Del Laboratorio al Campo
Coordinating Organisation |
Del Laboratorio al Campo, Bogotá (Colombia) |
Organisers/Type of Organisation |
Non-profit organisation |
Initiative Type |
Scientific pedagogy, participatory action research and popular education
|
Field of Science Involved |
All the sciences |
Target Audience(s) |
Community leaders, primary to secondary schools, university students and entrepreneurs
|
Reach |
Local, regional, national |
Main Objectives
- Build supportive, creative and innovative bonds between professionals and communities with the aim of making science a tool that generates solutions to problems in rural contexts;
- Generate scientific culture and empower leaders that are capable of thinking critically while making sure that their actions benefit all; pioneer the development of technological and artistic tools that can be used to rebuild the social fabric and generate tangible hopes for future generations;
- Support the development of projects that integrate science, technology, innovation and art with world views that rescue ancestral and popular knowledge for local and international socialization.
Description of work
From the Lab to the Field is a non-profit organization composed of professionals from different areas, whose aim is to bring science to the field of action so that, with quality education, communities are able to build their own path towards innovation. The main objective of this organization is to bring practical science to those who want to use it to solve real-life problems within their context to show that science is a tool whose use is not exclusive to scientists, but it is rather a universal tool. From the lab to the Field has already created two independent public health research groups, has given several interdisciplinary seminars, science and college-prep workshops in different regions of Colombia. Presently, they are leading a synergistic collaboration with other organizations and research groups to generate interdisciplinary and holistic projects that create educational and productive opportunities in rural areas during the post-conflict era.
Results
- logistic facilitators of the special projects of Science Clubs Colombia. They have successfully held three editions of Science Clubs Colombia in one indigenous community in Guajira, and one edition in a small town in Arauca that was severely hit by the armed conflict;
- two HIV Seed Seminars: the first Seed Seminar was led by and for medical school students of Universidad del Rosario in Bogotá, and was held at the Fundación Instituto de Inmunología de Colombia (FIDIC), the most reknown inmunology research center in Colombia. The second Seed Seminar was led by members of the Scientific Association of Medical School Students of Universidad del CES in Medellín, and was attended by undergraduates from biomedical engineering, pharmacology and medical school students.
- two independent research groups: the first group investigates the impact of the stigma experienced by people living with HIV from the medical personnel in Medellin, and the second group investigates cardiovascular diseases in the state of Cauca;
- proposed a HIV prevention plan for people who live in the streets of Medellin;
- constructed and implemented a comprehensive diagnostic tool of basic high-school knowledge, that includes identification of multiple intelligences and metacognitive skills. This diagnostic tool was designed specifically to encourage the schooling and integration into university life of adults who spend their youth in the mist of the armed conflict.
Resources used or generated
- Sixteen (16) review articles on public health topics focused on molecular processes, for which there were no literature reviews in Spanish. These review articles have been written by medical school students and supervised by Faculty and Research Associates from their own institutions;
- Four (4) theoretical-practical guides used in scientific workshops for Wayuu indigenous communities;
- Practical and theoretical workshops about the solidarity economic model and social entrepreneurship aimed at teaching farmers how to make their projects sustainable;
- An integral diagnostic tool to measure basic high-school knowledge, characterize multiple intelligences and metacognitive skills, while at the same time motivating the schooling and integration process of adults who spend their youth in the mist of the armed conflict;
- Collaborated in a Masters Degree research thesis at University of East Anglia in the UK, and an Undergraduate research thesis at Universidad del Cauca, in Popayan, Colombia.
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