On September 30, 2025, the School of Agronomy of the Universidad Católica del Maule (Campus San Isidro Labrador, Los Niches) became the setting for an inspiring meeting between Chile and Argentina. Within the framework of the ANID ATE230028 - Ecos of Climate Change Project, Dr. Yolanda Hipperdinger, renowned sociolinguist and researcher at CONICET and academic at the Universidad Nacional del Sur (Bahía Blanca, Argentina), visited the school.
His arrival marked a milestone in the international collaboration of the project, led by Dr. Enrique Mundaca and Dr. Mariana Lazzaro-Salazar, consolidating a transdisciplinary dialogue between language, territory and climate change.
During her stay, Dr. Hipperdinger gave a lecture on "Rural linguistic landscape: language, identity and territory", sharing the progress of her research on the display of language in public space - a field that is in deep dialogue with the work axes of the Rings Project, in its eco-linguistic and socio-environmental dimension.
"I met Yolanda a few years ago at the CIILEX2023 congress in Mar del Plata, Argentina, and since then we have maintained a sustained collaboration. She was part of the project formulation process and her visit represents how our academic networks materialize in concrete research and training activities," said Dr. Lazzaro-Salazar, alternate director of the project.
The visit included working sessions with the research team, where strategies for applying the linguistic landscape approach in rural communities in Chile were discussed, along with training proposals for young linguists and students interested in the analysis of language in the territory.
"I arrived at the invitation of Dr. Enrique and Dr. Mariana, with whom we share the conviction that language also reveals the relationship between people and their environment. I am very grateful for the opportunity to exchange experiences and open paths for future joint publications," said Dr. Hipperdinger.
This instance reinforces the ANID ATE230028 Rings Project's commitment to international cooperation and the integration of interdisciplinary perspectives, where language, culture and nature converge as inseparable dimensions of rural life.
