Participatory socio-territorial diagnosis: a strategy that articulates the needs of society with university education

Abstract

This study describes a pilot case in a rural community in Chile, where the Comprehensive Center for Social Innovation at the Catholic University of Maule works collaboratively with the community to identify local issues and to design social innovation projects. The methodology is qualitative. A participatory socio-territorial diagnosis is applied based on the principles of action research. Data are gathered from 81 semi-structured interviews and two workshops. The workshops allowed to collectively identifying five critical nodes and 20 proposals for pre-projects that were addressed through collaborative work. The results highlight the design of stages for the co-creation and implementation of social innovation initiatives for professional training. It is concluded that articulated university-rural collaborations favor dialogic relations and enhance the value of diverse knowledge that circulates in society, highlighting its potential for addressing complex issues and for co-creating solutions