Universities and social actors from Latin America and Spain reflect on the transformative potential of the university-society relationship

Date: 2025 April 10

Twenty Latin American universities, twenty-four Spanish universities and one African university, together with different social collectives from their respective territories, came together on 20 March for the conference on Critical University Extension: context, panorama and contributions to social transformation.

This online conference featured an interesting discussion between Lia Pinheiro (sociologist, lecturer at the Ceará State University in Brazil and member of the Landless Workers' Movement [MST]) and Julián Márquez (social anthropologist and doctoral researcher in the UPV/EHU’s Parte Hartuz research group).

The discussion highlighted the importance of clarifying the purpose of extension activity, which requires collaboration between the university community and social actors to build critical knowledge that responds to the needs of a given territory.

Both Lia and Julián emphasised the importance of moving towards an integrated approach. In terms of teaching, they stressed that the educational process extends beyond the classroom, becoming more complex and more transformative for those who participate in it. In terms of research, this approach represents a clear commitment to fostering dialogue between popular and academic knowledge with a view to bringing about radical societal transformation. When viewed through this lens, university extension activity helps to guide the very practice of the university itself.

This online conference was attended around seventy people, who had the opportunity to delve deeper into these debates and learn about the projects that Hegoa is promoting in collaboration with eight Spanish universities and four Latin American universities (2023–2026).

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