Seremi Tarcila Piña pointed out that the Ministry of Labor is calling for proposals to be submitted within the framework of the bidding process for this program.

A protocol visit was made by the regional ministerial secretary of Labor and Pension Service, Tarcila Piña, to the Rector of the University of La Serena, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés, on which occasion, together with greeting the highest university authority and the dean of the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, Mg. Jorge Fernández, presented the “New Leaders” Union Training Schools program and “Continuous Training 2014” to be executed in the coming months. 

During this meeting, held in the offices of the ULS Headquarters, the Labor Seremi extended the invitation to the university institution to participate in this program whose general objective is to strengthen the quality training of union leaders, through of training in theoretical and practical aspects that allow them to acquire or perfect the skills aimed at better developing their union work.

In this sense, Seremi Tarcila Piña pointed out that the Ministry of Labor is calling for proposals to be submitted within the framework of the bidding process for this program, regulated by Decree No. 16 of 2009 of the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, adding that it is It is important that this University participates in the initiative, considering its experience and quality, which can be a real contribution to this training.  

On the occasion, the Rector of the University of La Serena, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés, thanked the regional ministerial secretary of Labor for the visit and the trust given to this University to participate in the program, especially at a time when working on several projects jointly with government entities.

It should be noted that the “New Leaders” and “Continuing Training 2014” Union Training Schools program is framed within the guidelines of President Michelle Bachelet's government program.

The activity, which was led by the Rector of the higher education institution, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés, and the manager of the Foundation, Manuel Farías, aims to coordinate the presentation of an energy efficiency project to apply for the 2014 call for Energy Efficiency Agreements. Performance for Regional Universities.

Within the framework of the preparation activities of a PMI project, the Rector of the ULS, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés, held a working meeting with the manager of the Los Pelambres Mining Foundation, Manuel Farías, which had the objective of coordinating the presentation of an energy efficiency initiative to apply for the 2014 call for Performance Agreements, in line with the Institutional Improvement Plan for Regional Universities.

According to Rector Avilés, "through this initiative we seek to strengthen an alliance that has existed for many years, as well as on this occasion, contribute to the sustainable, social and productive development of the Coquimbo Region, strengthening the collaborative work of the ULS with the actors of the regional territory, through network management, education, dissemination and transfer of knowledge associated with energy efficiency and the establishment of a sustainable relationship with the environment." 

For his part, the manager of Fundación Minera Los Pelambres, Manuel Farías, indicated that “this meeting allowed, based on the interests of both institutions, to visualize a much broader and synergistic relationship framework for the interests of the University and the efforts “Permanent benefits of the mining company to improve its productivity and support regional development.”

Meanwhile, the director of Institutional Studies and Planning of the ULS, Dr. © César Espíndola, explained that “in the field of Teaching, this project aims to provide a specific seal of training for our students, so that they can respond to the needs current and future development of the regional and national territory.”

Furthermore, in the scientific and technological field, it seeks to integrate the existing capabilities of the University, through the formation of multi and interdisciplinary work groups that can develop research and/or prototypes of technological solutions for specific problems of the territory in the areas already indicated. ; while in the area of ​​links with the environment, this initiative seeks to position the ULS as a leading agent and promoter of a culture of sustainability and efficiency in the use of our limited natural resources.

It should be noted that academics from the different faculties and departments of the University are working on this initiative.

The director of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dr. Ricardo Castillo, and Dr. Nelson Moraga also participated in this working meeting.

The Rector, accompanied by Campus directors, academics and officials, observed the result of the flood that affected almost all of the buildings located in the sector adjacent to Route 5 North.

A tour of the facilities of the Enrique Molina Garmendia Campus was carried out this Monday, June 16, by the Rector of the ULS, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés, with the aim of evaluating, on the ground, the damage caused by the intense rain that occurred in the early hours of Thursday of last week, and in an unusual way, in a single night it reached 71 millimeters of water fall, a figure close to the rainfall of an entire year in the region.

The Rector, accompanied by Campus directors, academics and officials, observed the result of the flood that affected almost all of the buildings located in the sector adjacent to Route 5 North, including the Mall Plaza La Serena, Bus Terminal , U. Santo Tomás, among others. Subsequently, along with assessing the damage, the actions to follow were analyzed to launch work that seeks to mitigate the effects of this rain that has forced academic activities to be temporarily suspended.

In this regard, Rector Avilés indicated that "the first priority is that students and teachers can be in the place without running health risks due to humidity, for which I have instructed them to take the necessary measures to dry the place and sanitize it." the dependencies, in addition to continuing with the installation of adocretes and porcelain in the Architecture sector, which was the most affected because it was located at a lower level.”

