On 17 April, Dean of the College of Arts and Social Sciences Professor Bronwyn Perry joined Ambassador of Costa Rica His Excellency Armando Vargas, the Australian National Centre for Latin American Studies and the Latin American Students Association in a ceremony to launch the publication Pura Vida. The book is a pioneering attempt to draw together various strands of the bilateral relationship between Australia and Costa Rica, dating from the appointment of the first Honorary Consul General of Costa Rica in Sydney in 1884 to the experience of Costa Rican migrants in Australia to the blossoming commercial relationship at the present day.

The Dean referred to Costa Rica’s unique status as a demilitarised democracy (having abolished the military in 1949), one of the top 20 biodiverse countries (it occupies only 0.03% of Earth's total land surface yet contains about 5.7% of the world's biodiversity) and a leading example of ecological management and sustainability. She also noted the experience of Costa Rica in recognising Indigenous rights. In this context, she drew attention to the initiative of ANCLAS and the First Nations Portfolio to hold a series of webinars between experts to compare and contrast the practice of Latin American countries with significant Indigenous populations and Australia. She said the intention of the initiative was to help inform discussion in Australia in the lead-up to the referendum to enshrine an Indigenous Voice in the Constitution.

The Ambassador agreed this was a good example of how strengthened cooperation and collaboration between interlocutors from Australia and Costa Rica (indeed, all Latin American countries) offered benefits for all sides. He, and other diplomatic colleagues from Latin America attending the event, cited coral reef management, renewable energy, soil and water policy, people movement, gender issues, native title, mining policy and climate change as other examples.