Most Latin American countries are located in the high biodiversity tropics making them hosts for a great amount of research on ecological issues of global implications. Discussion on these issues however, tends to originate in developed northern countries, sometimes producing an unpaired discussion of the issues. The aim of this workshop is to generate strategies to broaden the forum of ESA for Latin American ecologists in order to advance a corresponding discussion between develop and developing countries. Participants will gain insight on different perspectives on the importance of actively promoting participation of the Latin American sector on discussion of ecological issues, as well as the importance of conducting research in Latin America. Specific topics presented by five speakers include: combination of scientific and indigenous/traditional/local knowledge for sustainable agriculture; pollination services and climate change; ecology as a discipline to understand functioning of communal lands; biological invasions, colonialism, and determination of species nativeness; and food soverignty. Each of the perspectives will be discussed in break-out groups and attendees will formulate ways to make progress on each cause.