More than 600 students from indigenous, Afro-descendant, and campesino communities across Colombia have arrived at the EcoCampus of the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana (UPB) in Medellín for the in-person phase of the Licenciatura en Etnoeducación, the university’s ethnoeducation teaching degree.

The residency is run in partnership with the Instituto Misionero de Antropología (IMA). Students come from communities including the Awá, Embera, Kogui, Tikuna, and Wayuu peoples. UPB said more than 26 languages are represented among the participants, who take part in projects that focus on teaching their languages, traditions, cultural practices, and their communities’ own systems of governance.

“Through this degree program, the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana generates a real impact in the territories. We are proud to offer professional training to indigenous, Afro-descendant, and campesino teachers who, because of the geographic conditions of their communities, face greater barriers to accessing higher education.” — Olga Lucía Arbeláez Rojas, coordinator of the Licenciatura en Etnoeducación, Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana

Participants come from departments including Cauca, Putumayo, Amazonas, Vichada, Guainía, Chocó, Sucre, Córdoba, and Antioquia, along with students from Venezuela and Kenya.

UPB is marking 53 years of the Licenciatura en Etnoeducación, which it describes as a program that has brought higher education to communities far from major urban centers and now counts more than 5,000 graduates.

The model combines academic work carried out in the students’ home territories with intensive in-person sessions in Medellín. Each semester, students travel to the UPB EcoCampus to strengthen skills, share experiences, and consolidate knowledge they later apply in their communities.

“Through this degree program, the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana generates a real impact in the territories. We are proud to offer professional training to indigenous, Afro-descendant, and campesino teachers who, because of the geographic conditions of their communities, face greater barriers to accessing higher education,” said Olga Lucía Arbeláez Rojas, coordinator of the program.

The degree integrates anthropology, linguistics, pedagogy, and the social sciences, training students to work as promoters of ethnodevelopment and community-led change in their own regions.

According to UPB, graduates of the program work as teachers, cultural managers, farmers, and directors of community organizations, and some serve as mayors, councilmembers, and secretaries of education in different regions of the country.

More information about the program is available on UPB’s ethnoeducation page.

Arango is a specialist in Transnational Business from the Universidad Externado de Colombia, Financial Management from the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, and Senior Management from the Universidad de los Andes.

In his professional career, he has served as manager of GTA Group Services, was General Commercial Director of Air-e S.A. E.S.P. (between December 2022 and June 2023), a company in which he also served as Director of Technology and Human Talent (between October 2020 and November 2022); likewise, he was director of Human and Administrative Talent of Industrias Haceb S.A., northwest regional manager of AFP Porvenir S.A., among others.  His role as Local Manager of the “Seventh Session of The World Urban Forum UN-Habitat” stands out in his professional experience.

The new leader of Afinia is a person with experience within the EPM Group, where he has held different positions such as Vice President of Human Talent and Technology, Manager of EPM Group Services, Director of External Relations and Environment, and Commercial Manager.

The general manager of EPM and leader of the EPM Group, John Maya Salazar, thanked civil engineer Jhon Jairo Granada Giraldo for his management at the head of Afinia and affirmed that the arrival of Ricardo Arango added to the will of the national government and other key actors, real solutions and commitments can be found for the sustainability of Afinia and the benefit of the more than 1,807,000 users of the company in the Caribbean Region.

Headline Image: Ricardo José Arango Restrepo. Photo credit: EPM Group.

“We are pleased to be the first in Colombia to complete the sale of pharmaceutical grade, full spectrum cannabis oil for both human and veterinary use, to our national clients,” said Borja Sanz de Madrid, President of Ikänik Farms International.

In addition, the Company completed its first R&D sale with the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Medellin to commence clinical research on cannabis-based treatments for the coronavirus (COVID-19).

Ikänik Farms says that it has obtained all required pharma and agronomic certifications, enabling it to be the first in Colombia to complete a seed to “commercial sale”, for use in the pharmaceutical form known as formula magistral.

The company completed five commercial sales including Laboratory Efrata Flower, for patients seeking relief from pain, nausea, anxiety, and insomnia and in the veterinary marketplace, to Equinab, for the treatment of anxiety and pain in equine and canine’s, and equine melanoma.

Monthly sales orders are expected to incrementally grow over the next 12 months.

Ikänik Farms intends to expand its commercial client base nationally and internationally through contract production and strategic partnerships, aiding in mitigating risk through growth cycles and capital deployment, as it continues to scale global operations.

“We are very proud to be part of Colombia’s medical cannabis market and look forward to supporting the emerging global marketplace, from Casa Flores,” said Brian Baca, CEO of Ikänik Farms.

• The donation of food by Gran Colombia for 7,000 families in Segovia, Remedios and the Antioquia communities.
• The donation of food by Caldas Gold for 5,000 families in Marmato, Supia and Riosucio;
• The provision of medical and hospital supplies which will serve to improve contingency care for COVID-19 in the hospitals in Segovia, Remedios and Yolombo in the department of Antioquia as well as in the Municipality of Marmato;
• Gran Colombia has joined the Protect the Wonderful Gift of Life campaign at the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana and the Clinica Universitaria Bolivariana to donate beds and biomedical equipment for the implementation of six intensive care units;
• The supply of over 200,000 liters of water through tank truck service to the most vulnerable neighborhoods in Segovia and Remedios; and
• The supply of 3,000 kits including face masks, liquid soap and antibacterial gel to security forces, formalized miners, vulnerable families and the city halls of the municipalities of Segovia, Remedios and Marmato.

Gran Colombia and Caldas have committed to continue to monitor developments in the situation and revise its response plans accordingly.

