Governance and Articulation from the Externado de Colombia University with Its Environment: A Look from the Multifunctional and Territorialized Agri-Food Systems

Abstract

Bogota, the capital of Colombia, has recently presented an important expansion of its territory. This has triggered the displacement of rural and peasant areas. However, some neighboring municipalities have managed to stay out of the city’s growth process thanks to their geographical conditions and have also generated important links from their agri-food systems. In these articulation processes, the governance schemes and its actors are key. This analysis seeks to answer what have been the main strategies and coordination mechanisms implemented by the Universidad Externado de Colombia (UEC) to achieve multiple interactions between the actors involved in the multifunctional and territorialized agri-food systems (MTLAFS MTLAFS). For the above, the municipality of Choachi and its relationship with Externado University as an articulator of actions that contribute to the construction of territorial and regional dynamics are taken as an illustrative case. Within the framework of the qualitative methodology, case studies were used, with the concept of governance as the axis of analysis. As part of the results, some recommendations are presented for the work of universities in multifunctional and territorialized short circuits, as well as for the understanding of the actors, mainly the university, in the governance schemes of agri-food systems.

1. Introduction

This text seeks to answer which have been the leading strategies and coordination mechanisms implemented by Universidad Externado de Colombia (UEC) to achieve multiple interactions between the actors involved in multi-functional and territorialized agri-food systems (MTLAFS) for which the paper starts with a geographical context of Bogota; subsequently, it offers a glance about the university’s scope to continue with a theoretical discussion on MTLAFS and governance. This will be followed by a description of the qualitative methodology in which five case studies were used in the framework of governance. Subsequently, it moves on to the results analysis, and finally, a series of conclusions, suggestions and challenges are suggested to continue accompanying the territorial dynamics with the possibility of contributing to the development of the environment and the community neighboring university.

According to Stiglitz, in developing countries, a problem has become evident regarding the relationship between access to food in relation to the purchasing power of citizens and the distribution of people’s income [1]. In this regard, Brown (1998) [2], states that the distribution of food is an item of concern because it is not carried out in an equitable manner for a population in relation to its overall growth. Likewise, the differences in unsatisfied food needs in developing countries require political will in the production of food and its fair distribution [3].

Likewise, Grupo Semillas, a group regarding the situation in Bogotá, suggests that there is no possible future for the peasants who manage the territories, sometimes because of inappropriate models, but above all, because they do not have the demand from Bogotá. Without this demand, there is no guarantee of territorial justice or stability for the peasantry, which may be the key to sustainability because it is the balance of exchanges and correlations between city and countryside that can guarantee sustainability. There are around 300 municipalities that bring food to Bogotá, 14,000 tons a day, of which 7000 stay in the city and 7000 are distributed to other regions. This is a dynamic of exchanges with profound territorial injustices. Bogotá is a city that is part of a very large domestic market, which, as a region, accounts for almost 45% of the Colombian economy, and Bogotá and Cundinamarca alone account for 31% [4].

In that context, the Universidad Externado de Colombia (UEC) is located at the crossroads of territories and ideas

When it was founded in 1886, UEC began its work in the Palacio de Lievano, the current headquarters of the Mayor’s Office of Bogota. It was later located on the outskirts of the Bogota of the time, in the Santafe neighborhood, and finally, a plot of land was purchased and adapted on the slopes of the eastern hills at the eastern end of the historic center in the district of La Candelaria [5]. With a privileged view of the mountains, but in a place and environment that generated the precautions that uncertainty offers, the first four blocks of academic buildings were laid out, complemented by a total of nine blocks named after the first letters of the alphabet. In this way, the university was incorporated into the historic center together with the neighborhoods of Egipto, Belen, Catedral and La Concordia, the first two being located in the suburbs of the city and recognized for their social and economic vulnerability.

In this urban–rural boundary, the university has played a role of articulator of dynamics to improve the conditions of the territory in which it is inscribed. This context of affinity and willingness towards collective construction has determined the progress of relationship processes from different fronts and disciplines. Thus, in the first semester of 2022, following a call from the Colombian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, the university wanted to participate in the development of a proposal that would work on the agri-food problem from different disciplines. However, although it was not possible to participate, a process of interdisciplinary interaction began at the university that seeks to put “academia in action” in the light of interests linked to the agri-food problems in the territory of which it forms a part.

