By Claudia Maturana, Ph.D. in Ecology and Biological Evolution
When I said goodbye to my family in Punta Arenas, the phrase resounded in my head: "...take advantage of this experience". With that voice I traveled to Japan, knowing that Expo Osaka 2025 would be an unrepeatable experience.
Participate in the thematic week "Chile, Country of Women"was not only to represent my country: it was also to look at myself in the mirror of other women, in cultures and landscapes that were unknown to me, and to recognize myself in the common and in the different. Walking around Osaka, getting lost in its diversity of corners and sharing with Japanese women and their ways, showed me that despite a cultural difference between the two countries, in terms of empathy and gender solidarity, common points can be found.
"Chile, Country of Women" is not just a brand: it is an invitation to recognize and promote women's leadership in all dimensions of national activities.
In the midst of that maelstrom of innovation, sustainability and future that is the Expo, I understood that our presence in the Chilean pavilion had a profound meaning. There, in an intimate and welcoming space, full of symbols and women of different knowledge, we wove a collective story. From the unique creativity of Mapuche women to the biotechnological innovation of spirulina in the desert, each of us contributed a thread to a loom that spoke of how Chile thinks and projects itself to the world with a woman's face.
From my side as an Antarctic researcher, bringing the voice of the women who work every day for the knowledge, training and conservation of the different ecosystems meant reaffirming that Chile is a country that inspires from its landscapes and its people. Showing my experience as a scientist in the most remote corners of the world, where science is intertwined with resilience, allowed me to connect deeply with my role of positioning Chile as an actor committed to the future of the planet.
Back in the calm of Patagonia, I am certain that I made the most of this trip. What I brought back from Osaka were not only souvenirs and postcards of another culture, but the conviction that "Chile, Country of Women" is not just a brand: it is an invitation to recognize and promote female leadership in all dimensions of national activities. And that when those voices are women's, the country we show to the world has a different, luminous and profoundly human impact.
