Tec, Uniandes, and UC Chile discuss gaps in LatAm at Tríada event

Researchers, professors, and students from La Tríada universities gathered together to discuss the challenges of inequality in the region during the 2nd Latin American Conference on Social Sciences and Government.

The second edition of this event, coordinated by La Tríada, an alliance between Tec de Monterrey, the University of Los Andes in Colombia (Uniandes), and the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, was held in Santiago, Chile.

“(This conference) is a space for reflection and dialogue about our region’s most important challenges and opportunities,” said Juan Pablo Murra, Rector of Tec de Monterrey.

“It’s a sign of everyone’s commitment and interest in continuing to foster coordination and cooperation between academia, society, and the public sector,” Murra said during speech at the inauguration.

La Tríada commits to collaboration within the region

In his speech, Murra highlighted the interest of La Tríada and Tec de Monterrey in continuing collaborative ties between the communities of this alliance in order to create joint transformation strategies from within Latin America.

The rector praised the way in which these spaces for reflection and learning provide an example of the community’s desire to actively contribute to a more just, prosperous, and equitable panorama.

“It’s vital that we continue working together to find effective solutions to the vast inequalities we face in Latin America,” he said.

“I’m proud to highlight the growth that this conference has seen since last year when we met in Monterrey (...) It’s a reflection of the interest of our academics and professionals in the search for a more equitable future,” he added.

Similarly, Pablo de la Peña, Director of the Executive Master’s Degree in Public Administration and leader of the Latin American Network of Public Leadership, highlighted the increase in proposals received this year.

According to the director, more than 250 presentation proposals were received this year and 100 of them were accepted, while in the first edition, around 100 were received and 50 were accepted.

“In these spaces, new collaborations and joint projects emerge organically, which, in addition to nourishing research, can also lead to the exploration of lesser-known topics and proposals,” he added.

This second edition also received the support of the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF), along with the presence of figures such as Michelle Bachelet, former President of Chile and former Director of UN Women, among others.

Tec community addresses equity from different angles

As part of the Tec de Monterrey delegation, directors, professors, and graduate and undergraduate students were invited and selected to take part in the conference via talks and spaces for collaborative dialogue.

Edna Jaime, Dean of the School of Social Sciences and Government, and Pablo de la Peña participated together with deans of the faculties of social sciences at the other La Tríada universities.

“We were on a panel with Mariana Krause (UC Chile) and Angelika Rettberg (Uniandes) to address the issue of manifestations of inequality,” de la Peña told CONECTA.

“We were interested in talking about the distinctive elements or themes in which we can identify problems of inequality, particularly in the areas of democracy, education, violence, and even mental health,” he added.

For his part, Roberto Durán, a research professor at the School of Government and Public Transformation, addressed the central theme from a perspective of sustainability and responsible resource management for current and future generations.

“Their discussion invited us to think about how we can make better use of resources, how we can reuse them as part of a circular economy, and the search for policies that meet current needs without compromising the future,” said De la Peña.

The academic also applauded the interventions of other stakeholders from the Tec community such as Visiting Professor Agustina Giraudy, Professor Mariana Rangel, and Ph.D. and undergraduate students such as Mónica Belén and Marla de la Cruz.

“Our idea and objective is to continue pushing and motivating these multigenerational dialogues and work teams that greatly help to motivate future researchers,” he said.

Diverse approaches to public transformation

According to De la Peña, a distinguishing feature of this second conference was how it strengthened the voices of Latin American academics from different training backgrounds and with a significant variety of ages.

“The idea of this conference is to talk about the issues hurting Latin America from within Latin America,” said the Master’s program director.

“We typically hear and see studies on the problems in Latin America that are conducted in Europe or the United States, so the idea here is that we should be the main stakeholders in these discussions,” he added.

In this edition, the conference was able to bring together academics, students, and institutions from other Latin American countries such as Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.

Although the first edition of this congress revolved around democracy, De la Peña emphasized how the issue of inequality served as a point of connection between participants by linking them to shared problems.

“This conference is emerging as a benchmark in the region’s Social Sciences (...) bringing together the best academic talent, fostering substantive discussions, and contributing knowledge,” Jaime said via a press release.

“This edition reaffirmed the commitment to work on training excellent social scientists, to advance quality academic production, and to positively impact the environment,” she added.

The Latin American Conference on Social Sciences and Government

The purpose of this event was to reflect on and learn about proposals regarding the challenges of equity in Latin America, the discussion of alternatives between relevant stakeholders, knowledge transfer, and networking.

Over the course of November 13, 14, and 15 this year, speakers from the three institutions addressed various topics from a multidisciplinary perspective.

The second edition was held at the facilities of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, in Santiago de Chile, with the first being at the Tec’s School of Government and Public Transformation in San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo León.

According to De la Peña, the third edition of the conference will take place in Bogotá, Colombia with Uniandes serving as leader of this next gathering.

“The idea is to have a rotating schedule, so that Tec de Monterrey would once again be the host in 2026 for the fourth edition of the conference,” the academic predicted.

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