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This September 11th, when many Chileans commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Military Coup, the Advisory Council of Rectors, the Chilean Academy of Sciences, the Encounters of the Future Foundation and the Future Congress met for the sixth time to reflect on the role of academia and national science in the next 50 years.
The executive vice president of CRUCH and rector of the University of Tarapacá, Emilio Rodríguez, described the meeting as «magnificent and forward-looking," since, he indicated, it was possible to agree "among the different rectors who have participated in it, on a joint vision regarding the tasks that we should undertake from higher education.".
In the session, which was attended both in person and virtually by the majority of rectors of public and private universities, three major tasks and areas of consensus were proposed for collaborative work to deliver a new national project to society—a shared vision of the future that the country currently lacks. This vision will allow the full range of society's capabilities and strengths, such as education and skills development, the scientific and intellectual community, infrastructure, the private sector, institutions, and the various branches of government, to converge on a common project. This will enable the country to realize its enormous opportunities while also addressing the threats it faces due to the obsolescence of many policies that were successful in the past.
On the one hand, it was agreed that universities at the regional level would work to bring together all political, social, and entrepreneurial stakeholders to generate a participatory and deliberative process that establishes the potential and possible futures of all territories. This would involve a development methodology that unifies diverse perspectives with a long-term vision, analyzing the various future scenarios offered by each territory to foster regional development.
In the world of digital platforms, which is the public square of our era, it is essential to contribute truthful content, since it is currently dominated by false and violent content that threatens democracy. To this end, a dissemination platform called “Idea País” will be created, integrating all the content produced by universities. This content will be edited by journalistic editors and presented as verifiable information to combat misinformation. It will be free and available to the entire community.
Guido Girardi, executive vice president of the Encuentros del Futuro Foundation, opened the session by acknowledging the role of universities and their intellectual capacity to generate new thinking, and highlighted the need to have that knowledge in all decision-making spaces.
“Today, thought isn’t confined to the institutional framework, the State, or political parties. But it is present in universities and in innovation processes. I believe it is crucial that universities take on the role of designing and reflecting on how to solve problems related to health, education, security, and pensions, and how to leverage the enormous opportunities Chile has globally to save the planet from climate change.””. Girardi stated.
The founder of Congreso Futuro added that “We cannot change the past 50 years, but we can learn from them. I believe that the challenge we face today is to build the best 50 years in Chile's history, and we have every opportunity to do so from the ground up.”.
Rector Ignacio Sánchez highlighted the holding of this new meeting at the Catholic University, which once again opens its doors to the development of this important activity of science and academia together. «"What we do at the Future Congress and in this Council is look at the issues that are coming up for the new session, see how they can be projected towards the regions, and also see the involvement of young people. And, of course, we look to the future regarding science, academia, and the interaction between knowledge and universities, which are the sources of knowledge generation in our country."», Rector Sánchez commented, who is also president of the Advisory Council of Rectors and Rectors of Congreso Futuro.
From the Arica region, Rector Emilio Rodríguez of the University of Tarapacá joined in and highlighted that today's meeting has been truly magnificent and forward-looking.
“The Advisory Council held a very important meeting because the various university presidents who participated agreed on a shared vision regarding the tasks we should undertake in higher education, but also in partnership with other key stakeholders. Today, we cannot continue working with a short-term perspective or simply following market forces; we also need a long-term vision that the country requires for the future.”, said the executive vice president of CRUCH.
This forward-thinking national project will be delivered as a public good for all Chileans and will be coordinated by rectors Emilio Rodríguez and Ignacio Sánchez along with Guido Girardi.
The session also revealed the progress of the thirteenth edition of Congreso Futuro, which will take place from January 15 to 20, 2024 at the Extension Center of the National Institute.
The executive secretary of the Senate's Future Council, Carola Muñoz, stated that “These meetings are always super relevant because you get to hear from different actors who are always welcome.”. And he pointed out in relation to Congreso Futuro that “We have great news, to date we already have more than 50 confirmed national and international exhibitors and this year there are also many activities parallel to the main event both in Santiago and in all regions,”, It ended.
The Scientific and Technological Advisory Council of Congreso Futuro was created in October 2022 and aims to ensure the quality of the content, talks, and activities carried out under the auspices of Congreso Futuro. This Council meets regularly to plan the guidelines for scientific dissemination and thus position itself as a relevant actor in the country's decision-making processes.
Text and photo: Encounters of the Future Foundation (FEF)
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