A UNIVERSITY OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND TRANSFORMATION FOR MERCOSUR. Proposal for its creation within the framework of Territoriesnet, the European Union and the Parliament of MERCOSUR: Case study for Minas, Lavalleja, Uruguay

ADRIANA PEÑA, JEAN-JACQUES GIRARDOT Y HORACIO BOZZANO

Salerno

Conferencia; VII ENTI Salerno International Conference of Territorial Intelligence; 2009

ENTI European Network Territorial Intelligence y UniSa Universitá di Salerno

Is it possible to put together the concepts of sustainable development and transformation with a great variety of activities –regarding different dimensions– that have the objective and goal of developing and transforming our societies and social groups, our territories and places in the local, sub-regional and regional scales in the most sustainable possible way? If this task is possible, could we achieve it while simultaneously maintaining scientific rigor and reaching institutions, organizations and citizens in such a way that they would adopt the outcome as their own? This is the first of a series of publications where we start answering these questions from complementary perspectives –political-institutional and scientific-academic– with common intentions.   This paper deals with an initiative for the creation of a Sustainable Development and Transformation University for MERCOSUR in the City of Minas, Uruguay, within the Program of Activities 2010-2015 of the Territoriesnet Global Network, particularly regarding the activities done by the Territorios Posibles Latin American Network; TAG, the scientific node that gave birth to it, as well as the European Network of Territorial Intelligence (ENTI), supported by the Framework Program 6 of the European Union. We also work with the Commission for Regional Sustainable Development [Comisión de Desarrollo Regional Sustentable] of the Parliament of MERCOSUR, with the Uruguay UNDP Articulation of Territorial Networks [Articulación de Redes Territoriales (ART)] Program, with various research groups in Uruguay: UCUDAL, UDELAR, CLAEH and FLACSO, with the Ibero-American General Secretariat [Secretaría General Iberoamericana (SEGIB)] and other initiatives that carry out activities with the same focus on science-society than the current proposal.     This writing is divided into two sections. The first one takes living and latent socio-cultural imprints from the local society, together with the political and social decision to transform the state of relative social and economic stagnation of Lavalleja in relation with Uruguay as a whole, especially during the last half century. The second describes matters related to what is understood by development and sustainable development, as well as diverse scopes and meanings of this concept to incorporate them to the debate on the generation of a macro-subject of study and transversal intervention to a large number of scientific disciplines that will be useful and cohesive for the actions of this future institution of higher learning.[1] [1] This writing is divided into two sections: the concept of transformation associated to the management of the intended development, and co-constructing transformation with local society: first results (Peña, Girardot and Bozzano: 2010; IT-GO Conference Nantes-Rennes)