A series of projects already carried out in different academic areas linked to its immediate surroundings and to the municipality of Choachi were identified. In this sense, the role of UEC as an articulator of the territorial, social and economic dynamics of its immediate surroundings has been and will continue to be significant, as a contribution to the development of the territorial community in which it has participated since its creation.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role that the university has played as a participatory actor in the governance schemes that allow for the articulation of multifunctional and territorialized agri-food systems with the city. For this purpose, the municipality of Choachí, Cundinamarca and the possible relationship with the Universidad Externado de Colombia are taken as an illustrative case, considering that this institution could function as a channel of articulation between the actions that contribute to the construction of territorial and regional dynamics with the municipality of Choachí.

In the light of the above, and as a theoretical framework, in Europe, the negative effects of industrial agriculture (such as the genetic standardization of plant varieties, the pollution of soil and water, the deterioration of food quality and the loss of landscapes) raise the debate about the food production model [6,7], as well as the problems of information and the way in which its actors are organized [8]. Since the 1970s, as consumers’ expectations have been reoriented towards healthier food, better quality, the inclusion of environmental care and natural spaces, considering the role of the food chain and including social aspects. Thus, in the 1980s, the concept of multifunctionality was developed [9,10]. In that sense, the MTLAFS definition proposed by Yacaman has two types of multifunctionality: (1) intrinsic multifunctionality referring to local agri-food economies regarding production, food supply and raw materials; (2) extrinsic multifunctionality, which is related to the specificity and identity of the territories in which MTLAFS are located, and the ecosystem services related to climate regulation and culture. Second, the MTLAFS are also defined by re-territorialization processes, which are new critical narratives that can be contrasted with the dominant paradigm of productivism. These narratives aim to reconnect food with the territories and societies in which these systems are present, on a foundation of endogenous resources, traditional know-how and the involvement of local actors. All these initiatives are characterized by a multi-actor focus, which aims to democratically reshape the relationship between production, distribution and consumption practices [11].

A vision of the agri-food system that is not limited to the concept of food production, but takes into account respect for nature (soil, water, biodiversity and atmosphere) and the economic and social externalities it generates is more desirable. The vision of multifunctionality has been at the heart of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) since the Agenda 2000 reform.

In such a context, the quality of the product is structured based on the social process that has involved all the variables of the food production system thanks to the active management of the different participants of the respective territory. Thus, the multifunctional approach is strengthened when it is framed in a territory that coordinates its actors through its shared norms and values.

In this sense, the territory is established as an active place where local actors organize themselves to make the most of local resources in search of their own sustainable and environmentally sustainable development.

Thus, MTLAFS integrate economic, social, technical and natural dimensions around the main actor in the value chain, the farmer, and also recognize the other actors (consumers, public actors and companies).

On the spatial scale determined by the territory in its axis of agri-food relations, the environment, people, knowledge, food behavior, the network of relations and institutions are combined to create their own form of organization [12].

In 2021, in the year of food systems, the discussions promoted by the FAO (among others), about the processes linked to food “from the crop to the plate”, concluded that it is important to promote the development of rural and rural-urban territories in Latin America, focusing on the multiple economic, environmental, social, nutritional, health and cultural objectives in an integrated manner.

It is important to note the difference between Latin American and European agriculture, since, although industrial agriculture is present and represents an important source of income in national balances, traditional agriculture has a significant social and cultural weight. Another difference is given by the size of the farm units since, for example, in Colombia, a family farm unit can be 5 Ha compared to 66 Ha for the average farm in France (INSEE data in 2016)1.

Historically, different types of agri-food systems have coexisted in Colombia: an industrial system, similar to the European one, mainly export-oriented; small-scale family and community farming; and other hybrid systems for national food circuits.

The agro-industrial system, as in the rest of the world, has been boosted and favored by public policy towards economic competitiveness. The CFCA system has remained on the margins of institutionality and public governance, but at the territorial level, it has allowed for the preservation of common goods and contributes to the social fabric [13].

The Family and Community Peasant Farming Scheme (ACFC abbreviated from its name in Spanish) began to be promoted by the Ministry of Agriculture in 2018. On this scale, production is oriented towards short circuits and the construction of territorial development, which responds appropriately to the review of the concept of MTLAFS.

