The University of Caldas, is a public institution, accredited with High Quality by the Ministry of National Education of Colombia, It produces, beholds, spreads, and plies knowledge through curricular, research and academic processes. It is based in the city of Manizales, Caldas state, in the west-center region of the country, a city at the top of the Andean mountain range, which belongs to the Cultural Coffee Grower Landscape of Colombia, recently declared by UNESCO as Human Heritage.
The University of Caldas is the eldest and most recognized University in the region and has highly contributed to its academic, economic, cultural and scientific development. The University offers 34 undergraduate programs and 51 postgraduate programs in its 6 faculties: Arts and Humanities, Exact and Natural Sciences, Agricultural and Livestock Sciences, Legal and Social Sciences, Health Sciences and Engineerings. Due to its 4 research institutes (Institute of Agricultural and Livestock Biotechnology, Institute of Social and Human Sciences -ICSH-, Institute of Stratigraphy Research -IIES-, Institute of Health Research), which are part of international research networks, its 58 research groups and 14 magazines (3 of such are indexed in A1 category, Colciencias top category), the University of Caldas occupies the 11th place in the U-Sapiens Ranking, and it is on its way to become a third generation university where innovation is a fundamental feature. The University has 6 campuses in Manizales and 3 farms for academic training and agricultural and livestock production.
The total built area covers 72904 m2, including 11 buildings for academic activities, research and administration, and complementary areas such as the graduate campus, students residencies, gym and health services. The University has 15500 students, from which 2437 study regionalization programs and 549 are postgraduate students.
In the Faculty of Agricultural and Livestock Sciences 3 academic undergraduate programs related directly to the SUS-TER subjects are offered: Veterinary Medicine and Zootechnics; Agronomic Engineering; and Management of Agricultural and Livestock Businesses. Also, 3 Master programs ( Systems of Agricultural and Livestock Production, Rural Societies and Veterinary Sciences) Themes of research, planning, and teaching related to SUS-TER are also included. In other faculties tightly related Master programs are also offered: Social Sciences, Human Ecology and Environmental Knowledge, and Territorial Studies.
Other undergraduate programs, to which SUS-TER project can make contributions, are: Technology of Agricultural and Livestock Management, Technology in Environmental Management, Technology in Agricultural Business Management, Technology in Coffee Grower Business Management, Food Engineering, Financial Administration, Social Work, Graduate in Social Sciences.
The academic participation of the University of Caldas in SUS-TER is expressed fundamentally in the strengths of 3 departments (Agricultural and Livestock Production, Rural Development, Natural Resources, and History and Geography) and 2 research groups (Analysis of Agricultural and Livestock Production Systems -ASPA-, Center of Rural Studies -CERES). The University of Caldas is responsible for the WP1, taking advantage of its 30 years’ experience in regionalization of higher education (Regional Centers of Higher Education -CERES- and the program University in the Countryside) through which, several territorial diagnostics have been made.
The main tasks are:
I) Preparation and validation of the Work Package guidelines and exchange of a common framework; II) Analysis of the situation in the territory/ at a regional level; III) Analysis of the synthesis of national level necessities; IV) International Systematization and report of the WP1.
UCaldas will assist the WP5, particularly in the organization of the territorial laboratory that has been planned to be implemented in Colombia, counting on its experience in the realization of previous territorial laboratories in the Cluster of Higher Education in the Coffee Grower Area. It will also assist the WP9 in aspects of interaction management between territories and universities. UCaldas articulates tightly with territorial counterpart placed in the Coffee Grower Landscape, UNIQUINDIO, such as in identification of demands, offer and educational breaches, and also for institutionalization and placement of SUS-TER results in the final event in Bogotá.