{"id":3672,"date":"2025-10-09T12:34:22","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T10:34:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/2025\/10\/09\/odile-rodriguez-fuente-somos-naturaleza\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T12:34:22","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T10:34:22","slug":"odile-rodriguez-fuente-somos-naturaleza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/2025\/10\/09\/odile-rodriguez-fuente-somos-naturaleza\/","title":{"rendered":"Odile Rodr\u00edguez de la Fuente: \u201cWe have to realize that we are nature\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Science communicator and biologist Odile Rodr\u00edguez de la Fuente recently participated in the event Diginnova Inspires<\/a>, A conference dedicated to innovation, sustainability, and digital transformation, organized by the University of La Laguna, featured a presentation titled \u201cClimate of Change.\u201d In it, she addressed the main environmental challenges facing the planet, calling for a redefinition of the relationship between humanity and nature. \u201cWe have to realize that we are nature, nothing more and nothing less. Everything we do to nature, we do to ourselves,\u201d she stated, inviting everyone to reconnect with the natural world and place life at the center of our decisions.<\/p>\n

With a career focused on environmental education and biodiversity conservation, Rodr\u00edguez is the daughter of renowned naturalist F\u00e9lix Rodr\u00edguez de la Fuente and has dedicated much of her life to continuing his legacy, combining outreach, research, and innovative sustainability projects. She has participated in social awareness programs, ecosystem restoration initiatives, and environmental education projects aimed at young people and communities, seeking to unite science, technology, and ecological values.<\/p>\n

For Rodr\u00edguez de la Fuente, the main environmental challenges facing Spain can be summarized as the climate emergency, the loss of biodiversity, and a lack of ecological awareness. He warns that the Iberian Peninsula is especially vulnerable to prolonged droughts, fires, and extreme weather events, and in this regard, he emphasizes that \u201cit is urgent to raise awareness and educate people about our relationship with the planet because it is the root of everything that is happening to us,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, he emphasized the need for nature-based adaptation, citing examples such as "sponge cities," which allow for the sustainable storage and management of rainwater. These cities incorporate spaces that allow water to infiltrate the soil, as well as urban wetlands capable of retaining large volumes of water. In this way, not only is adaptation to intense rainfall and flood prevention facilitated, but better water resource management is also ensured during prolonged periods of drought.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, he highlighted biomimicry, a discipline that seeks inspiration in natural structures, processes, or systems to solve problems with more efficient and sustainable designs. An example of its application is Velcro, invented by the Swiss engineer George de Mestral, who, during a walk, observed that burdock seeds adhered to his dog's fur and his clothing. Examining them under a microscope, he discovered that they were covered in tiny hooks that caught on textile fibers; from this observation, he devised the well-known hook-and-loop fastening system, now used worldwide.<\/p>\n

Rodr\u00edguez de la Fuente added other examples: \u201cThe bullet train inspired by the kingfisher or buildings that regulate their temperature like African termite mounds show how we can learn from nature to create efficient and sustainable solutions,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Education, technology and ecological awareness<\/strong><\/p>\n

Regarding current technologies, he emphasized that they are valuable tools in the fight against the climate emergency, biodiversity loss, and the lack of ecological awareness. blockchain<\/em> \u201dFor traceability of sustainable products, artificial intelligence to understand the dynamics of the planet, or the internet of things to optimize resources and reduce waste are some examples,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

Rodr\u00edguez de la Fuente argues that changing the current socioeconomic model is complex because it involves questioning deeply ingrained beliefs and confronting the system's inertia. "We must redefine ourselves so that nature and human well-being are at the center, but we are adrift," he stated.<\/p>\n

In that regard, he pointed out that \u201cdespite the Paris Summit, the Montreal Summit, and all the agreements of the European Green Deal, we continue to increase emissions and lose biodiversity.\u201d He also warned that \u201cthe problem is that nature\u2019s timescales are not our timescales, and perhaps we have already passed the point where we can truly intervene in the forces we have unleashed.\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, he sees universities, and especially young people, as having a fundamental role: "They have the ability to question the established order, and that fresh perspective should nourish educational institutions," he stated.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

La divulgadora cient\u00edfica y bi\u00f3loga Odile Rodr\u00edguez de la Fuente particip\u00f3 recientemente en el evento Diginnova Inspira, un encuentro dedicado…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":3673,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,37,10],"tags":[711,1700,689,1701],"class_list":["post-3672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-destacado","category-investigacion","category-portada-ull","tag-diginnova","tag-diginnova-inspira","tag-ecologia","tag-odile-rodriguez-de-la-fuente"],"acf":[],"primary_category":null,"featured_image_thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/10\/Odile-Rguez-de-la-Fuente-03-300x200.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}