ANECA, in alliance with UNESCO IESALC, reinforces its commitment to the Ibero-American Knowledge Space through the first edition of the LAB Quality that unites us itinerary

On October 24 took place the closing of the itinerary 'LAB Quality that unites us', led by ANECA, and developed with the UNESCO Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNESCO-IESALC) and the Spanish Agency of International Cooperation for Development (AECID) within the framework of the Intercoonecta Plan of the Spanish Cooperation. 

The programming of the itinerary reflects the firm commitment to the countries of the Latin American and Caribbean region (LAC) to contribute to strengthening the technical training of the quality teams of their higher education institutions (HEIs) and, consequently, to improving the quality of these institutions and strengthening mutual trust in the Ibero-American Knowledge Space.

The work carried out during the more than ten months of the 'LAB Quality that unites us' program can be summarized in the following figures:

• 179 participants distributed in 53 HEI quality teams from 15 countries in the LAC region (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic and Uruguay). 
• 27 experts from 7 countries facilitating training and leading co-creation sessions.
• 11 observers from 4 government institutions and quality agencies from 4 countries in the region.
• An evaluation commission for the end-of-programming projects composed of 15 experts and people from the organizing institutions.
• 8 people in charge of the follow-up of all the participating HEI teams.
• 280 hours of work for each participant distributed in 7 blocks of training and innovation activities in synchronous and asynchronous modalities, which have resulted in:  
  • 40 co-creation sessions with groups of experts and teams of participating HEIs from different countries that have resulted in the construction of 5 knowledge portfolios and have fostered relationships and synergies between these HEIs.
  •  49 diagnostic and improvement plan reports tailored to each of the participating HEIs for their upcoming development; preceded by around 250 actions of reflection on the institution itself. 
  • 5 round tables. 
  • Numerous videos, and the drafting and compilation of abundant written documentation, etc.

At the closing ceremony of the project, the director of ANECA, Pilar Paneque, pointed out: "probably, due to its wide coverage, its complexity and its impact, this program is among the most ambitious that the Intercoonecta Plan has had in recent years".

She also thanked the quality teams of the participating HEIs and the observer entities for "their enormous involvement in moving forward together and in collaboration on an issue of such great interest as guaranteeing inclusive, equitable and quality education at the higher education level, since this and no other has been the main raison d'être of this initiative".