The Santander Vision 2050 project began its tour of the region with meetings in the provinces of García Rovira and Guanentá, promoting dialogue between academia and communities about the future of the department.
Between October 16 and 18, the Santander Vision 2050 Project team, led by the Industrial University of Santander (UIS), embarked on its first tour of the Santander region, an exercise that seeks to engage in dialogue with communities, learn about their realities, recognize their potential, and collectively build a vision for the future of the department.
The starting point was the province of García Rovira, in its capital Málaga, where a day of socialization of the project was held at the temporary UIS Málaga headquarters. There, children, young people, farmers, businesspeople, social leaders, and representatives of government entities actively participated in the conversations, imagining how they dream their territory will be in 2050.
The future as a construction from the present
During the meetings, Professor Amado Guerrero, director of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies and Strategic Action for Development (IdEAD) at the UIS and leader of the project, highlighted the importance of the University actively engaging with the regions to understand and transform their realities.
“The university, at this moment, with all its human resources and institutional capacities, has one conviction: the future is built from the present. We are accompanying the territories to develop local capacities and fulfill the commitment we have made as a university.
The university must devote all its capabilities to the territories, because that is where the big problems are, where solutions are really needed. And I believe we are succeeding. We are doing all this so that the territories can take their own decisions into their own hands. That is why, from the beginning of the project and not at the end, we have decided to go to the territory to socialize and build together.
Un encuentro de saberes y visiones
From an academic perspective, Julián Rodríguez Ferreira, professor at the School of Electrical, Electronic, and Telecommunications Engineering at UIS, highlighted the importance of the tour as a learning exercise outside the classroom:
“We have taken a fairly extensive and dense tour of a large part of our Santander region. We broke away from our daily routines, left the classroom and our comfort zone to see and understand firsthand the characteristics of these diverse areas.
We traveled across moors, valleys, and mountains, visiting both large and small towns—each with its own unique character and essence. Perhaps we scientists are often guilty of perceiving regions merely as laboratories for study—places where we collect data and take measurements, detached from their real needs and dynamics. This experience allows us to move beyond that limited perspective and recognize that territories are living, breathing spaces where life unfolds in all its complexity.pens.
A View from Geology
Similarly, Francisco Velandia, director of the UIS School of Geology, highlighted the importance of dialogue between science and the community: “For us, this journey is very enriching because it allows us to talk to people, to learn about their conception of their environment and their territory. We learn a lot from them and we also try to share our vision with them. The most important thing is that this project is done with the community, not from a desk or in isolation. Citizen participation is essential.”
For his part, Edwin Fernando Mendoza Beltrán, geologist and professional attached to the project, highlighted the strategic role of the UIS in leading this initiative: “This is the raison d’être of the Industrial University of Santander. It is the most important center of knowledge in northeastern Colombia, and its leadership of the Santander 2050 Prospective Vision project is a fundamental contribution to the development of the region.“ He also stated that ”during the tour, I heard very positive comments from the communities. They greatly appreciate that academia is leading this process. The UIS has an image of seriousness, responsibility, and respect, with high-quality professionals, and that generates confidence in people that the process will be done well.”
Territorial intelligence as a human strength
Professor Alfonso Pineda, from the School of Biology, highlighted the human strength and territorial roots he perceived during the visit: “It is very interesting to see the love and attachment that people have for their territory. That is something fantastic and hopeful. The human material is there, with an enormous capacity for resilience and a sense of belonging.
However, we also identified the need for more institutional support and improved land connectivity between regions. This would not only facilitate commercial and social exchange, but also strengthen the complementarity between the different areas of Santander. Connectivity is one of the keys to the future development of the department.
Challenges and hopes for the region
The tours also provided an opportunity to hear the voices of those who live in the region, who experience the environmental, social, and economic transformations affecting the provinces on a daily basis.
In Malaga, beekeeper Josué Joya, with more than 25 years of experience, shared his concern about the drastic decline in honey production: “As I see my bees in 2050… the issue of my bees, and I have been watching them for 25 years, I have seen a lot of change in recent years. It’s incredible that in an area as relatively abandoned and remote as ours, we are already feeling the effects of climate change so strongly.
Production has fallen by almost 50%. Before, there were bees everywhere; now there are areas where they simply no longer exist. We have had years where the decline has been 70 or 80%. The bees have no food, their habitat has been altered.”
A view from provincial tourism
For her part, María Yuleidy Merchán Ramírez, administrator of the Hotel Real Country, shared her thoughts on the future of water in the region: “I imagine my territory in 2050 without water. Without water and without the environment.” She also emphasized that if the water reserves we currently have in Malaga or in the province run out, there will be no food, no vegetation, no animals, no life.”
From a critical perspective, Heriberto Caicedo Oviedo, a resident of Malaga, expressed his concern about the advance of mining in the region: “As for mining, it would destroy the region. Mining encourages prostitution, it encourages many bad things, we have already seen that; when coal has a price, it becomes chaotic. The land is damaged for crops.
If the state acted properly, the region could develop tourism, with investment and sustainability, but not with mining. Mining destroys, and that has a direct impact on climate change in the province.”
El panorama desde tierras “patiamarillas”
In the province of Guanentá, Viviana Galvis, a resident of Barichara, highlighted the urgency of solving the water problem: “It is important to solve the water problem. We have the Suárez River nearby, and we are committed to using it sustainably to boost both the municipality’s productive system and tourism.”
From the village of Guane, Tatiana Martínez, owner of the Munay Eco Restaurant, reflected on the changes taking place in the countryside: “Living conditions in cities have led many people to seek a lifestyle in small towns, in the countryside, as is our case. But this migration also poses major challenges in terms of sustainability, as the land subdivisions that have spread in recent years are exacerbating water shortages. We have to think about a model of rural development that respects ecosystems and guarantees life for future generations.”
Una mirada compartida hacia el futuro
The tour of the provinces of García Rovira and Guanentá allowed us to gather not only perceptions, but also knowledge, concerns, and hopes, which will be fundamental inputs for the participatory construction of the Santander 2050 Vision.
With this first cycle of visits, the Industrial University of Santander reaffirms its role as a leading institution in the sustainable and participatory development of the territory, building bridges between scientific knowledge and local wisdom, and promoting a collective vision for the future of Santander.
