XIII International School of the Ibero-American Network of Postgraduate Studies in Childhood and Youth – RedINJU

This is an intensive postgraduate training program with a comparative and regional perspective. It has been held for nine consecutive years with the participation of master's and doctoral students, professionals responsible for the formulation and implementation of public policies, and representatives of social organizations working on early childhood, childhood, and youth issues in Latin America and the Caribbean.

• To provide a high-quality and rigorous postgraduate training proposal in the field of studies and policies in early childhood, childhood and youth, from a national, regional, international and comparative perspective.

• To foster dialogue on the topics of ongoing research and the difficulties involved in this process.

• To exchange knowledge among participants on theoretical, epistemological and methodological issues of research on early childhood, childhood and youth, as well as professional management practices in social policies.

• To creatively address the challenges of integration among the countries of the region; to recognize, value and live with ethnic-cultural diversity, and to make visible the regional, national and local particularities that frame the discourses and practices of the participants in the School.

• To empower participants with a critical and analytical vision of the social, political, cultural, and economic institutions and forces of their countries and the continent; a position committed to building conditions of equity and justice in the region, as a framework for knowledge production processes, policy analysis, and the design of programs aimed at the human, social, cultural, and political development of early childhood, childhood, and youth; as well as the construction of opportunities and conditions for dignified and equal living.

• To generate dynamics of articulation between the production of knowledge and the development of social policies and actions, as well as to promote solidarity, collaboration, the sense of collective action and the exchange of experiences in the construction of common projects.

• Strengthen the network that is being formed with researchers, public policy officials and representatives of social organizations on issues of early childhood, childhood and youth.

• To promote dialogue and exchange of experiences between researchers at different stages of their training.

• Sara Victoria Alvarado (Coordinator of RedINJU, director of the Center for Advanced Studies in Childhood and Youth and of its Doctorate in Social Sciences, Childhood and Youth of Cinde and the University of Manizales, Colombia)
• Pablo Vommaro (Executive Director of CLACSO, Argentina)
• Alejandro Gambina, (Director of Training and Postgraduate Network of CLACSO, Argentina)
• Yamileth Andrade (Vice-Rector, University of Manizales, Colombia)
• Daniela León (Assurance Coordinator, University of Manizales, Colombia)
• Silvia HS Borelli (Representative of RedINJU, PUCP-SP, Brazil)
• Rodolfo Cruz (Representative of the RedINJU, El Colef, Mexico)
• Alejandra Barcala (Representative of the RedINJU, UNLa, Argentina)
• Myriam Southwell (Representative of the RedINJU, University of La Plata, Argentina)
• Daniel Llanos Erazo (Representative of the Salesian Polytechnic University of Ecuador and Coordinator of the CLACSO Working Group on Childhoods and Youth)
• María Isabel Domínguez (Coordinator of the Youth Studies Group of the Center for Psychological and Sociological Research, CIPS, Cuba)
• Alexandra Agudelo López  (Vice-Rector of Teaching at Luis Amigó Catholic University, Colombia)

The School is conceived as a space for academic, political and pedagogical integrationIt is geared towards critical reflection and situated dialogue surrounding the multiple realities experienced by children and young people in contemporary contexts marked by profound inequalities, democratic disputes, technological transformations, and dynamics of mobility and violence. Its methodology prioritizes a participatory, dialogical and intergenerational approachwhich recognizes knowledge as a collective construction, situated and in permanent tension with social, historical and territorial contexts.

For this version, the School will be developed from four thematic axes that connectwhich will guide the debates, reflections, and academic exchange processes during the meeting: 

• Childhood and youth, inequalities, human rights and disputes for a dignified life
• Childhood and Youth, democracies, participation, social transformations and collective agency
• Childhood and Youth, Education, technologies, knowledge and horizons of re-existence
• Childhoods and Youth, Mobilities, Public Policies and Resistance in Contexts of Violence

This space for academic integration will combine keynote lectures, academic panels, and workshops, aimed at deepening theoretical, methodological, and political-epistemic debates, as well as strengthening the dialogue between research, public policy, social practices, and collective action, based on the experiences and reflections of the participants. Similarly, each workshop session will emphasize the following points of exchange and analysis:

• Objects of knowledge / objects of work
• Categories of analysis in research and in the development of policies or actions for social intervention.
• Connections between Social Sciences, policy formulation and social intervention. Research and policies for transformation.

The call for applications is aimed at:

• Master's or doctoral thesis students with thesis projects in the areas of childhood or youth, preferably linked to a CLACSO member center or studying a postgraduate course in the CLACSO Postgraduate Network.
• Public policy officials or representatives of social organizations working in the areas of childhood or youth in Latin American or Caribbean institutions.

The rights to participate in the academic agenda at the School are free and open to all. Latin American and Caribbean participants will have their accommodation covered in shared rooms, with breakfast included, from Sunday, April 12th to Saturday, April 18th. Lunches will also be provided by the organizers from Monday, April 13th to Friday, April 17th. 

An international jury, made up of members of the academic committee and other designated evaluators, will select the participants.

The evaluation will take into account academic, geographic, and institutional criteria to ensure the participation of students from diverse countries and institutions. The decision will be final and cannot be appealed. 

The results will be announced on the websites of CLACSO, the Center for Advanced Studies in Childhood and Youth of CINDE and the University of Manizales and the host university, the Catholic University Luis Amigó.  

30 international participants, 15 Colombian residents or nationals with master's or doctoral degrees, responsible for public policies and/or representatives of social organizations will be selected, for a total of 45 participants.

RedINJU Special Fund: 1 postgraduate student will be selected from each institution that is part of the Network: Cinde Foundation, University of Manizales, Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo/PUCP-SP, Brazil; University of Lanús/UNLa, Argentina, Faculty of Social Sciences/FLACSO, Argentina; Salesian Polytechnic University (Ecuador); College of the Northern Border/El Colef, Mexico; University of Buenos Aires (UBA, Argentina); Center for Psychological and Sociological Research (CIPS, Cuba), University of the Republic/UdelaR, Uruguay and the Catholic University Luis Amigó (ULuisAmigó, Colombia).

Terms and Conditions 

The institutions organizing the school They do not assume or cover air or land transport costs, nor another lodging or food beyond what is mentioned in this call for applications. 

Colombian residents or nationals will be able to count on lunches during the days of the meeting.

Those interested should register on the CLACSO website. To do so, they must complete the following requirements: 

• Online form
• CV
• Letter of intent
• Summary of your research project (in the case of postgraduate students) 
• Letter of endorsement (in the case of public policy representatives or social organizations)

Applications open until February 2, 2026  

IMPORTANT

Those who have participated in previous editions of the RedINJU International Postgraduate School, held in Cartagena de Indias, 2011; Montevideo, 2012; La Paz, 2013; Tijuana, 2014; Antigua, 2015; Manizales, 2016; Tegucigalpa, 2017; Manizales, 2018; Tijuana, 2019, Quito, 2022, Manizales 2023 and Buenos Aires Argentina 2024, will not be able to apply.

Certificates of participation will be given to all students who attend all the activities proposed by the School.