On the occasion, the highest authority also indicated that "I have asked the Director of Teaching to plan how to resume classes as soon as possible, looking for alternatives for that," adding that "it is considered coordinating meetings with regional authorities in order to provide a structural solution to the problem that affects the buildings located in the sector, with the aim of minimizing the effects of rainwater that, as a result of the construction of the Amunátegui axis and the quality of the soil, flow directly into our building and other surrounding areas. he. "It would be important for the large-scale works that are planned in the sector to provide a solution to this problem."

Students from different ULS majors, university officials and representatives of the general community actively participate in the initiative.

The 2014 Training Course ''Intervention in Couple Violence with a Gender Approach'', taught by the Liwen Women's Center, has had a massive call, as part of the agreement signed in 2012 between the University of La Serena and the National Service of Women, SERNAM.

The course workshops began on June 4 at the Isabel Bongard Campus of the ULS and will bring together their participants for 7 days, always on Wednesdays, to address this topic from the most varied aspects: general aspects, psychosocial aspects, theoretical models , Men's Center intervention model, first reception, Domestic Violence Law 20.066 and workplace and sexual harassment.

The course, which is free and will be certified, has the attendance of about 80 people, among whom are students from different careers at the University of La Serena, officials of the institution and representatives of the general community. In addition, it is supported by the ULS Officials Association.

As Keyla Marín, coordinator of the Liwen Center, explains, the objective of the course is to ''install the capacity to detect violence for future professionals and the professionals who are accompanying us on these days. Install capabilities to detect violence but also to become aware of how we are part of modifying this culture, which is where we stand to look at violence through language, doing internal and at the same time external work.''

Regarding the expectations with the participants, Marín points out that he hopes that they will be "the ones who take the topic to other spaces, with all the people they interact with, that in some way they will be the new entities that raise awareness of the topic in all spaces of dialogue." , interpersonal relationships that are established outside the University and the workplace.

Keyla Marín was also the presenter of the first workshop. In this regard, the good number of men and women participating in this training stands out, learning about the topic through stories and learning "that each and every one of us, from the State on down," can be "relevant and significant actors here." ahead of their lives and those of those who work with them on the issue of violence against women.'' 

Meanwhile, the coordinator of the agreement at the ULS, the academic of the Department of Education, Georgina García, highlights that this alliance between the University of La Serena and SERNAM ''is very important to fulfill our work as a state and regional University, since In addition to training professionals and generating knowledge, our actions must promote changes for improvements both economically, politically, culturally and socially in the localities in which we are located. Furthermore, State organizations must strengthen their ties to exchange knowledge, resources and experiences because they share an objective, the good of society as a whole, a task that is far removed from the desire to profit from knowledge.'' 

The academic added that ''this alliance corresponds to the continuity of a task that other academics such as Marta Vitar, María Teresa Juliá and Erika Zúñiga, among others, began years ago, who promoted a Gender Study Program. In this context of the agreement, work is being done with the Central Library on the creation of a Manual on Women's Rights that will be freely accessible."

Regarding the fact that 'students can access training on the topic of gender violence, it not only benefits them in their professional training since in the very near future they will have to promote respectful human relations and make decisions regarding their staff in charge, but it will also have an impact on their personal life since they will have tools to detect these behaviors and look for relevant solutions. One of my students recently told me that the boyfriend of one of her friends asked her for information about where they were going to dance and what clothes she was going to wear, and she told him: ''be careful, these behaviors are very controlling. ''This is a sample of everyday situations of symbolic violence that could end in more serious behavior if they are not stopped in time,'' García highlights.

The Liwen Center psychologist, Karina Meza, was in charge of teaching the second workshop of the course. The professional explained that times are changing and, as we become aware of our rights, ''this issue that generates so much pain, returns to the discussion. Currently, the issue of violence against women is more criticized and less permitted." She recalled that 17 femicides have occurred in Chile so far this year and mentioned that 275 women are treated in La Serena alone for gender violence. 

Meza began his workshop by carrying out practical work to analyze the learned (gender) and natural (sex) characteristics of men and women, as well as how social networks are formed and people's behaviors are expected. She specified that ethical, political, legal and cultural components provide the social and historical context in which violence occurs and the interests that support it, highlighting domination among these elements.

