CRUCH Universities seek to advance common criteria to strengthen Community Engagement

Representatives from the 30 universities that make up the Commission participated in its first face-to-face plenary session of 2026, held over two days in Santiago.

The meeting addressed the relationship of universities with the social world, public policies, businesses and innovation, to identify shared challenges and strengthen collaborative work.

Representatives from the 30 universities that make up the Community Engagement Commission of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH) met on August 5 and 6 in the first face-to-face plenary session of the year with the purpose of sharing experiences, recognizing common challenges and advancing in criteria and tools that allow strengthening this university function.

The meeting, organized collaboratively by Alberto Hurtado University (UAH), Diego Portales University (UDP), and the University of the Andes (Uandes), addressed community engagement from various perspectives of university relationships with their surrounding communities. During the two-day event, representatives from institutions across different regions engaged in dialogue with stakeholders from the social sector, public policy, business, and innovation, and participated in working groups to analyze their own experiences.

The rector of the Austral University of Chile and head of the Community Engagement Commission, Egon Montecinos, stated that “Community Engagement occupies a strategic place in our universities today: not only as an institutional function, but as a way of understanding our public responsibility and building more reciprocal, permanent and relevant relationships with the communities and territories of which we are a part.”.

Montecinos added that the challenge for CRUCH universities is to move towards “shared institutional capacities that allow us to recognize learning, evaluate contributions and respond collaboratively to increasingly complex social, cultural, environmental and productive problems.”.

Different realities, shared challenges

The morning of the first day began at Alberto Hurtado University and continued at INFOCAP (Institute for Popular Training and Education), The event featured a discussion on universities and the social world, with the participation of TECHO's executive director, Gonzalo Rodríguez, and the head of the Social and Human Development Division of the Santiago Regional Government, Joaquín Walker. Afterwards, the commission members met in groups to exchange experiences and analyze the contribution and impact of universities in their relationship with communities.

During the afternoon at Diego Portales University, the focus was on the relationship between universities and public policy. A panel discussion was organized, featuring Ignacio Cáceres, Deputy Director of Outreach and Advocacy at the UC Center for Public Policy and Executive Director of Vincula; Carlos Cruz, Executive Director of the Infrastructure Policy Council and former Minister; and Ricardo Lagos Weber, former Senator and former Minister. The discussion was moderated by Marcela Perticará, Director of the Department of Economics at the UDP School of Management and Economics.

The dialogue allowed for an analysis of the obstacles hindering the connection between academic production and public decision-making processes, including the different logics and timelines at which these two spheres operate. In this context, the need to create more spaces for collaboration between academia and those involved in public policy design was raised. 

The president of the Community Engagement Commission, Claudia García, from the Metropolitan Technological University (UTEM), highlighted that the diversity of institutions and experiences represented in the plenary session enriched the reflection and helped to recognize common challenges related to this mission function.

“We have public and private universities, from the regions and from Santiago, all with different realities, experiences, and mechanisms for engaging with the community. However, despite this diversity, there is a common element at the heart of Community Engagement: how we can mainstream it within universities so that it contributes to making all our core functions relevant and, at the same time, allows us to contribute effectively to the social and economic development of the regions and the country,” he said.

Articulate capabilities to increase impact

The second day, held at the University of the Andes, focused on the relationship between universities, businesses, and innovation. A visit to the Biomedical Research and Innovation Center (CiiB) was organized, followed by a panel discussion featuring the Minister of Science, Technology, Knowledge, and Innovation, Ximena Lincolao; the Rector of INACAP, Lucas Palacios; and one of the founding partners of Globe Ventures, Daniel Dacarrett. The discussion was moderated by the Director of Innovation/BiCI (Bidirectional Commitment In Innovation), Anil Saradangani, and was followed by another working session between the universities.

In this way, the three areas addressed during the plenary session allowed for contrasting different forms of Community Engagement and recognizing points of convergence between institutions with different characteristics, territories and models.

“This meeting allowed us to recognize that, from different perspectives and realities, we share challenges and opportunities to strengthen community engagement. Dialogue with the social sector, public policy, businesses, and innovation showed us the value of integrating perspectives and learning from our own experiences,” García stated.

Based on the conversations and the work carried out during the two days, the president of the Commission posed the challenge of transforming the shared learning into capabilities that can be projected to all universities. 

“The challenge ahead is to continue moving forward collaboratively, building common criteria and tools, and coordinating our capabilities so that VcM generates an ever-greater impact and contribution to the development of the country and its territories,” he concluded.