First-hand perspectives from Latin America
Date: 06 DECEMBER 2023 from 15:00 to 16:30
Event location: Online event
Type: Special Events
The Magna Charta Universitatum 2020 declares
‘Universities have a civic role and responsibility. They are part of global, collegial networks of scientific enquiry and scholarship, building on shared bodies of knowledge and contributing to their further development. They also are embedded in local cultures and crucially relevant to their future and enrichment. While they are immersed in and connected with global developments, they engage fully with and assume leading roles in local communities and ecosystems.’
Latin America is currently witnessing a resurgence of interest in the different ways that higher education institutions can contribute to democratic development through stronger engagement with civil society. The ‘university extension’ movement dating back to the early 1900s is going through a revival that is contributing to the democratic mission of the university. It takes different forms and has different names – extension, engagement, linkages, solidarity service learning, participatory action research, social responsibility, etc – but they all share a common purpose, namely, to place the traditional teaching and research functions of the university within the overall context of the community and society in which it operates.
The purpose of this webinar was to share first-hand perspectives from Latin American countries so that the experience of Latin America becomes part of the global conversation around the democratic mission of the university and the way it may best engage with its local community and civil society.
The webinar was moderated by Ronaldo Munck, head of civic engagement at Dublin City University in Ireland and co-editor (with Yadira Pinilla, Rita Hodges and Catherine Bartch) of Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean: Civic Engagement and the democratic mission.
Speakers:
Marcelo Knobel, Rector of the University of Campinas, São Paulo from 2017 – 2021, where he had previously served in other roles; member of the Governing Council of the Magna Charta Observatory and chair of its Admissions Committee and an elected member of the Council of the Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science. He is a full professor of Physics.
María Rosa Tapia Coordinator of Higher Education and Service Learning in the Catholic Higher Educations Programme, Uniservitate; founding member of the Latin American Centre of Solidarity Service-Learning since 2002 and coordinator of the Youth Volunteer Programme for the Americas’ Distance Education Courses and the Solidarity Schools Support Programme.
Rita Hodges Executive Secretary of the International Consortium for Higher Education, Civic Responsibility and Democracy and Associate Director of the Netter Center for Community Partnerships at the University of Pennsylvania.
Agustín Cano Menoni Professor at Universidad de la República (Udelar), Uruguay.
Ronaldo Munck Professor of Sociology and Director of the Centre for Engaged Research at Dublin City University and former member of the Council of Europe Task Force on The Local Democratic Mission of Higher Education.
Presentations included perspectives from Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina and a commentary from the North American and wider perspectives.
This webinar is one of a series leading to the MCO’s 2024 Anniversary Conference which will be held in Washington DC in the Autumn
The Book Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean: Civic Engagement and the democratic mission, based on an online conference held in February 2022 is available for open access here.
*The Global Cooperation for the Democratic Mission of Higher Education is comprised of four pillar organizations: the Council of Europe; the International Association of Universities (IAU); the International Consortium for Higher Education, Civic Responsibility, and Democracy; and the Organization of American States (OAS). The Magna Charta Observatory is also a member of the International Consortium.
Watch the recording
Report of the MCO Webinar “Engagement with Civil Society – experience from Latin America”- December 6th, 2023
Rapporteur: Julia Berruezo, MCO Research Assistant
The last Magna Charta Observatory (MCO) Webinar of 2023 was organized in association with the Global Cooperation for the Democratic Mission of Higher Education[1]. The purpose of this webinar was to share first-hand perspectives from Latin American countries regarding the engagement of universities with the local community and civil society and included perspectives from Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina and a commentary on North American and wider perspectives. This webinar is one of a series of events leading to the Magna Charta Universitatum Anniversary conference which will be held in Washington DC in the Autumn of 2024.
