Mesoamerican Society for Ecological Economics

The Mesoamerican Society for Ecological Economics (SMEE) is a regional chapter of the International Society for Ecological Economics (ISEE). After its foundation in 2008 at Guatemala City, the organization has already celebrated its first International Conference in 2010 at Mexico City and will carry out the second International Conference, EcoEco Alternatives, between March 4 and 8 2014 at the main campus of the University of Costa Rica.

This branch of the ISEE has a unique emphasis within ecological economics. Topics like social justice and the human value in environmental conservation prevail in this region. As a consequence of the strong influence from Joan Martinez Alier's "environmentalism of the poor or social environmentalism", major attention is given to ecological-distributive conflicts. Alier insists that in the South a struggle exists against these conflicts generated by economic growth, mainly by the North. These endeavors "attempt to preserve the access of the communities to natural resources and services."

On top of the negative effects on the environment by economic distribution, the cultural influence is also widely debated. For instance, the anthropologist Arturo Escobar suggests that culturally-driven preferences are one of the main factors degrading the environment. For example, society naturally gives privilege to the capitalist model that distributes natural resources with the purposes of production and profit, instead of endorsing the agroforestal ecosystem model, which is less harmful to the environment. As part of this alternate perception in Mesoamerica, Ecological economics doesn't consider that the economic valuation of natural resources nor environmental norms are effective solutions to these social-environmental conflicts. On the other hand, an alternative based on community-based conservation and the management of sustainability is more advocated upon. By adding the latter cultural perspective, the three pillars of sustainable development (the social, environmental, and economic) end up being addressed by these proponents.