In October, the university's Childhood, Adolescence and Youth Research Group (CINAJ) presented the results of its research during several national and international academic events.
From the 10th to the 14th October, Rene Unda Lara took part in the 15th Central American Congress on Sociology" that took place in Universidad Centroamericana de Nicaragua (UCA). During this event, several experts and professors analyzed the crisis of Central American societies from an interdisciplinary perspective in order to strengthen critical thinking and find alternatives for social change.

The paper was titled "Ocaso y emergencia de formas de ciudadanía en contextos de reconfiguraciones socioestatales. El caso de jóvenes estudiantes secundarios de sectores medios en Ecuador". This paper presented some of the results of CINAJ's research about the configuration of citizenship with students from Salesian high schools in Ecuador.

Among the main data presented, there is information referring to school conceptions and practices that young students show and develop regarding the knowledge and exercise of their rights as citizens and as young people in relation to their socio-family, school and community participation. It also presents the forms of cyber citizenship or digital citizenships that are expressed in a privileged way in the uses and gratifications through social networks, Web sites and Internet in general.

The event was an opportunity to present the results on the representations of  Don Bosco and Mary of Christians for students in Salesian schools in Ecuador as structured figures of Salesian identity.
In September, Unda Lara participated in the XII Continental Meeting of the Via Don Bosco Program, at Casa Bethania Center in Quito. His conference "Employment and youth employability in contexts of social vulnerability" addressed the productive restructuring processes implemented in the last three decades in Latin America and their effects and implications on the opportunity structures that the labor market has unequally provided for the young.

In general, according to the researcher, there is a scenario of growing precariousness among young people, since the effects on unemployment and underemployment affect young people in a much more significant way (approximately doubling and tripling national averages), in particular , those of popular sectors.

That same month, professor Unda was invited to the First International Congress on Research in Social Sciences (CIICS), organized by the Casa Grande University in Guayaquil, where he spoke about the topic "Governance and Public Policies: from need to state boredom? ". The conference opened the debate on issues of governance and public policy based on a critical approach to the concept of governance. It analyzed the organic crisis of the political system, in particular the forms of weakening political representation.