Higher education and social transformation

On Tuesday, February 6, CLACSO organized the Forum “ Higher Education and Social Transformation ” in the Protocol Room of the Hotel Palco in Havana, Cuba.

The inaugural panel, "Higher Education of the Future: Social Transformation, Quality, Relevance and Sustainability," included the following participants:

Karina Batthyány, Executive Director of CLACSO
Reynaldo Velázquez Zaldívar, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Higher Education of Cuba
Marian Hernandez Colina, Vice-Rector for Teaching at the University of Havana
Amauris Laurencio Leyva, Director of CEPES
María Isabel Dominguez, from the Center for Psychological and Sociological Research (CIPS) and member of the Steering Committee and Representative of the CLACSO Centers of Cuba and the Caribbean

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Panel: Systemic nature of education. Higher Education and preceding levels: pending challenges for equitable access, with inclusion and without discrimination

Marlén Triana. General Director of Basic Education of the Ministry of Education (MINED, Cuba)
María del Carmen Zabala. Researcher at FLACSO Cuba and Coordinator of the Public Policy Network
Niuva Ávila. Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Havana
Amauris Laurencio, Director of the Center for the Improvement of Higher Education (CEPES) of the University of Havana
René Ramírez, UNAM, Coordinator of the Science, Technology and Innovation Axis of the CRES-UNESCO

Moderated by: Mario Rodríguez-Mena, Researcher at CIPS

Panel: Higher Education, Open Science and Social Transformation

Luis Orlando AguileraDirector of the Center for Studies for Local Development Management (CE-GEDEL) at the University of Holguín
Enrique GomezResearcher at the Center for Psychological and Sociological Research (CIPS)
Elaine MoralesResearcher at the Juan Marinello Institute of Cultural Research (ICIC) and Coordinator of the Cuban and Latin American Identity Network
Nelcy MartinezDeputy Director of Science and Technology at the National School of Public Health (ENSAP)
Lia FialhoProfessor at the State University of Ceará, Brazil and Vice President of the Brazilian Association of Scientific Editors (ABEC)
Pablo VommaroAcademic Secretary of CLACSO

Moderated by: Luis Emilio Aybar, Director of the Juan Marinello ICIC

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The Forum met as part of the “ 14th International Congress of Higher Education University 2024 ” which took place from February 5 to 9 and also consisted of an opening conference, a meeting of Ministers and Authorities of Higher Education and the Forums “Higher Education and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”, “UNESCO’s Prospects for the Higher Education of the Future. Vision from the Latin American and Caribbean context” and “Knowledge, innovation and sustainable territorial development”.

Within the framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and in accordance with the implementation of the Roadmap proposed by UNESCO , Higher Education must consolidate its link with society in order to find more effective and innovative solutions to the problems of each country and, in this way, guarantee inclusive and quality education, promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all.

The commitment that such involvement and demand represent obliges the university, as an agent of sustainable development, to strengthen its relevance, the effectiveness and efficiency of its processes, its responsibility, and its inclusive practices in favor of social transformation in all its dimensions, primarily the economic, sociocultural, and environmental. At the same time, this reaffirms higher education as a public and social good, a universal human right, and a duty of states.

Based on these premises, the Ministry of Higher Education of Cuba and its Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) invite you to participate in the University 2024 Congress, to continue dialoguing and reflecting on its role in social transformation, based on the principles of quality, sustainability and relevance.

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The meeting also included seven symposia, which grouped together the Workshops and Special Activities convened in this edition of the University Congress.

Symposium 1. Higher Education and the challenges for the future: internationalization, digital transformation, financing and information perspective.
• XVII International Workshop “Higher Education and its Perspectives”.
• XII International Workshop on “Internationalization of Higher Education”.
• X International Workshop “Digital transformation and advanced technologies in Higher Education”.
• XIII Workshop on Financing Higher Education.
• I Workshop “The informational perspective in transformative, quality, relevant and sustainable Higher Education”

Symposium 2. Higher Education Management. Quality for Sustainable Development.
• XVII International Workshop on “Postgraduate Training for Sustainable Development”.
• XII International Workshop on “Quality Assessment and Accreditation in Education”.
• 1st International Workshop on “Human Resources Management and its impact on the quality of Higher Education”

Symposium 3. University extension, commitment and social transformation for sustainable development.
• XVII International Workshop on “University Extension”.
• III Workshop “Gender Equality: Progress and Projections”
• III Workshop “University, Aging and Sustainable Development”.
• II Workshop on “Physical Activity and Sport”

Symposium 4. Training competent professionals from an inclusive and equitable perspective, for sustainable development.
• XIV International Workshop on “Pedagogy of Higher Education”.
• 10th International Workshop on “University Training of Education Professionals”.
• 10th International Workshop “Medical Education: Challenges and Perspectives”.
• VII Workshop on “Didactics of Basic Sciences, Engineering and Architecture”.
• VI Workshop on “Teaching the Arts in Higher Education”.

Symposium 5. University, knowledge and innovation for sustainable development.
• XIV International Workshop “University, Science, Technology and Innovation”.
• XIV International Workshop “University, Environment, Energy and Sustainable Development”.
• X International Workshop on Universalizing the University in Rural Environments.
• VIII International Workshop “University, Food Security and Sovereignty”.
• II International Workshop “The social sciences and humanities from the university”.
• 1st International Workshop on “Open Science in Higher Education”.

Symposium 6. Role of student and trade union organizations in Higher Education.
• XI Forum of Student Organizations at the University.
• XI Forum of Trade and Union Organizations at the University.

Symposium 7. Linking universities with the productive and service sectors: a strategic vision for sustainable development.
• II International Workshop “University–Productive and Service Sector”.

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