The speakers at the webinar were: Marcelo Knobel (former Rector of the University of Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil, and member of the Governing Council of the MCO), Agustín Cano Menoni (Professor at Universidad de la República, Uruguay), María Rosa Tapia (Coordinator of Higher Education and Service Learning in the Catholic Higher Educations Programme, Uniservitate, in Argentina) and Rita Hodges (Executive Secretary of the International Consortium for Higher Education, Civic Responsibility and Democracy). The event was moderated by Ronaldo Munck (Professor of Sociology and Director of the Centre for Engaged Research at Dublin City University, Ireland).[2]
The discussion
Ronaldo Munck opened the webinar by introducing the book “Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean: Civic Engagement and the Democratic Mission”[3], which was based on an online conference held in February 2022, and introduced each of the speakers. During his opening speech, he briefly discussed the importance of learning, studying, and engaging with Latin America's university extension experience. This began in 1918, at the National University of Cordoba, Argentina, with a student revolt against the existing teaching model and in favor of a series of changes, including increased student participation, university extension, and university autonomy[4]. The repercussions of this movement reverberated throughout the continent and inaugurated the idea that universities should engage with the local community. To a greater or lesser extent, this idea remains in the university model throughout the continent. This tradition is still little studied outside the continent. He observed that communities expect some kind of involvement from universities, especially when it comes to issues related to economic development.
Marcelo Knobel, introduced the Brazilian experience of university engagement with communities, known as university extension, discussing how this happens in reality and whether there is a legal basis for this to happen. Knobel began his speech by affirming his dual role, as author of the book, but also as a member of the MCO Governing Council. He mentioned that the new version of the Magna Charta Universitatum MCU2020 explicitly states the need for universities to interact with their community and he invited people to read this version[5] and get to know the work of the observatory[6].
Concerning the discussion on extension activities in Latin America, he stated that there is not a single clear definition of the term, but rather there are different nomenclatures and interpretations of what this interaction with the community is. Among the names used are: ‘third mission’, ‘civic mission’, etc. In the Brazilian case, he explained that a broad consensus has been reached, which is contained in the National Policy for University Extension, where this activity is defined as: "an interdisciplinary, educational, cultural, scientific and political process that promotes the transformative interaction between the university and other sectors of society (FORPROEX, 2012, p. 15, in Knobel and Hashimoto, 2023, p.201)". The country has several incentives and policies in Brazil for the academic community to participate in the community, either as part of classroom activities or as extracurricular activities. To organize, promote, and structure this action, he said, all public universities have a vice president for extension[7]
An important element of his presentation was that there is a lack of communication between universities and the community about what is being done at universities and the different existing projects and that communities are not always aware of this. For him, this communication needs to be improved, as it is important for strengthening democracy, for the understanding of the importance of education as a public good, and also for ensuring accountability.
Agustín Menoni addressed the issue from the perspective of Uruguay. At the start of his presentation, he briefly mentioned the history of the concept in Latin America and the existence of different interpretations of it. In addition, he stressed the importance of dialoguing about the experience of Latin American universities with community engagement, whether in events, research, discussion forums, and above all in a global context. This would contribute to the exchange of ideas, experiences, and the overall improvement of the initiatives.
According to Menoni, in Uruguay, extension, as in Brazil, is one of the three pillars of the universities, along with teaching and research. Because of its importance, complexity and reach, it requires an interdisciplinary approach. He explains that the idea of community engagement came from Europe but was quickly transformed and politicized on the continent, acquiring its style and face. He identified and presented three branches of community engagement from the Latin American reformist matrix: The first would be "as a link with the subaltern sectors of the society", and the second would be focused on the research-oriented to tackle social problems and contribute to the society. The third focuses on the pedagogical aspect of the engagement, supporting a broader formation of the students. He also stressed the importance of the collaborative, transformative nature of university extension and of integrating actions within the university curriculum to bring scientific and popular knowledge closer together, contributing to the search for solutions to social problems. This integration into the curriculum is a major challenge.
In her speech, Maria Rosa Tapia spoke about Argentina's experience[8]. She focused on the importance and challenges of promoting the institutionalization of extension in the country and the role of the methodology called service learning, which integrates extension, teaching, and research. According to her, service learning has been a public policy in Argentina since 1997, and since then various initiatives have been created to encourage and support its development and continuity, such as awards, funding systems, and laws that oblige extension to be part of students' curricula for them to gain their diplomas. The latter was included in Argentine legislation in 2010 and can take place in different ways depending on the student's area of training, the needs of the community, etc. In this way, as she affirmed, extension must be at the service of communities. Such engagement also creates possibilities for new forms of learning and situated knowledge.