It should be noted that the CFCA is the model that feeds 70% of the Colombian population [14]. The positive externalities of the agri-food system are particularly visible if one takes into account that the MFS model favors the involvement of actors, their recognition and the re-signification of the value of each one, as well as the construction of the social fabric of a country undergoing reconstruction after half a century of conflict. On urban–rural borders, as is the focus of our work, the potential dynamization of legitimate cross-cutting actors, in this case the university, can enhance the value of the contribution of the MTLAFS.

In that sense, MTLAFS are a complex web of relationships, an interplay of forces with varied purposes, and are far from unidirectional. In whatever form, MTLAFS can only be understood if they are seen within a broad set of social, cultural, economic, political and ecological relations in which they are embedded and which, in one way or another, determine them. Thus, in this set of actions, their coordination and the arrangements of these actions, i.e., governance, become relevant.

Here, governance is proposed as an arrangement in which new interactions between the parts of the MTLAFS and with the elements of the environment are envisaged. “Governance refers to the mechanisms and strategies of coordination in the face of complex reciprocal interdependence between actors, organisations and operationally autonomous functional systems” [15] (p. 230). Thus, governance has not only become a turning point that calls for management that goes beyond strict internal decisions, but is also the very construction of a new and flexible institutional framework for those decisions. In this way, governance unfolds in a variety of domains, circumstances and modes, stimulating all kinds of debates. For example, governance is proposed to reconcile the actions of the MTLAFS themselves and the demands of citizens that today are deployed in a broad spectrum of ethical conditions, environmental sustainability, best practices, respect for human rights and, of course, concern for extreme poverty conditions.

The following lines explore governance understood as the coordination of system activities based on the Jessop’s [15] proposal and his modes of governance. In doing so, it seeks a tentative answer to the question: Which have been the leading strategies and coordination mechanisms implemented by UEC to achieve multiple interactions between the actors involved in MTLAFS?

In December 2000, the concept of governance was accepted for translation into Spanish as gobernanza and was given the following meaning: “Art or way of governing that aims to achieve lasting economic, social and institutional development, promoting a healthy balance between the state, civil society and the market economy” [16]2.

The concept was widely recognized in political science and scholarship and was oriented as a transformation of public action. Governance was associated with citizen participation in the actions of the state and an improvement in its functioning. Many interpretations have been derived from this meaning. Two, in a very general way, stand out here: First, an immediate and relevant derivation was the meaning that, from that moment onwards, state actions acquired. An extrapolation of the logic and reasoning of private companies to the management of the public sector began, and this whole perspective was called the managerial thinking of the state [17]3. The state decided to plan, develop and evaluate its management with business rules: efficiency, competitiveness, maximization and accountability. The language of management became the language of public affairs [18].

The second, while equally concerned with public affairs and the autonomous participation of actors at the international, national or local level, this perspective seeks to repoliticize political practice, i.e., to go beyond the mere administrative form of public policy and highlight the multiple relationships that emerge between actors in governance [15]4. As a result, Jessop identifies four modes of governance: exchange, command, dialogue and solidarity.

Table 1. Modes of governance.

	Exchange	Command	Dialogue	Solidarity
Rationality	Formal and procedural	Meaningful and goal-oriented	Reflective and procedural	Thoughtless and value-oriented
Success criteria	Efficient allocation of resources	Effective achievement of objectives	Negotiated consent	Offset commitment
Examples	Market	Condition	Net	Love
Calculation mode	Homo economicus	Homo hierarchicus	Homo politicus	Homo fidelis
Space–time horizon	World market, reversible time	Organizational space, planning	Rescaling, trajectory shaping	Any time, any place
Primary failure criterion	Economic inefficiency	Inefficiency	Noise	Betrayal, mistrust
Secondary failure criterion	Market failure	Bureaucracy, administrative procedures	Secrecy, distorted communication	Codependency, asymmetry

Source [15].

highlights the basic characteristics of these relationships. It is on these characteristics that this article aims to identify the actions undertaken by the UEC in its immediate rural and urban environment in the construction of a MTLAFS.

