Outreach

Healthcare is one of the main areas in which VDC collaborates with nearby communities, providing information resources, evaluation services, diagnostics and community intervention, articulating university courses to support reality-based learning for students with a direct connection with patients and their specific needs.

One of the most important projects in this area consist in the organizing of Healthcare Fairs. These imply the mobilization of Medicine, Odontology, Nursery, Occupational Therapy, Nutrition and Dietetics and Kinesiology students, creating a public space intervention in the surroundings of Casa Central, San Joaquin and Oriente campus, offering free exams, informative talks, and workshops for the community and neighbors. During 2024, 5 of these events were implemented, benefiting 340 campus neighbors.

Given a growing interest among local organizations and education establishment, environmental education is a strong branch of VDC collaborations with its community partners.

On one hand, a highlight of 2024 is a collaboration with the Education Faculty in the project “Freedom in education” (“En Libertad de Educación” – ELEDUC), coordinated by Inclusion Directorate. This project aims to accompany female inmates of the San Joaquín Female Penitentiary Center in their job placement process, through preparation and assessment in college education and labor preparation. During 2024, Engagement and Community Development collaborated with the Urban Sustainable Development Center (Centro de Desarrollo Urbano Sustentable – CEDEUS) in the deployment of a Citizenship and Sustainability class module.

Apart from this project, VDC collaborates with kindergartens and schools in “environmental education program for infants”, implementing diverse didactic modules to teach sustainable habits, climate awareness and show the university’s best practices regarding sustainable management.

The Seed Fund “Harvesting bonds through education for sustainability”, aims to enhance responsible internationalization. It is a collaborative effort between the Office of Global Mobility, the newly inaugurated Office of Engagement and the Office of Sustainability. The objective of this fund is to enhance the relationship between the institution and its community partners, especially through environmental education, funding three significant community projects a year.

Regarding to neighborhood and local culture, VDC completed three activities with communities nearby Casa Central, Lo Contador and San Joaquín campus. In the first of these, VDC organized a heritage photography contest, with the objective of spreading and highlighting the importance of the inhabitant’s perspective of their neighborhood culture and heritage. Photographies were exhibited during Heritage Day, a national celebration of historic architecture and intangible legacies.

In Lo Contador campus, during Heritage Day VDC organized an exhibit, along with Pedro de Valdivia Norte Neighborhood, that showed testimonies and stories considered representative of the community’s identity. Finally, in San Joaquín Campus, along with Santa Elena village, VDC organized a flora biodiversity recognition tour, considering natural heritage knowledge spreading is an essential part of environmental awareness.

This project consisted of the development of a planning tool so that residents can manage urban projects based on a development proposal for the neighborhood, agreed upon by the community. This plan seeks to respond to the diverse problems and interests of Pedro de Valdivia Norte neighborhood creating a common goal that guides the development of the neighborhood in both the public and private sectors, promoting quality of life and sustainable development.

The plan was developed by the External Services Department (DESE) of the Faculty of Architecture, Design, and Urban Studies, with the support of the Engagement and Community Development area of ​​the UC Sustainability Directorate. The making of this plan is divided into four stages, each of which involves citizen participation: Methodological Adjustment, Diagnosis, Territorial Outreach and Master Plan.

VDC collaborates with “Pastoral Care Office”, with a neighbor discount for “Belen UC”, a pre-college course pack, that gives high school students preparation for further studies. This service is implemented by the university’s students, that give Math, Language, History and Science subjects.

Neighbor Card (o Tarjeta Vecino), is a project that promotes access to benefits, discounts and activities for those who live in the neighborhoods surrounding the UC campuses. It brings neighbors closer to sustainability-related activities developed by the Sustainability Directorate through communication and implements studies, by a continuous improvement framework.

This initiative allows campuses neighbors to use university’s infrastructure on a daily basis, such as sports areas and campus pools, libraries and bookstores. Also, it promotes the uses of religious, and cultural spaces, opening the campus to nearby communities.