International universities and CATIE promote educational leadership to transform sustainable agriculture

• Stakeholders from Latin America, the Middle East, and the Caribbean gathered to share experiences and project the future of the program “Leadership for Educational Innovation and University Transformation.”

CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center), together with EARTH University, the American University of Beirut (AUB), and GCHERA, hosted the international workshop “Leadership for Educational Innovation and University Transformation” from August 11 to 13. The event brought together representatives from educational institutions in Mexico, Haiti, Lebanon, and Costa Rica to address key issues on university leadership, change management, and the program’s future vision.

During the workshop, participants toured CATIE’s facilities, which included the Coffee Collection, the Botanical Garden, the Sustainable Farm, and the pesticide-free banana production area. On the second day, they also visited the EARTH University campus.

In his remarks, Dr. Luis Pocasangre, CATIE’s Director General, emphasized that “education is the most powerful weapon to transform societies. An educated people are capable of achieving better economic, environmental, and social performance worldwide.”

For his part, Dr. Jim French, project director, highlighted the importance of sharing successes, results, and challenges they have faced in order to truly generate impact in their communities. “One of the main outcomes common to the universities was introducing changes and transformations in the way they teach agriculture, bringing students into the field, applying knowledge in real conditions, and reinforcing what they are learning in order to develop stronger skills,” added Dr. French.

The workshop enabled the participating universities to share their progress in institutionalizing changes within their agriculture faculties, reflect on lessons learned, and design the next steps to consolidate a training model that prepares ethical leaders and agents of change for the challenges of agriculture and global sustainability.

Looking ahead, the institutions recognized that important steps have already been taken in university transformation, but also expressed their interest in continuing to collaborate. “The goal is to consolidate a network of institutional leaders committed to this transformation and to expand it to other countries in the region, so that this movement transcends,” concluded Dr. French.