Rita Hodges spoke about the process of creating the book and the objectives behind it and connected the Latin American experience with the wider global experience. She said the book was created as part of an initiative to exchange experiences, reflections, and challenges about university extension in Latin America. The initiative to create the book came from a conference held in February 2022 at the University of Pennsylvania, which marked the launch of the Learning Community of Higher Education Associations and Leaders in Latin America and the Caribbean. The idea of this initiative is to create a learning community in the region, a space for exchange, dialogue, and support, bringing this rich experience from the region to the global debate on the subject. Hodges also commented on the role of extension in strengthening the democratic mission of higher education institutions, contributing to the creation of individuals who have not only skills in a given field but also ethically engaged democratic citizens. Like the other participants in the webinar, she also mentioned the existence of different interpretations of what this extension activity is and affirmed the need to reflect on how to further institutionalize it in universities.
A key aspect of her speech, which is very much in line with what Knobel mentioned, is the importance of clearly communicating the importance and role of universities to society, understanding them as a link to strengthening democracy. Lastly, she brought up an important factor connected to the long-term nature of the extension activities mentioned by Tapia and Menoni, namely the power dynamics in the relationship between the community and the universities, emphasizing the need for co-creation of knowledge.
The final section of the webinar, Q&A, encouraged a more informal discussion between the different participants. Among the issues discussed was the need to strengthen spaces for dialogue on the topic, bringing people together, discussing what can be done, learning from each other and experiences, and adapting the lessons learned for the local realities. In addition, participants stressed the importance and challenges of institutionalizing these extension projects so that they are embedded in the structure of universities, forming part of the curriculum and involving different members of the academic community. The key lesson here is that the actions cannot just be isolated, one-off experiments, but must create a long-term relationship with the communities.
Linked to this point, the speakers also stressed the importance of distinguishing extension activities from mere charity work, and paying attention to power dynamics between academics and community members, to ensure that the actions benefit the communities in the long term while avoiding knowledge extractivism. Among the challenges highlighted are how to involve the community in the decision-making regarding extension activities and also in its evaluation, and how to improve communication with the community about the projects carried out. Another important matter is the existence of tensions between extension activities and ranking systems, which rarely take these activities into account, but rather prioritize other factors, such as research and the number of publications, for example. Another important challenge, linked to the aforementioned point, is internal matters like financial issues, leadership decisions, or management strategies, and external factors like economic and political conditions in the country. All those factors can affect extension activities.
To sum up, the discussion about the experience of university engagement with the community, underscored a crucial message: engaging with the community is not about mere acts of charity or, to use an expression mentioned in the webinar, “inventing the wheel”. It requires openness to learning from differences, engaging directly with the involved actors, and exchanging experiences.
[1] The Global Cooperation for the Democratic Mission of Higher Education comprises four pillar organizations: the Council of Europe; the International Association of Universities (IAU); the International Consortium for Higher Education, Civic Responsibility, and Democracy; and the Organization of American States (OAS). MCO is a member of the International Consortium. For more information about it, click here.
[2] The biographies of each of the speakers are in Annex 1 at the end of this document.
[3] The book is available freely on the link here.
[4] More information about this discussion on the origins of extension in Latin America can be found in Chapter 2 of the book.
[5] The Magna Charta Universitatum MCU2020 is available in different languages at the MCO website, we invite all to read the document here.
[6] In 2022, to contribute to this mission present in MCU2020 MCO created the project "The Responsive and Responsible University", which aims to explore how activities developed inside the universities might best engage with and respond to the challenges of the communities they serve and also with the creation of a subject-based repository. To learn more about the MCO research project, check the link.
[7] Read more about the Brazilian experience in Chapter 11 of the book Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean: Civic Engagement and the democratic mission
[8] More about the Argentine experience can be read in chapter 10 of the book Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean: Civic Engagement and the democratic mission
