Dialogue of knowledge: Reflections and keys for the construction of new university-territory relations

Abstract

The “dialogue of knowledge” is part of the rich work agenda of university teams that are permanently problematizing the university-territory relationship. Their experiences have allowed them to open paths based on mutual respect, reciprocity and complementarity. From there, questions arise about knowledge and how it has been transformed into another dimension of the struggle of the territories and of the transforming university. Its implementation requires new methodologies, cultural changes, institutional redesigns and a political conviction of valuing everything that is produced outside the borders of the university, as we understand it as valuable knowledge that allows changing certain contextual conditions produced by a capitalism that favors productivity, competition and specialization. Therefore, complex processes of change are necessary within the university and in the territories, tending to build new relationships within the university as well as in its surroundings. A critical view, interdisciplinarity, the promotion of more horizontal relationships and experimentation with other methodologies are some of the keys that we propose as necessary to advance on the road to the construction of the “dialogue of knowledge”