Prominent regional authorities and community leaders highlighted the importance of generating human-centered educational instances that allow the development of collaborative and innovative projects that promote the empowerment of local communities.
On March 22, the graduation ceremony of the first generation of the “School of Human Scale Economy and Collaborative Innovation in the Los Ríos Region” was successfully held.
The initiative, financed with 10 million pesos by the Division of Social and Human Development (Dideso) of the Regional Government (GORE) of Los Ríos and executed by the Manfred Max Neef Foundation in collaboration with the Los Ríos Collaborative Innovation Center (CIC Los Ríos), marked a milestone in strengthening local entrepreneurship and innovation.
The main objective of the School’s pilot project was to strengthen innovation processes on a human scale of 20 grassroots organizations in the communes of Lanco and Máfil, inspired by the vision of Development on a Human Scale proposed by prominent thinkers such as Manfred Max Neef, Antonio Elizalde and Martin Hopenhayn.
The graduation ceremony was attended by various authorities, who highlighted the value of this project for sustainable local development.
The manager of CIC Los Ríos, María José Bustos, together with Christian Henríquez, director of the Manfred Max Neef Foundation, highlighted the collaborative work that made this initiative possible, in close collaboration with the municipalities of Lanco and Máfil and the crucial support of the Dideso-GORE Los Ríos.
TRANSFORM LIFE
The Governor of the Los Ríos Region, Luis Cuvertino, emphasized the importance of this type of initiatives to transform lives on a human scale.
The highest regional authority highlighted the “to have allies like the Foundation, which has been fundamental in sharing this knowledge that transforms lives on a human scale, fostering meaningful connections between people and nature, in search of happiness and integral human development.”
For his part, Antonio Elizalde, president of the Manfred Max Neef Foundation and co-author of the theory of Human Scale Development, expressed that when they proposed these ideas more than 30 years ago, “We seek to answer how we become better humans. We discovered that what really matters are close relationships, affections. And I want to highlight the deep emotion that overcomes me, because I can see that in this space ideas like the ones we worked on for so long can materialize.”
One of the most emotional moments of the ceremony was the intervention of Mireya Manquepillán, representative of the School participants, who thanked the participatory methodology and the approach focused on the needs and dreams of the local communities.
“They didn’t come to impose, we were the protagonists of our dreams” Mireya indicated. This is in line with what was expressed by Jorge Alvial, presidential delegate in the Los Ríos Region, who stressed the need to generate public policies from the conversations and agreements that are generated in the territory, in “bottom-up” initiatives. .
During the ceremony, the innovative and collaborative projects developed by the community organizations of Lanco and Máfil were highlighted, ranging from the creation of sports and cultural spaces to virtual platforms to make visible and market local products and services, all with an economic focus. on a human scale. As Manfred Max Neef used to say, “development has to do with people and not with objects, understanding that the economy is part of a larger subsystem that is the biosphere, without whose services no economy would be possible,” These principles being a fundamental part of the development of the projects.
The presence of Laura Fúquene, Colombian expert in Human Scale Development in peace processes, who shared her experience in similar projects in a highly complex context in Colombia, and the presentation of the good results of previous initiatives such as the Human Scale University in the Coquimbo region by professional Boris Silva, added significant value to the ceremony.
The delivery of participation diplomas to the representatives of the organizations marked the closing of this stage of learning and collaboration, leaving a legacy of empowerment and community development in the Los Ríos Region.
If you want to know more about the project you can visit the following note in the Diario Sostenible
