Dear colleagues

The main objective of the third edition of this newsletter is to share with you the progress this Project has had in its second phase for the latin american universities, the way they have been developed, and what the future will bring

It is important to remind you this newsletter has five sections which will allow you to see firsthand what the project is about, how it has been developed, other important highlights, and all that will follow. Likewise, you can find additional information of interest related to this in the website impalaproject.eu

We hope you get in contact with us and follow closely this joint growth from the development of the IMPALA project

Marcela del Campo M.
Coordinator of the IMPALA project, Catholic University of Colombia

National Supplement

In the scope of the IMPALA project whose objective is to strengthen the evaluation of the impact on the Third Mission or University Extension of Latin American universities; The National Supplement (T1.5) was developed, in which the three countries that make up the consortium (Colombia, Panama and Cuba) participated. This document describes the context of the participating countries from the Logical Framework for Impact Measurement (IAF - Impact Assessment Framework)

The establishment of these scenarios and the particularities of the Colombian, Panamanian and Cuban environment have allowed to complement the IAF, being a model designed taking into account aspects such as higher education systems and institutional quality accreditation processes, the conceptualization around the impact in measurement systems, methodologies and resources, and alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The description focused on each country addressing the university context, as well as regulations in higher education, initiatives and activities in the field of University Extension, and how the IAF tools have been adapted based on the particularities and national context of each participating country

In general, in the contexts of the countries part of the project, quality control bodies were established that follow verification patterns based on self-evaluation and here-evaluation. Regarding the inclusion of Impact in education systems, it is evidenced as a component of them, however, there is no clear conceptualization and dimensions around its measurement, which focuses on results but not the impact of these in the intervened area. Regarding the Third Mission or University Extension, it is clear that universities consider that the interaction and contribution to society from the academy is part of their mission, identifying six main activities: (1) Continuous Training, (2) Management of the Innovation, (3) Advisory or Consulting Services, (4) Community Programs, (5) Cultural Management and (6) Assistance Services, the most frequent being those aimed at continuous training and those that have less intensity are those focused on Consulting and Consulting. On the other hand, the alignment to the Sustainable Development Goals is in force in the educational contexts of the participating countries, although in an incipient way and in the process of incorporation into their educational quality systems

The purpose of this document is to become a reference for consultation and follow-up for higher education institutions that aim to strengthen their quality systems in education from a process that allows establishing the impact of their activities in the University Extension or third Mission, following the IAF parameters

During this period of global contingency, the University of Antioquia as a public institution, with a presence in most of the subregions of the Department of Antioquia-Colombia, committed to the development of the territories and based on its approach to social responsibility has focused Many of its research, innovation and management efforts in contributing in the best way to the solution of the crisis derived by the pandemic caused by the SARS CoV2 virus (COVID-19) from the different disciplines, proof of this is the development of a respirator for ICU with its own technology, the commitment of the Microbiology laboratory for the development of molecular diagnostic methods, the isolation and cultivation of the SARS-CoV2 virus by its research groups, an advance that opens the doors to research that can help in the fight against this pandemic.

These facts demonstrate the impact that the University has on the Department and the country. Elements that will provide us with inputs to feed the impact evaluation model that concerns us in the IMPALA project.

Likewise, with the University's Innovation Directorate, we worked on the selected project (strengthening of the University, Company, State-CUEE and park E committee in the subregions) in accordance with the IMPALA project evaluation model, given the importance of has the project chosen for the territory, the same exercise has been developed with the department of the University Museum with regard to the selected Cultural Management Project.

Let's hope in the coming months, already in accordance with the "New Normal", to continue making significant progress in the purposes of our Erasmus-IMPALA project.

Sabana university campus

The Sustainable Sabana program constitutes the commitment of the University of La Sabana for the sustainability of its area of ​​influence. This program began in 2012 as a regional planning exercise through which a route of action was demarcated for the province with the identification of the main projects that should take place in the region in terms of infrastructure, services, environment and associativity. to guarantee responsible growth in the territory and enhance its competitiveness in the regional and national framework

La Sabana has seen in IMPALA a promoter to take a step forward and begin to carry out impact measurement actions in Sustainable Sabana projects, this is how two projects were selected as pilots to be analyzed under the impact assessment framework created in IMPALA. The two projects are: Forma Emprende and De la Mano con Sabana Centro.

