Social innovation and university management

With the objective of rescuing the University as an agent of change that boosts a management approach that is socially responsible and more entrepreneurial, the Social Innovation Initiative , jointly with the Unión de Universidades de América Latina y el Caribe (UDUAL) (Union of Latin American and Caribbean Universities) and the Facultad de Gestión y Alta Dirección de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP) (Faculty of Management and Senior Management at the Catholic University of Peru) are developing a new concept of University Social responsibility (RSU, for its acronym in Spanish). 

The statement is based on three essential components: teaching of new ecologic and socially responsible entrepreneurial models, such as circular economy, B Enterprises, fair trade, strengthening of research - community based action (Community Based Research), and the management, by the University, of sustainable social projects.  

The first step in this direction is the design and implementation of an International Virtual Seminar for university leaders from the continent, to generate a meeting between academics and social innovation leaders to promote this new concept of RSU, leading to establish a Permanent Virtual Learning Environment regarding these issues. 

The seminar is designed to provide management tools to 40 managers of 20 universities in the region, to allow them to respond to the economic, environmental, and social challenges stated in the United Nations' Post 2015 Agenda, creating bridges with creative external actors from the civil society, such as Fundación AVINA, OXFAM, Sistema B, public actors, national agencies to overcome poverty, Amnesty International, and other entities. The objective is to create a vigorous space where universities can integrate teaching, research, and extension while at the same time they educate and motivate thousands of students to defend just causes in harmony with significant international agreements. 

From this perspective, social innovation is an imperative to incorporate within Universities, in order to build a citizen culture that is socially responsible, enlightened by international contributions, and aimed at finding local solutions so that a fair and sustainable development becomes a reality in the continent.