Meanwhile, Paula Álvarez, in charge of the Violence Against Women Prevention Unit, Chile Acoge SERNAM Program in the Coquimbo Region, appreciated that these types of initiatives are already part of daily life in this alliance between the ULS and the National Health Service. Women. ''Year after year, we see that more people are interested in taking this course. "I understand that they are from different careers, so that is interesting, that from the training of the different professionals they have incorporated different concepts of gender and notions of violence against women, because ultimately it is present in all spaces of our society," she said. .

In the same way, he maintained that it is expected that the participants can generate knowledge in their careers and "be replicators in the denaturalization of the concept of violence with their classmates, for example, and in their professional practice we hope that when they encounter the thematic, with a particular case, depending on their careers, know how to demystify this harshest discrimination that women experience and, on the other hand, provide adequate information, that there are programs that work and address the problem to know how to guide, in case of that you meet victims and that there are spaces for promotion in their community.''

It is important to highlight that this course has been carried out on previous occasions within the framework of the ULS-SERNAM agreement, with two versions in 2013 and could be replicated in the second half of this year.

In a new experience, intended to complement their academic learning, last Saturday, June 7, accompanied by their academics, the foreign students who are carrying out exchange programs at the University of La Serena, took an excursion to interesting tourist and heritage places of the Coquimbo Region.

The activities began with a visit to the impressive Archaeological Museum of Limarí, where they learned important background information about the Diaguita culture and its notable presence in the area, carefully guided by its director, Daniela Serani.

The information collected in this initiative made it possible to document the daily and productive activities that affect its habitat, in addition to the development of a pedagogical guide for the conservation of this endangered species.

Supporting the conservation efforts of the Chilean chinchilla through the management of good productive practices, valuation of the species and the protection of its habitat by social actors adjacent to the Las Chinchillas National Reserve (commune of Illapel), was the main objective of the project. Environmental Protection Fund (FPA-4G-042-2013) of the Ministry of the Environment, executed by the Chinchilla Conservation Support Network, with support from the University of La Serena, the Illapel Veterinary Clinic and the National Forestry Corporation . The initiative made it possible to collect relevant information for the sustainable management of the territory where this endangered species lives and for the development of teaching material aimed at students from various establishments in the surrounding area.

Academics from the Department participated in this project. of Biology, Carlos Zuleta, Jorge Cepeda and Alex Cea, and contemplated the registry of the social actors associated with the Reserve, collection of basic information on the environment, such as vegetation, accompanying fauna, characteristics of colonies, presence of water courses, along with types and form of productive activities to know if these affect the conservation of the chinchilla or deteriorate the habitat where it lives (use of streams, displacement of goats, deforestation, etc.). Added to this is the visit to areas surrounding the National Reserve where chinchillas have historically been described, in order to document human activities that would affect the conservation of this endemic species. 

''The usual thing is that it is thought that the chinchilla is in danger of extinction due to illegal hunting, which happened in the past, but that is no longer a threat in the strict sense; Now the threats are, basically, the fragmentation and loss of habitat due to human activities, whether agricultural, mining or micro-garbage, among others, which have not been considered,'' explained ULS researcher Carlos Zuleta, who He stated that there are multiple threat factors that could cause problems in its conservation and that the community is unaware of.

Furthermore, he clarified that "outside the Reserve there is an important biological and archaeological heritage that deserves to be conserved and integrated into its management" and that it is essential that the community be linked to the conservation process of the Reserve.

In addition to these field activities, pedagogical work was carried out with various establishments in the sector, such as the Las Chinchillas Basic School in Cocou, where professionals from the Chinchilla Network addressed the current problem of the conservation of this rodent. Expeditions to the Reserve were also organized with schoolchildren and teachers, and the students created areas in the courtyard of their establishment to observe birds of prey, swallow nests, a birdbath and a school garden.

According to what was stated by César Piñones, a professional from the Red Chinchilla team, this work allowed us to establish that schools do not have the problem of chinchilla conservation incorporated into their curriculum. Hence the importance of the information collected in this work, since it will allow the development of a pedagogical guide for the conservation of the chinchilla, ''a work action with the establishments that incorporates elements of discussion, analysis and confrontation of reality, and that will contribute to educating students in a responsible and informed environmental awareness,'' said academic Carlos Zuleta, who classified the initiative as "a novel experience that will serve as a pedagogical model for other establishments." 

In this regard, the president of the NGO Red Chinchilla, Fernando Pérez, emphasized that ''it was possible to coordinate other actors to develop this project. The people who live in the sector were very involved, they provided a lot of information that helps us draw more conclusions and we hope that the product that comes out of this project (educational texts) will be useful for children and the community to value the conservation of the chinchilla. and his or her environment''.