The challenge of building a new university social responsibility

The opening of the first official "Seminar on Latin American Social Innovation and University Management" took place in Lima, Peru, with the participation of 37 universities from nine countries of the continent. The initiative proposes to promote a leading role for academia as an essential actor in the search for solutions to the enormous social and environmental challenges faced by Latin America.  

The virtual seminar will take place between August 19th and November 25th, under the direction of  François Vallaeys, philosopher and University Social Responsibility specialist, and will be developed as 14 virtual meetings combined with fora and working groups where the participating university managers from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela, will connect with social innovation, economic, and environmental initiatives generated by the civil society and private enterprises, while at the same time promoting the creation of a network of alliances between actors for their promotion as a sector. 

Ana Mercedes Botero, Director of Social Innovation at CAF, Development Bank of Latin America, institution which promotes this joint initiative with the Unión de Universidades de América Latina y el Caribe -UDUAL- (Association of Latin American and Caribbean Universities), the Observatorio Mexicano de Responsabilidad Social Universitaria -OMERSU-UADY (Mexican University Social Responsibility Observatory), Fundación Avina, and Unamar Consultores, stated, "there is a significant gap between the problems faced in the most unequal region in the planet, and the proposed alternatives. In this respect, universities must increase their offer of solutions, without limiting to specific, solidary actions, but rather incorporating social innovation to all the aspects of their work, in a comprehensive and cross cutting manner".   

An open, direct, and provocative dialogue, which promotes this new concept of University Social Responsibility and makes it a reality, is the invitation made by François Vallaeys, professor at the Universidad del Pacífico of Peru. Jointly with Baltazar Ojeda, professor at the Universidad Tecnológica Nacional of Argentina, they have promoted and facilitated this seminar which will include the participation of  Carlos March from Avina, Rodrigo París from Barefoot College,  Nieves Tapia from Clayss, Carolina Trivelli from Asbanc, and Pedro Tarak from Sistema B, among other outstanding representatives of organizations from the civil society, who will present successful cases of social innovation that provide solutions to social and environmental problems from a sustainable perspective. 

In summary, the seminar is a positive contribution to make the University more sensible and get closer to the social reality, to effectively and timely respond to the needs of its environment, to promote a permanent dialogue, and a connection to the new trends in Social Innovation, an imperative to solve the social and environmental challenges of the XXI Century.