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The graduation ceremony of the 2021 generation of the “Sembrando Saberes” diploma course was held online, a joint initiative of the UC Public Policy Center and Minera El Abra. These are 23 people belonging to 20 indigenous communities or associations from Alto El Loa, Calama, Ollagüe and San Pedro de Atacama, who attended the academic program.
The content of the program was developed collaboratively between the members of these communities, academics, experts and local actors. The initiative arose as a response to the need of the communities to have more spaces for certified training and to strengthen their skills and abilities.
Ignacio Irarrázaval, director of the UC Center for Public Policies, pointed out that “this way of delivering knowledge and knowledge is very interesting for it to be interacted between the university and the indigenous communities themselves. We as a university have quite a few years, but there are many things of indigenous knowledge, of good living, which from the communities have more experience than us. There is mutual learning here”.
Rubén Funes, president of El Abra said that “we highlight the important work that we carry out with the communities in conjunction with the Catholic University, and we believe that this is the way in which we are a real contribution to the community. We hope to see the fruits of these learnings and continue to be an ally in the construction of the joint future in the region”.
Janett Troncoso, a graduate of the first generation of the diploma course, relieved “this wonderful project was developed in conjunction with different communities. The information and the contents that were given in the graduate courses are super important issues that we needed to handle, in order to be able to face the different situations that arise within a community”.
The diploma course, which premiered its first version in 2020, and which is free, consists of five courses that include tools for dialogue and conflict mediation, environmental institutions, water rights, citizen participation and indigenous consultation, among others.
