SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Rethinking strategy The case from Corporación Universitaria Americana in Barranquilla, Colombia relates to a comprehensive strategy designed to embed sustainability and social responsibility throughout the institution. The university’s strategic plan demonstrates how USR can be established within university management, mapping out its integration across governance, administrative management, academic training, research and societal engagement. It also illustrates how universities are rethinking organisational models in response to contemporary demands for sustainability and social legitimacy.
micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. With preliminary diagnoses and surveys into entrepreneurs’ main areas for development, training is tailored to local needs, reflecting a USR approach grounded in active listening and adaptation. Active citizenship School aims to cultivate active citizenship, environmental awareness and social commitment among students. The initiative also focuses on developing soft skills, leadership, empathy and teamwork. Encompassing field activities such as tree planting, beach clean-ups and educational support, the case demonstrates that USR can have an impact both externally (on vulnerable communities) and internally (on students’ holistic education). In this way, civic engagement and social sensitivity become integral to the educational experience. Through workshops, training sessions and hands-on volunteer experiences, the University of Lima’s Ulima Volunteer
CENTRUM PUCP
The circular economy The ReciclaUCN – KUTI Recycling Plant brings students, members of the wider university community
and local stakeholders together in recycling and environmental sustainability projects, promoting collective participation and ecological awareness. This initiative at the Catholic University of the North (UCN) in Chile demonstrates how a university can lead impactful local projects and encompasses a growing trend in higher education: the integration of circular economy and sustainability models as core elements of university strategy. Ecological consciousness The We Are Ecological Awareness initiative developed at Universidad Tecnológica ECOTEC in Ecuador promotes ecological consciousness and sustainable practices among students and communities, strengthening environmental education and civic engagement. Encompassing energy management, recycling, biodiversity and reforestation, its projects help position the university as a key advocate for cultural and behavioural change. It also underlines that such goals should be an integral aspect of USR. Strengthening businesses With its focus on providing entrepreneurs with training in administration, finance and accounting, the Accounting Business Brigades initiative at the Central Unit of Valle del Cauca in Colombia highlights the crucial role universities can play in strengthening
Integrating the SDGs The Faculty of Administrative, Economic & Financial Sciences at the Fundación Universitaria del
Área Andina in Colombia designed a massive open online course (MOOC) to instil the principles of responsible management education and foster greater understanding of how the UN’s SDGs can be achieved. The initiative brought the proportion of those unfamiliar with the SDGs down from 42 to 22 per cent and demonstrates how a university can nurture a new form of more socially conscious business leadership. • The case studies in this article are taken from the book, Best Practice in University Social Responsibility Management , edited by Julianna Ramírez Lozano and published by CENTRUM PUCP and CLADEA
Julianna Ramírez Lozano is an associate professor at Centrum PUCP, where she is also director of the Research & Development Hub and director of Centrum Think. She holds a PhD from the University of Navarra, Spain
Business Impact • ISSUE 5 • 2026
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