2. Materials and Methods

The study area description proposes Bogota and Externado University as the starting point to work, according to the location. In that sense, Bogota was founded on the slopes of the eastern branch of the Andes Mountain range, its borders were defined to the north by the Vicacha (in the Chibcha language) or San Francisco River, to the south by the Rumichaca or San Agusin River, to the west by the Fucha River and to the east by the eastern hills. Bogota’s growth has been exponential since the 20th century due to four factors, driven by the industrial revolution, within a context of economic backwardness and political dependence on one or another world power [19]. According to the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE), Bogota’s population growth has continued to rise, as is shown by the following: 1938: 325,650; 1951: 715,250; 1964: 1,697,311; 1985: 4,236,490; 2005: 6,778,691; 2018: 7,412,566 [20]. However, urban and population growth has had a natural limit thanks to the eastern hills. Although there are some marginalized neighborhoods that have been created without state support, in general, these hills, which are also an environmental reserve area, have been a point of reference that has limited the excessive growth that has occurred in other areas of the city. At present, the capital of the country has an approximate extension of 33 km from south to north and 16 km from east to west at an average altitude of 2600 m above sea level [21]. Crossing the eastern hills in the central part of Bogota, towards the bordering rural area, are the municipalities of Choachi, Fomeque, Ubaque and Caqueza, with which the UEC has made progress in academic exercises and different processes of accompaniment and exchange of knowledge around, among others, agri-food issues. In this context, the process of interrelation with the actors of the environment and from the territories that the university has been developing is framed.

As can be seen, governance unfolds in innumerable aspects and characteristics. Therefore, it is illustrative to highlight how, from this perspective, the actions of the UEC have been carried out in the MTLAFS established in its area of influence. It is vital, then, to listen to the actions, interpretations, opinions and narratives of those involved in the system. There, of course, aspects that have to do with communication, participation, coordination and the arrangements of multiple actions will emerge, but especially the generation of knowledge about the local MTLAFS.

As part of the Global South [22], Colombia offers a landscape full of contrast. Like in similar territories, in this country agricultural practices must deal with different complexities and tensions. The first complexity comes from an internal conflict that has lasted for decades and the hopes of a process of peace agreement implementation. The second one emerges from the market competence between the cities and the agricultural frontier around the soil. The third is the labor absorption from the rural areas to the cities. Finally, due to their proximity, there are sociotechnical changes produced by blur frontiers between the cities and rural areas.

From a constructivist and post-positivist perspectives, which is the framework of case studies, the scientific discussions in this paper are presented. Case studies are located in a specific time, space and setting and with a limited set of facts that are not generalized but allow for the topic and the problem to be highlighted [23]. The case study does not stop at validation, which is done through generalization; in that sense, although the results of the present study are not new, a specific scenario is proposed as the unique fact of the relationship of the university with its environment in the framework of the MTLAFS. Likewise, local causalities are highlighted in the context of Choachi, Fomeque and Ubaque [21]. In that sense, the methodological tool observes the agri-food system in a schema from various perspectives as an integral [9], complex [12] and post-disciplinary way [15,24].

In this vein, Colombia’s landscape allowed us to reflect on the possible relationships between multifunctional territorialized agri-food systems, their governance and the role of academia by universities. To provide fine-grained reflections, we combined Yin’s approach to identifying illustrative cases [25] with the theoretical sampling approach suggested by Glaser and Strauss [26]. The mix of these methodological approaches supported building a sample of five projects led by the Universidad Externado de Colombia in Bogotá. Those projects shaped different scenarios to reflect on joint work between UEC and local communities, both within the city and outside its borders.

Among Yin’s [27] case design proposals, the research group developed type 2 designs for a single case but with sub-units of analysis contained within the case, where the units of analysis were the five experiences carried out by the university that will be presented later as the case studies (See Figure 1).

The five-project sampling was studied, acknowledging the personal experience of two authors in this study as practitioners in the projects that assembled the sample. In this paper, the case studies make an analytical generalization, not a statistical generalization based on the number of replications [28]. In this vein, like in studies where authors were involved in the cases [29,30,31,32], we are not claiming particular objectivity [29]. The role of the researchers ranged from description to feedback to ethnographic description (see Figure 2). The authors’ experience in the five-project sampling was combined with primary information from project fieldwork observations and secondary data from official documents linked with the cases. All the mentioned elements guided this study to reflect on the following research question: What have been the leading strategies and coordination mechanisms implemented by UEC to achieve multiple interactions between the actors involved in MTLAFS?

