Our branch campus in Quito held a talk on “Violence, safety and a culture peace”. The aim of the talk was to discuss the current social and political context and its impact on higher education. The event was attended by students, professors, directors of several undergraduate programs and university officials. 

Maria Sol Villagomez, vice president of our branch campus in Quito, welcomed everyone to the event and stressed the importance of having talks to learn more about these issues which have an effect on everyone. The first topic was presented by Daniel Pontón, from the Instituto de Altos Estudios Nacionales (IAEN); Rene Unda, UPS professor; and Candice Chévez, Universidad Centroamericana Jose Simeon Cañas (UCA), who analyzed the political and academic context from their own perspective. The presentation was moderated by Tatiana Rosero, coordinator of the community engagement department.  

 
Other issues were addressed by Alejandra Agudelo, Universidad de Antioquia; Augusto Barrera, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (PUCE); and Alejandra Apolo, UPS professor. The talks were moderated by Sebastián Granda, director of the Bilingual Intercultural Education undergraduate program. 

Augusto Barrera analyzed the implementation of public policies. Alejandra Apolo discussed the decree which allows people to carry weapons in Ecuador; and Alejandra Agudelo spoke about the disorganization of the state and the social structure. 

 
The final talk was about higher education and building a culture of peace. The talk was led by Father Juan Cardenas, UPS president; Ralf Oetzel, from the Germany Agency of International Cooperation GIZ and the coordinator of the “Dialogo por la Paz” project; and Silvia Gomez, coordinator of students’ wellbeing department. This talk was moderated by Jaime Chela, director of the university pastoral department.

  
 
Silvia Gomez stressed the work carried out by the university in order to provide safe place for the community; Ralf Oetzel spoke about violence in Latin America and one of its possible reasons which is the lack of education provided by the state. One of the most important contributions of the university is to educate students to act appropriately in life, make responsible decisions and have social engagement.