Javeriana Training Program for Social Change and Peace , Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Cali (Colombia)

Formación Javeriana para el Cambio Social y la Paz (FORJA) at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Cali emerged from a curriculum intended to contribute to the solution of local and regional problems through the perspective of medium- and long-term collaborative work . In this way, it enhances training within disciplines, the development of critical thinking, and social commitment in context.

The program uses service-learning methodology, which involves an experiential learning pedagogy and integrates community work with the academic program. Thus, students create spaces for the exchange of knowledge between communities and academia, transforming their vision as citizens and professionals.

“This honorable mention for the MacJannnet Prize that our FORJA program has obtained is, without a doubt, a recognition of the deep and serious work that Javeriana has taken on. It represents our desire to make cross-sectional social responsibility academically incarnate across our entire university through students and professors who focus their efforts on providing a relevant service in our region in an explicit, systematic, and long-term manner.” – Luis Felipe Gómez S.J, Rector

“For the FORJA program, receiving an honorable mention for the MacJannet Prize from the Talloires Network is an acknowledgement of the university and its professors, and an encouragement for them to continue to promote contextualized teaching that emphasizes the transformational elements of encounters between folk, rural, and urban academic realities. I am convinced that participating in academic subjects that integrate service-learning methodology marks a different way of conceiving of the meaning of the academic profession. It marks a different way of designing service for others, putting collaboration and networking into practice in order to contribute to the construction of a more humane world.” – Claudia Mora, Program Director

Applied Microbiology students taking samples on the farm of agroecological producers