Development-focused challenges from the multicultural context

The URACCAN through the Center for Innovation and Intercultural Community Entrepreneurship "Slilma" of the Bilwi campus, completed the fourth season of open innovation, with the support of CARCIP Telcor, where students of the university had the opportunity to propose solutions to five innovation challenges that will contribute to the development of the population.

The MSc. Heidy Forbes, coordinator of the Innovation Center "Slilma", explained that students worked to present solutions through mobile applications, including for the prevention of violence, in the topic of agroforestry engineering that allows to provide the advisory service in urban cultivation and gardening, and one that has to do with the prevention of malaria , aimed at young people, to promote the use of the mosquito net.

Another solution presented was "a campaign and a website that has to do with recycling plastic bottles for the production of garbage containers".

Each of these challenges presented by 16 URACCAN students at the Bilwi campus is being resolved "through the open innovation methodology, involving students from different disciplines," said teacher Forbes, adding that the next step is meeting with partners "for the adoption of this prototype of solution ideas that students are presenting , from there we present agreement and letters of understanding."

The close of the fourth season was accompanied by MSc. Víctor Zúñiga, Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at URACCAN, as well as the coordinators of the Innovation and Intercultural Community Entrepreneurship Centers of the Las Minas campus and the New Guinea site.

Zúñiga encouraged participants to continue to undertake and innovate to contribute to the development of the Autonomous Regions, in addition, explaining how from the university they are preparing students to face complex situations, "the world is so complex, but how we prepare for these complexities, that means analyzing the trend in context," he said.

Challenges posed in the fourth season of open innovation

Young Yovira Patterson, Eder Gaitán, Christopher Espinoza, Garri Wilson and Robert Robin, who are students of the careers in Systems Engineering and Agroforestry Engineering presented an application called "Agro-app", which is a tool that will allow people to access advice on developing their own gardens or effectively growing in their courtyards.

Also, under the challenge "Use of Technology for the Prevention of Violence", students, Yader Mejía, Xib Ach Wel Ceto Morales, Joan Sebastián Larios, Nephtin Arana, Aileen Scarleth of URACCAN and the special participation of Xun Ciin Ceto Morales of the University of San Carlos, Guatemala, presented the alternative of solving a "Takaskaya" application, where the main objective is to keep track of the cases of violence in the region to measure the impact of the application and reduce cases of violence.

In addition, since URACCAN, committed to disease prevention and committed to protecting health in the population of the Caribbean Coast, some students focused on presenting solutions to challenges related to malaria prevention and garbage recycling, so young people will launch a challenge on social media to raise awareness of the use of mosquito nets for malaria prevention , this will have as its name: "Pabula Challenge", the creation of a website to promote the recycling of plastic bottles through the design of dumpsters with pedal opening, called "Recycling together".

And finally, the application was made for the promotion of informal and formal traders of the city of Bilwi, Puerto Cabezas.