On July 27, the ASPIRE Project facilitated a workshop entitled “Introductory Experience to Participatory Design and Collaborative Mindsets to Develop Research”, which took place at the main campus of the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (UVG).  This workshop was part of the project’s latest efforts to advance collaboration and innovation within the UVG and AGEXPORT research and innovation ecosystems, and with selected communities.

A total of 19 professors and researchers from the Central Campus, South Campus, and Altiplano Campus of the UVG deepened their knowledge about an interactive research and development technique called Participatory Design and learned about the Collaborative Mindsets that make these projects possible.

Ana Lucía Solano, Research Coordinator for the ASPIRE Project, stated that “this will allow the proposals for research projects that will be received in September 2022, to include this collaborative approach.” In addition, Ms. Solano posited that “this program seeks to develop the capacities of professors, researchers and students to solve local challenges with innovative ideas through a participatory methodology between different sectors.”

Claudia Estrada, Director of the Faculty of Education of the UVG South Campus, indicated that her participation in the workshop allowed her to acquire tools to transfer this knowledge to students and thus strengthen the culture of innovation within the UVG community.

The ASPIRE Project will fund multidisciplinary research projects that use Participatory Design methodologies in collaboration with the private sector and community members. A pilot will begin this year with AGEXPORT that will focus on the avocado, cardamom, snow pea, aquaculture, essential oils and sustainable tourism sectors as identified earlier this year in a collaborative workshop.

About the ASPIRE PROJECT

The Achieving Sustainable Partnerships for Innovation, Research and Entrepreneurship (ASPIRE) Project is a five-year, $15 million project funded by USAID and implemented by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (UVG) and the Guatemalan Exporters Association (AGEXPORT). The goal of the project is to create a world-class, replicable model for how Latin American universities and their collaborators can respond to local and regional development needs. The project implements a collaborative approach to research, teaching, innovation, entrepreneurship and tech transfer, based on the combination of local assets and knowledge with MIT’s experience in the innovation ecosystem.