Mapping the Environment: Ecology and Community Engagement in Todos Santos, Baja California Sur
By Anya Kaplan-Hartnett
November 16, 2022

This project includes a map for sites of environmental action and ecological significance in the Todos Santos area. Explore the map below to learn more about these sites, and continue scrolling to hear about the region from residents themselves. The audio segments on this site are bilingual, though the Spanish sections include an English translation from Andrea Sanchez.

Explore the map.

Todos Santos Community Needs Assessment

In opening an education and research center in Todos Santos, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Colorado State University (CSU) is making a long-term commitment to the community and the region. Central to CSU’s longevity and success in Todos Santos is developing partnerships with community members and regional institutions that are built on mutual respect, trust and accountability.

This ongoing process of relationship building, in which we seek to understand each other’s cultures, priorities, hopes and challenges will set the stage for CSU faculty to collaboratively design and implement educational programs and research projects, for both the community and CSU students, that are based on shared goals and mutual commitment.  This collaboration will not only help provide long-term holistic solutions to community priorities, but will also enrich student and faculty experiences.

To this end, the CSU Todos Santos Center, with the help of CSU faculty and students has been developing a participatory community approach to help guide program development in the Todos Santos region, which initiated with a Community Assessment in June 2015. Through this process our team talked to more than 150 individuals from Todos Santos, El Pescadero, Elias Calles and surrounding areas. Concurrently, the team has been collaborating with regional academic, non-profit and governmental agencies to learn what research and educational programs are currently available, as well as gathering baseline data around socio-economic, demographic, geographic, environmental, health and agricultural factors. The top community priorities identified this process included youth engagement, language classes (especially English), education system, valuing the environment (water, waste management, mines), public health, sustainable development, business training and alternative models. This information can be matched with the areas identified by the communities as priorities to better understand the current situation and help guide further collaborative research and educational programming.

A follow-up needs assessment was conducted in 2020.

Read the 2015 report | Read the 2020 report
Read the 2015 summary | Read the 2020 summary

Contact for more information:

Todos Santos and El Pescadero: Socio-demographic and Environmental Overview

This research report was commissioned by the Colorado State University Todos Santos Center during the Summer of 2015. The aim of this report is to provide base-line information on socio-demographic and environmental aspects of Todos Santos and El Pescadero regions in Baja California Sur, Mexico. The CSU Todos Santos Center facility is located in the town of Todos Santos, Baja California Sur. El Pescadero, a rural village nearby is strongly connected to Todos Santos, and therefore both localities were considered as the focus regions for the present report. The information provided here in addition to the community-based participatory research conducted by the CSU Todos Santos Center, will contribute to the process of identifying the principle priorities and challenges that the communities in the focus regions are facing. In turn, this will help prioritize research and educational programs that the CSU Todos Santos Center could offer to the CSU and local communities. The sources of the present information were derived mainly from published documents, national public databases (i.e. The National Institute of Statistics and Geography INEGI), and in some cases, through official information requests to regional governmental institutions. A major source of information is the “sub-regional Program for Urban Development in Todos Santos – El Pescadero – Las Playitas” developed by the Center of Urban Studies and Architecture CEURA, and published at the Official Bulletin of the Government of the State of Baja California Sur in 2012. All the information provided here is referenced appropriately and open to the general public. There are no personal opinions or communications included in this report.

Read the overview.

Contact the author:

  • Aines Castro Prieto, Ph.D. — Affiliate Professor, Department of Biology, Colorado State University; Programs Development & Research, CSU Todos Santos Center