In view of the purpose of case studies, proposed by Stake (2005), the model adopted by the researchers in this article was the intrinsic model, since they are cases with their own specificities that have a value in themselves and each case is of interest in itself5 (see Figure 3).

2.1. The Five-Project Sampling

This section will describe general facts associate to each of the five projects that assemble the analysis sampling. Those projects share the UEC’s students and professors’ active involvement in its territorial influence area.6

2.1.1. Project One: Egipto Vivo (Living Egipto)

The Egipto Vivo project is an institutional commitment of the Universidad Externado de Colombia whose purpose is to empower the community of Barrio Egipto, the district of La Candelaria and some neighborhoods in the district of Santa Fe. Egipto Vivo contributes to the improvement of the quality of life of the inhabitants, as well as to the strengthening of its social fabric through the development of programs and projects led by academic and administrative units.

There are two lines of action: (1) Appropriation and territorial and socio-cultural empowerment, to promote sustainable development dynamics through the role played by the library based in Barrio Egipto, the internships and territorial internships in the East Center of the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences and the activation of various student volunteers. (2) Employability, for the development of business skills and entrepreneurship, generating productive empowerment in the community to achieve job growth and economic autonomy through free courses and diploma courses offered by the faculties, as well as enrolment in business strengthening programs. With more than 20 years of experience and institutionalized in 2017, the Egipto Vivo project has more than 450 beneficiaries of the courses and volunteers designed, which respond to the particular needs of the citizens and the characteristics identified in each of the impacted neighborhoods [33]. Furthermore, a significant group of inhabitants of the municipality of Choachí have a direct relationship with the Belen, Egipto and Los Laches neighborhoods, as they are located at the crossroads between the municipality and the capital city. It is there where, in spite of the fact that a link with the countryside could be recognized from the rural condition of its inhabitants, there is a detachment from the peasant roots that suggested a continuous contact with the land as a dynamic space for food production and cultural rootedness. It was identified that many of the inhabitants of the aforementioned neighborhoods, despite having a notable proximity to the countryside and its trades, have distanced themselves from the possibility of producing part of their food by adapting their urban spaces for self-consumption food production. Although they are the same actors and the territory is very close, there is a significant fracture in the roles that are present in the MTLAFS.

From the aforementioned governance perspective (see Table 1), the activities undertaken were not initially thought of in a systematic way, as in the table we place ourselves in the solidarity box. Subsequently, since 2012, the UEC chancellor’s office proposed to approach interaction from the perspective of a driving actor, with the intention of influencing the environment, which has now been institutionalized by the university’s extension office. At the same time, the fieldwork has also been oriented towards a dialogue with the actors in the Egipto neighborhood. The criterion for success has remained in solidarity.

2.1.2. Project Two: Proyecto Colombia (Project Colombia)

The optional seminar Proyecto Colombia is an interdisciplinary academic proposal, where field trips, problem-based learning, lectures by invited specialists and master classes have been harmoniously combined, all with the aim of giving students the opportunity to approach the different political, social and economic realities that can be observed in the country from various perspectives. Furthermore, previous versions of the seminar have dealt with the topics of the coffee economy, mining and the moorlands, the tourism economy in the regions and the internal and external borders of the country [34]. The epicenter of the latest version of the Colombia project was the transversal study of the city of Bogotá and its progressive transformation throughout its history. The different challenges that the city has had to face were observed from the point of view of its organization and planning, as well as its relations with its natural environment and with other population centers around it. Bogotá is a privileged setting for approaching many problems, sometimes hidden in the midst of the everyday life of a city that is apparently well known as the capital of the country, but whose complexity offers the possibility of advancing in different studies linked to its setting. Under that scenario, visits and discussions were held with members of the village of Agua Dulce in the municipality of Choachí, with whom they talked about their relationship with the Cruz Verde Paramo (moorland) and the challenge posed by the application of Law 1930/2018 “By which provisions are issued for the integrated management of moorlands in Colombia”, where their traditional peasant production activities are facing the dynamics of conservation suggested by the new rule proposing limits to small livestock farms and self-consumption gardens. Today, the debate is widening with the arrival of mining extraction processes in the moorlands, as well as the production of industrial monocultures that impact with agro-inputs and threaten traditional activities and the sustainability of the moorland.

