a lot of cooperation agencies that can also provide money. 

I did a seminar and gave a conference about the Huallanca region in Peru, where my maternal family comes from, so I could share more about this region. Huallanca has ancient mining history as well as geological and paleontological heritage. This region also has cultural dimensions, such as the patron festivities and the national Peruvian holidays in July. Thanks to UNAM’s support I have spent two weeks at INGEMMET contacting with specialists in geoparks and Geo-Tourism. I hope to resume this project soon, but firstly I need to elaborate an inventory for the exploration of geological and touristic resources, structure the interviews I did with local population and finish many other things. 

Huallanca is a very large district, it has four watersheds. The interviews with the locals allowed me to have direct information, locals know their territory and though they are not geologists or geographers, they know the land’s resources and where these are. They also understand what a geo-form is or what a geological landscape is. All these interviews helped me identify new resources. At the very beginning I used to focus on the geological aspect or on the geological resources that may have potential for tourism. But with the experience I gained in Mexico, I have also included the cultural aspects based on the inventory of tourism resources that Huallanca has, which, even if it is not updated since 2011, contains the location of archaeological remains. I learnt that at any project you must always include the population, locals know much more about their territory and generally want people to come and see it.

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