Through “Forma Emprende”, the aim is to improve the quality of life of the inhabitants of the University's area of ​​influence, through the development of the capacity for sustainable entrepreneurship, through training and support processes. Professors and students from the International School of Economic and Administrative Sciences and partner institutions such as the mayors of the municipalities participate in this project through their secretariats of Economic and Social Development.

For its part, the De la Mano con Sabana Centro project aims to advise municipal mayors on economic and financial issues in order to provide better information for budget decision-making based on the analysis of sector participation in the economic growth of the municipality

The two projects are of great interest to the University, so the expectations regarding what can be achieved with IMPALA are high, since it is expected that once the results of the impact evaluation of these two pilot projects have been evidenced, the IMPALA methodology can be implemented to the other projects of the Sustainable Sabana program

Yomasa Institutional Program

The Catholic University of Colombia begins the piloting of its project "Citizen Strengthening at the service of personal, family and community transformations, towards the coexistence of the participating micro-territories of the Zonal Planning Unit 57 Gran Yomasa between the years 2016 and 2020" which It registers in the typology of volunteering and community projects.

This project is being developed in the 5th town of Usme, which has a total population of 382,654 inhabitants and whose illiteracy is the highest in Bogotá: 3.6%. This population is characterized by having a multidimensional poverty condition MPI: 10.9% and a critical overcrowding of 13,140 people.

The main objective of this project is to promote the development of capacities of girls, boys and young people of the territory and the university, focused on the transformation of the processes of coexistence and citizenship in the territory, strengthening the reading of contexts and the relationship with the others.

It is expected to measure the impact of this project through the% decrease in conflicts in cultural and educational environments in the seven micro-territories of the UPZ 57.

The Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, in a bid to consolidate relations with society within the framework of the exercise of its third mission, will implement the impact evaluation framework built in the project in its JaverianaX program.

JaverianaX is an alliance between the edX platform and the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana with the intention of democratizing education and being able to impact globally, for free and with quality education, through Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). At this time, JaverianaX already has more than 170 thousand participants, thus building a learning community in more than 96 countries.

Through the implementation of the evaluation framework, it is expected to measure the economic impact through the quality of life of the people participating in the platform. Additionally, it seeks to reduce the digital gap and generate skills to improve employment

Notice Cuba

A distinctive characteristic of the IMPALA project is its constant link with activities in practice. As part of this approach and from the beginning of Work Package 4, the five Higher Education Institutions that belong to the IMPALA consortium will begin the implementation of the Impact Assessment Framework (IAF) to develop activities or projects related to the third mission of Higher Education.

The implementation of the IAF through various activities and projects is intended to validate the usefulness and functionality of this tool designed within the framework of the project, which will be put into practice in combination with guidelines that enable its articulation with project management. Some of the projects that will be implemented by Cuban universities in direct link with the Ministry of Higher Education and under the logic of the IAF are:

• Creation of the International Institute of Research in Artificial Intelligence, of the University of Camagüey "Ignacio Agramonte Loynaz"
• Creation of the Holguín Science and Technology Park, a space for the economic development of the territory, of the University of Holguín
• College of doctoral training in the Scientific-Teaching Complex of the Mayabeque Province, of the Agrarian University of Havana "Fructuoso Rodríguez Pérez"
• Creation of the consulting group for the assembly and start-up of intelligent energy management systems of the Central University “Marta Abreu” of Las Villas (UCLV).

It is valid to highlight the start of this last project after the UCLV Energy Group developed the prototypes of smart devices for the automated reading of electricity consumption and the management and data support system

This technology is installed and operating on the UCLV campus. Taking into account the need to promote this invention, particularly in the period of social isolation caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic, the consulting group created applied to obtain sources of financing as initial capital for the development of the technology and proof of concept in entities outside the UCLV. Thus, financing was granted by the Francophonie University Agency and the process of importing components for the assembly of the first 100 devices for their location in Cuba is already underway. After a stage of testing the technology, the UCLV will carry out the process of technology transfer for its industrial production and commercialization and will begin to operate as a consulting group, which has been foreseen in the project proposed within the framework of IMPALA.

The general objective of this project is to establish and put into operation the consulting group for the assembly and start-up of intelligent energy management systems. The implementation of this consulting project will, in turn, make it possible to evaluate the impact generated from the activities carried out by the universities with regard to their third mission.