Above photo: Riosucio, Caldas, Colombia by De DaGuerraM – Trabajo propio, CC BY-SA 4.0

The winners were selected from 16 finalists during the LATAM Region Seedstars World competition, which bills itself as the largest seed-stage startup competition for emerging markets. The contenders were selected and named at the Seedstars Summit LATAM in Medellin Colombia November 27th to 29th.

Selected companies:

1. Ribon, Brazil, donation platform for millennials
2. Mynkana, Ecuador, the uber of market research.
3. Mesa, Chile, bringing diners to restaurants at off-peak times
4. Evimed, Uruguay, online education for medical professionals
5. Ruedata, Colombia, data analytics to boost efficiency in bus and truck fleets
6. Afinidata, Guatemala, the smart early childhood tutor
7. Pixdea, Costa Rica, education through VR classroom programs
8. Manzana Verde, Peru, a subscription service for healthy meals
9. Baubap, Mexico, a financial inclusion platform
   

   Colombian Surfing Champion & motivational speaker Freddy Marimón has won multiple gold medals even though he has no legs.

More than just an entrepreneur’s conference, the Seedstars Summit LATAM was an opportunity for all stakeholders involved to network, gain knowledge, and build relationships with investors. For the first time, the event was open to other startups outside of the SSW competition including the Seedstars & Apps.co Expansion Program delegation of 10 Colombian startups in the process of internationalization.

Prior to the main Summit day, 35 participating startups completed an intensive growth Bootcamp at Medellin’s municipal incubator Ruta N, focused on scaling up their businesses, followed by the Investor Forum at the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana (UPB) sponsored by Amazon. The startups had over 150 one-to-one meetings with recognized local and international mentors and investors such as Brazil’s Monashees, Mexico’s Redwood Ventures, Washington DC based Village Capital and others.

November 29 was designated Summit Day, when the startups delivered 3-minute pitches on the main stage in front of more than 350 hand-picked ecosystem builders, corporates, investors, and startup enthusiasts representing some of the most prominent names of tech and entrepreneurship in Latin America. The Summit also featured workshops and speakers from global and regional companies, like Hubspot, Procolombia, Orlando Reyes (Co-Founder at Wisy) and Colombian surfing champion Freddy Marimon.

“I was impressed by the quality and diversity of startups looking for solutions in Latin America, the diversity of the sector was also pleasantly surprising,”—Anna Raptis, founder of Amplifica Capital.

“The Seedstars event in Medellin brought the most important agents for entrepreneurship in Latin America together. It was incredible to see new and old faces forming part of this ecosystem of knowledge and experience.” Said  Rafael Obando from HubspotSponsors included Ruta N, the Swiss Embassy of Colombia, Avianca, Amazon AWS, ISA and the UPB, with the media support of France24, & Entrepreneur .All photos courtesy of Seedstars

This standing represents a bit of a drop off for the Bogotá research university that is often called Uniandes. In 2017, Times Higher Education placed Los Andes fifth in all of Latin America.

Photo: The Edifício Mario Laserna at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia. (Credit: Leandro Neumann Ciuffo / Universidad de los Andes)

Despite the slight fall, Universidad de los Andes, which has 16,664 students, according to the organization’s data, was easily the top performer in the country and scores favorably against its peers across Latin America when it comes to research and citations.

“It is an innovation- and research-led university with 163 laboratories, and admission is competitive,” wrote Times Higher Education in its summary of the school. “Its students tend to have a strong academic background before applying. The university aims to produce ‘highly skilled’ and ‘well-rounded’ graduates. Many stay on to pursue further studies.”

But after Uniandes, the nation’s institutions continue to lag behind many of their regional peers in the rankings.

The massive population of Brazil, in addition to its cultural heritage, is a key factor for its dominance of the list. Overall, the country of 200 million citizens occupies 24 of the top 50 spots for Latin American universities, including first and second place (State University of Campinas and the University of São Paulo).

But Colombian schools also significantly underperform compared to Chilean institutions, despite the Andean country having nearly three times the population.

Only three other Colombian schools — Universidad de Antioquia in Medellín (20th), Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá (29th), and Universidad Nacional de Colombia (31st) — even placed in the top 50 for the region.

Chile, by comparison, has nine in the top 50, led by Pontificia Universidad Católica (3rd) and Universidad del Chile (6th).

Argentina also beats Colombia with five in the top 50, although it has no institutions on par with Universidad de los Andes. Its highest-ranking universities this year are Universidad Nacional de San Martín (19th) and Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (22nd).

Colombia did perform well compared to Mexico, however, despite it having a population of around 120 million versus less than 50 million for Colombia. Each placed four institutions in the top 50, although Mexico as expected does better in terms of volume with 16 in the top 100 compared to just nine for Colombia.

The five other Colombian schools ranked in the top 100 of Latin America are: Universidad Industrial de Santander in Bucaramanga, Universidad del Rosario in Bogotá, Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla, Universidad Antonio Nariño in Bogotá, and Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana in Medellín.

Students, entrepreneurs, business owners and other professionals can submit proposals through August 13 to have their applications reviewed. In all, the company plans to name 50 winners in the second annual Ecopetrol Awards, with prizes being awarded in various categories and regions.

The five top winners may receive more than $8,000 USD (25 million pesos) in this initiative, which is also being supported by Pontifical Bolivarian University, Acipet, Colciencias, and Renata. Another six winners will receive around $3,000 USD, six more will earn $2,000 USD, and up to 30 others will walk away with around $1,000 USD.

The innovation category focuses on six topics related to hydrocarbon exploration, development and production, while the entrepreneurship category looks to address agroindustry, water resource recovery, social inclusion, economic diversification, and irrigation systems.

The first Ecopetrol Awards in 2016 received 1,860 proposals from people in 464 locations and 58 universities.

Photo credit: Ecopetrol