Co-creating solutions for the development of the countryside

In the Regional Innovation Cluster, university students developed initiatives to address rural needs.

The University of Cundinamarca, through the Business Administration program, Ubaté branch, participated in the 2017-II version of the Regional Innovation Cluster with the co-creation of five proposals in which 20 students from the Project Formulation course, led by teacher Sandra Milena Melo Perdomo, participated.

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This Regional Innovation Cluster initiative, promoted by the company Distancia Cero, transforms the needs of local actors into classroom challenges using methodologies oriented towards challenge-based learning.

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“Challenges are questions posed to students so that they can try to find solutions through classroom projects. In this way, student work is not theoretical exercises on a shelf, but practical experiences in real-life situations.”, explained Sandra Milena Melo Perdomo, an expert in innovation projects and a member of the Cluster network.

At the final meeting held last November, the Honey Challenge, proposed by the University of Cundinamarca for producers and which was called “The Wonderful World of Bees” It obtained first place within the Cluster; likewise, the Quinoa challenge achieved third place by creating the saponifying machine.

The five products or deliverables developed by the students of UCundinamarca during the Cluster were:

1. Beekeeping booklet to strengthen the processes for the beekeeping committee of the Association of Peasant Users through the production unit “The Wonderful World of Bees” (Guachetá).
2. Deaponification machine for quinoa producers of Asoprocampo (Carmen de Carupa).
3. Plan for the implementation of the environmental management system in the Association of Miners of the Highlands (Guachetá).
4. Marketing plan for the poultry committee of the Association of Peasant Users and its production of eggs with omega 3 (Guachetá).
5. Strategic direction for the Puntica Livestock Association-ASGANPUG (Guachetá).

This cluster involved 75 students from the National University, Sergio Arboleda University, and the University of Cundinamarca. Each semester, the students, associations, foundations, and faculty members involved held three meetings in Bogotá to share experiences and provide feedback from different perspectives on the work being done in these educational spaces.

Download the event proceedings here