This project takes into account the multidimensionality of the territory and its requirements in terms of the environmental, economic and social value at stake. Indeed, the moorland is a priority ecosystem in the Andean region as it is the natural water factory, which contrasts with the economic activities proposed. A positive social impact can be glimpsed with the recovery of traditional agricultural practices and the use of native and creole seeds in the territory. The effect on food sovereignty is important.

2.1.3. Project Three: Cultivar el Territorio Para Que Crezca la Comunidad (Cultivating the Land to Enhance the Community)

A couple of professors [35] from the UEC’s government and international relations school developed the project Cultivar el territorio para que crezca la comunidad, which was aimed at women inhabitants of the Belén and Egipto neighborhoods. It proposed an approach to the individual and collective benefits of urban agriculture as a tool to improve health in all its dimensions, especially for women, as well as to generate income and contribute to environmental sustainability. It contributed to the process of reconstructing the social fabric through the teaching and practice of urban agriculture as an entrepreneurial mechanism that facilitated the building of social capital in the Belén and Egipto neighborhoods. It also sought to empower the participating women, who in the medium term generated savings and income. The discovery and learning of urban agriculture were proposed as a point of support on which we sought to re-create bonds of trust (social capital) that allowed for the construction of a social fabric, from which the possibility of producing food that contributed to guaranteeing food sovereignty was recognized, with the possibility of generating processes of association. Although the call was made in the Belén and Egipto neighborhoods, the implementation of the project was limited to a group of women heads of household in the Callejón de San Bruno in the Egipto neighborhood. Through the knowledge of the benefits of urban agriculture and its practice, it was possible to generate a cultural change in the participants in terms of their role in the community, their decision-making and their organizational power. Finally, the project aimed at the environmental improvement of the neighborhood through good practices (recycling solid waste to make compost, recycling rainwater, organic farming) and cultivating beauty. Contributions were made to improve the physical and mental health of the women and their families through better nutrition and urban gardening. Experiences were shared with other women in other neighborhoods who have carried out a similar urban agriculture project (Ciudad Bolivar, Barrio Belen, La Perseverancia). The activities carried out were as follows:

(i).

Discovering what urban agriculture is.

(ii).

Visit to the botanical garden to learn about the urban agriculture plot.

(iii).

Visit to vegetable gardens in Ciudad Bolivar neighborhood.

((iv).

Visit to Doña Helena’s vegetable garden, La Perseverancia neighborhood.

(v).

Identification of sites to cultivate in the Egypt neighborhood.

(vi).

Working mingas (traditional collaborative work) to build the orchards.

In this example, there was an expressed interest in the re-signification of the territory where the university contributed the multidimensional approach of the support the community needed. The interest in food sovereignty underlines the need to recreate the agri-food system with a social, economic and environmental perspective.

2.1.4. Project Four: Laboratorio de Gobierno y Geografía Municipal (Government Lab and Municipal Geography)

As part of the experience of the university’s government and geography programs, progress has been made in a joint inter-faculty exercise that allows participants, from academia, to articulate disciplines in the solution of public problems, but which is also nourished by the dialogue of knowledge in the link with the peasant and indigenous communities of the eastern province. To this end, field trips with students from both academic programs to the eastern province from the Territorial Practices and GobLab determine the possibility of strengthening links with social organizations and government institutions in order to recognize and make visible the relations with the region in terms of access to food and water. This visibility of peasant dynamics and the recognition of peasants as the main victims of the conflict suggests the possibility of putting peace on the table for Colombians, from the interpretation of the peace agreements to the day-to-day processes of food and water supply. In a case of interest, El Desayunadero (the breakfast place) at the church in the Egipto neighborhood stands out, as it is supplied by the peasants who bring fruit from Choachí. This is a practice that has existed since pre-Colombian times, which was reactivated in the emergency food circuit due to the pandemic, where historical synergies are manifested that require greater awareness among the actors in the recognition of the connection with the urban–rural corridor to highlight the historical and ancestral dynamics among others. This approach allows for a retrospective look that confirms a first intuition of the MTSA that can be reconstructed and that has been taken as a working hypothesis of the authors team [36]. In this case, the incorporation of the role of water as an integral part of the agri-food circuit is highlighted, also seeking to take into account the multidimensionality of the territory.

