REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Our commitment to the development of the areas where we work goes beyond any requirement or obligation. The promotion of productive, social and cultural initiatives that contribute to sustainable development through programs of well-being and quality of life, community and productive development, as well as the promotion of education, culture and sports, are an imperative of our work and our commitment as a Good Neighbor. We believe that the coexistence of the development of an oil project with the vision of a socially and environmentally sustainable territory is possible.
COLOMBIA
Partnership with Findeter for Regional Development Planning
We started a process with Findeter, one of Colombia’s largest development banks, to promote the socioeconomic transformation of the territories in the area of influence of the Llanos 34 block in the municipalities of Tauramena and Villanueva, Casanare. The first step of this partnership will be to carry out a baseline study of the municipalities to determine the economic opportunities of the region. In 2019 we carried out two initial diagnostic events: “Regional vision workshop” and “Regional prioritization workshop and Sustainable Development Goals.”
Economic development and promotion of the local productive vocation
Impulsamos y fortalecemos las vocaciones productivas de nuestros vecinos, a través de asistencia técnica, capacitación, emprendimiento y apoyo en comercialización. Durante 2019, logramos fortalecer alianzas con productores agropecuarios locales, para el cultivo de 33 hectáreas de plátano y con el Clúster de Piña, un proyecto para el mejoramiento de los sistemas productivos de la fruta con miras a la exportación.
Road improvement works in Casanare
We officially delivered the road improvement and paving works on 128 kilometers of public roads in the Llanos 34 block, located in the Villanueva and Tauramena municipalities. The works were carried out and developed in partnership with the Casanare Governor’s Office and the municipalities of Villanueva and Tauramena.
First year of the GeoPark – James Rodríguez “Colombia Somos Todos” Foundation partnership
This program, which includes 200 children and young people from the Tauramena and Villanueva municipalities, seeks to promote integral growth through the medium of soccer. During the first phase of the program, 74% of the participants improved their academic performance and 48% increased their physical endurance in sports activities. We also worked with parents in 80 workshops in which we promoted dialogue and good parenting guidelines, and developed 72 work sessions with children who engaged in an environmental project. The second phase of the program began in 2019, with the aim of strengthening the children’s family dynamics, more actively linking parents through “parent schools” that contribute to generating educational guidelines.
Health promotion in partnership with the Civil Air Patrol
In 2019 we maintained our commitment to health and well-being promotion in our areas of influence, supporting the medical-surgical brigade of the Colombian Civil Air Patrol (PAC) in the municipality of Villanueva, Casanare. In another activity more than 1,922 residents were given free consultations for pediatrics, dermatology, optometry, ophthalmology, ultrasound for pregnant women, surgery and family planning, as well as general surgical procedures.
ARGENTINA
Strengthening of Rural Elementary School No. 176 in Challaco
This school is in the closest community to our operation in the province of Neuquen. In 2019, we took our Comprehensive Health Program to the school through the implementation of different actions: a room for monthly medical checks on children’s weight, height and ophthalmology, as well as training days for the community on healthy habits and dental health. We also established a weekly delivery of fruit and vegetables for children and teachers, improving their diets with products that are difficult to access for families who live far from populated areas. In the same vein, we held a corporate volunteering day, in which we worked on improving part of the school’s exterior and interior infrastructure and finalized the remodeling of the library.
Knowing GeoPark
We invited students from the Diploma in Supervision of Oil Reservoirs of the National Technological University (UTN) to the El Porvenir block. The students were given a safety induction, learned the importance of our SPEED value system, and took a tour of the facilities and the operation. Likewise, on Children’s Day in Argentina, we received a visit from our smallest neighbors from the Rural Primary School No. 176 in Challaco, also at the El Porvenir block.
Fundación Vida sin Violencia
Since 2014 in Argentina we have supported the annual dinner of the Fundación Vida Sin Violencia, a non-profit organization that aims to promote a dignified space for women and children who are victims of domestic violence. The foundation provides them with support, emotional strengthening, legal advice, education and training.
Sonidos de Huemul Cultural Scholarships Program
From 2019 and for a period of three years, we established an agreement with the Philharmonic Association of the Seven Lakes, so that three young musicians from the Children’s Youth String Orchestra from our neighboring communities of Cutral Co and Plaza Huincul, train and participate in the Music Festival of the Seven Lakes and in the Sonidos de Huemul music school, held annually in January in Villa La Angostura, Neuquen province, Argentina.
CHILE
EXPO MAGALLANES
Since 2016 GeoPark has supported Expo Magallanes, which is considered to be the most important producer and entrepreneurial fair in Magallanes Region.
EXPO ASOGAMA
Surface rights holders are a vital stakeholder group for the progress of the operation in harmony with the Magallanes region and supporting its economic growth. Since 2019 we have therefore supported the Magallanes Cattle Farmers’ Association (AsoGaMa) Annual Show, which is held as the most important sector show and in which more than 54 surface rights holders – with whom GeoPark maintains close institutional and commercial connections – participate.
PERU
“Healthy Indigenous Communities” Program
An initiative focused on improving the living conditions of our indigenous neighbors in the Loreto region. The program represents a three-way effort of the State, communities and the Company, and stems from an agreement between GeoPark and the Datem del Maranon Health Network (RSDM). In 2019, the program served 21 communities, diagnosing 658 people and vaccinating 697 adults.
“Amistad” Soccer Tournament
We held a tournament to bring together 20 communities from the Situche and Anaso river micro-basins through sports, and to build and consolidate the bonds of friendship and fellowship between them. In total there were 640 players – 320 men and 320 women – in 40 soccer teams from the two basins and the total participation between players and spectators was 1,640.
Connected to our neighbors
In 2019, after identifying the lack of basic communications infrastructure in the Peruvian Amazon, we installed radio equipment in 23 communities neighboring the Morona Project. Due to electricity limitations, the equipment installed is powered by renewable energy.
This initiative not only allows us to keep in touch with our neighbors from the indigenous populations, but also benefits more than 700 people who can now connect by radio and be closer to their families in the province.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT AMONG OUR NEIGHBORS
Timothy O’Shaughnessy University Scholarship Program for Women in Science and Engineering
A program that offers opportunities to access university education in science and engineering courses to young women from the regions in which we operate. The program is currently offered in Argentina, Chile and Colombia, and aims to offer young female students the possibility to further their education and train in professional fields in which women have generally been less represented. The scholarship covers the study costs of the course and offers a support network to meet specific needs in order to guarantee a scholars’ academic success.
In Argentina, the program is developed in conjunction with the Neuquen Regional Faculty of the National Technological University (UTN), and in 2018 eight women from the province were selected and started their studies in 2019. In Colombia the program has four scholars and in Chile two, one of whom completed her studies in 2019
Country
N° of scholars
Investment in scholarship program 2019
(US$)
COLOMBIA
4 
39,260
ARGENTINA
8
6,400
