Advanced Diploma in Social Economy and Territorial Transformation

This Advanced Diploma program aims to foster shared reflection and capacity building among academics, leaders, and other stakeholders in the social, solidarity, and cooperative economy, focusing on the need to implement socio-ecological transitions based on solidarity and economic cooperation to achieve territorial development. In this context, the approach of this dialogue is grounded, on the one hand, in exploring the connections identified in the literature and policy frameworks on territorial development, socio-ecological transitions, and cooperativism, and on the other hand, in practical experiences of cooperativism in the field in countries such as Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, and Costa Rica.

Conventional economic theory has positioned the idea of ​​exponential economic growth on a planet with finite resources, based on a mechanistic model of life. Under its auspices, we have experienced the rise of the Anthropocene, creating the need for fundamental transformations in the forms, means, and relationships of humanity's life with the rest of the planet (Cork et al., 2023). In this regard, it is necessary to further discuss the relationship between society and the planet and, therefore, the mutual dependence of social and productive systems with biophysical ones, in order to move toward alternative models for the future (González Redin et al., 2025). This is the so-called Socio-Ecological Systems Approach (SES), which deserves to be addressed as a determining factor in Latin American territorial development, offering a perspective in favor of post-growth (and even degrowth). But a distinguishing feature of this diploma is its focus on the Social, Solidarity and Cooperative Economy as an enabling environment for building alternative developments with a territorial approach, as it is a model that is outside the dominant sectors of economic and social action: public, private and external.

This approach is supported by significant advances in knowledge on the subject. To mention a few key references, there is the work of Olaizola-Alberdi et al. (2025), who align the principles of cooperativism with the foundations of a just socio-economic transition, concluding that cooperatives act as key agents in this process. This transition is a unifying concept that facilitates the achievement of sustainable development by advocating for a shift towards a low-carbon economy, ensuring that it is environmentally sustainable, socially equitable, and transforms the socio-economic model to balance environmental protection with social justice, guaranteeing a dignified existence for all (Harris & McCarthy, 2023).

Solidarity and cooperative organizations are strategic within social energy systems (SES), combining their market orientation with adherence to the values ​​of democracy, participation, and justice. They are guided by principles of the primacy of people over capital, voluntary and open membership, democratic governance, solidarity, and autonomy and independence from public authorities, as Galera & Chiomento (2022) argue. In this vein, cooperative values ​​and principles are considered essential for ensuring energy democracy and a sustainable energy transition. Cooperatives are characterized by a distinctive feature: their ability to reconcile economic needs with community values, which frequently encompass equity, mutual support, and sustainability (Nagao-Menezes, 2023; Yakar-Pritchard et al., 2023). This, in turn, contributes to a just ecosocial transition, a cornerstone of contemporary environmental and economic policy debates, particularly in relation to climate change mitigation. In this same way, as cooperatives grow and become interconnected globally, they can form a robust network capable of driving widespread sustainable development, proving to be a powerful model of inclusion and community participation. Similarly, the work of Olaizola-Alberdi et al. (2025) argues that a just ecosocial transition is achieved through the economic activities of cooperatives within their territories.

In summary, cooperativism is a concrete mechanism for achieving territorial development, an aspect that has been discussed by Li-Bonilla & Salazar-Villano (2025) and Chacón-Peña, Guevara-Gómez & Li-Bonilla (2025).

GENERAL PURPOSE

To address the potential of the Social, Solidarity and Cooperative Economy to generate territorial development from practices in accordance with socio-ecological transitions, based on theoretical advances, public policy and concrete organizational experiences.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

• To recognize the actions of social, solidarity and cooperative economy organizations as a social space that potentially favors the construction of socio-ecological transitions and territorial development practices in emerging economies of Latin America and Central America.
• To examine, through case studies in social, solidarity and cooperative enterprises and communities based on the foundations and practices of the social and solidarity economy, the advances in territorial development from socio-ecological transitions in contexts of high systemic complexity.
• Identify key success factors for the management of social, solidarity and cooperative economy enterprises, as well as future routes for the design and implementation of socio-ecological transitions that affect territorial development conditions.

The Higher Diploma in Social Economy and Territorial Transformation is aimed at undergraduate and postgraduate students; teachers at all levels; activists and members of trade union organizations, social movements and political parties; public officials; members and managers of non-governmental organizations and professionals interested in the subject.

The program consists of 5 modules of 3 weekly classes each, taught consecutively and linked together. 

Total workload of 128 hours.

 The modules that comprise the Higher Diploma are: 

• Daniel Francisco Nagao Menezes (Faculty of Campinas, Brazil)
• Federico Li Bonilla (State Distance Learning University, Costa Rica)
• Tatiana Gonzáles Rivera (National Autonomous University of Mexico)
• Leandro Pereira Morais (Paulista State University, Brazil)
• Juan Fernando Alvarez Rodriguez (Pontifical Javeriana University, Bogotá, Colombia)
• Ana Beatriz Garzón Olaya (Solidarity Unit - Ministry of Labor, Colombia)
• Mónica López Santamaría (La Salle University, Colombia)