2.1.5. Project Five: Jornadas Geográficas de la Reconciliación: Poner Paz en la Mesa de los Colombianos (Geographic Days of Reconciliation: Put Peace on the Colombians’ Dining Table)

The geographical days of reconciliation management of the geography program (UEC’s social science school), counting on inter-faculty roundtables about: (i) regional inequalities and territorial dynamics of implementation and (ii) food issues. From the classrooms, we hope to think about the paths of reconciliation and the interdependence of others, of water and the soil of the territories closest to us and of the people of the regions of which we are a part. It is a dialogue of knowledges, experiences and expertise of students, graduates and professors about our country, based on themes that allow us to recognize and promote our commitment as an academic community to the democratic opening that Colombia is experiencing. The processes are studied in order to learn about the landscapes and geographies that inhabit and are built in different regions, such as the eastern province of Cundinamarca and its municipalities of Choachí, Fómeque and Ubaque, as well as its water sources, the moorlands ecosystem and the Chingaza National Park that guarantee part of the water supply for our city and university. In this sense, putting ‘peace on the table of Colombians’ means ensuring that all people in the country’s countryside and cities have access to adequate food. Two activities are part of this experience to discuss the aforementioned issues: (i) an academic forum and (ii) a farmers’ market of reconciliation that will bring together some farmers’ associations from the Cundinamarca’s eastern province and the central region [37].

In this case, and as part of its intention to support the organization of the agri-food system in this urban–rural region, the university intends to create a meeting place that will enable the actors to recognize each other and to identify the multidimensional variables to be strengthened.

3. Results

This section describes the main findings identified applying the methodological approach from Section 3.

Our own elaboration is based on the experiences of the different faculties of the Universidad Externado de Colombia in light of Jessop’s modes of governance [15].

As stated at the beginning, the author group, which was set up as an inter-faculty round table on food issues that, from an academic perspective, seeks to enhance the value of the experiences that have been developed at the university with the aim of reconstructing the linkages between agriculture and the territories (as an MTLAFS methodology), also mentions the active intention of the university’s management to commit to its environment and to be able to act as a relevant actor in the territorial dialogue with the specificities of an urban–rural border region.

The systematization of the experiences has made it possible to identify elements of understanding that are not conclusive for the moment, but which provide guidelines on the approach to be taken in depth in order to support the MTLAFS.

3.1. Project One: Egipto Vivo (Living Egypt)

In the case of Egypt vivo, the focus of the project was not on food, but a review of the results allows us to identify the aforementioned fracture in the transition from the countryside to the city. The peasant who settles in the city loses his customs and with it his practices and knowledge. One hypothesis to explore is to find the cause, which is a challenge to think that the reconstruction of the social fabric represents, among other alternatives, the possibility of maintaining the MTLAFS. The systematization and recording of participation in the different activities will contribute to a better interpretation and dialogue on future actions (see

Table 2. Governance modes according to Jessop applied to the interactions led by the Universidad Externado de Colombia with its closest environment and the eastern province.

	Exchange	Command	Dialogue	Solidarity
Rationality		P1; P2	P1; P3; P4; P5	P1
success criteria	P2	P2	P3; P4; P5	P1
Calculation mode	P2	P2	P3; P4; P5	P1
Space–time horizon		P1; P2	P3; P4; P5
Primary failure criterion	P2	P1; P2	P3; P4; P5
Secondary failure criterion	P2	P1; P2	P3; P4; P5	P1

The “P” and “number” is the analyzed case.

).

3.2. Project Two: Proyecto Colombia (Colombia’s Projects)

The review of the progress of this project makes it possible to identify the variables to be taken into account in the multidimensionality of the agri-food system in this territory. In the light of the visit to the Aguadulce hamlet in the municipality of Choachi, it was recognized that, in terms of rationality, it is identified with meaningful and goal-oriented rationality, while there is an efficient allocation of resources and an efficient achievement of objectives. The mode of calculation is determined by economic and hierarchical elements. The time–space horizon involves organizational planning, and the failure criteria recognize economic inefficiency and ineffectiveness. As such, secondary failure criteria are represented by market failures and bureaucracy and red tape (see Table 2). As mentioned in the description of the cases, one of the major debates is represented by the emergence of a norm that recognizes the value of the moorlands as ecosystems producing water and biodiversity but omits the work and tradition of several generations of peasants who lived on and exploited the land for their own consumption. This is part of the challenges offered by the MTLAFS.

3.3. Project Three: Cultivar el Territorio Para Que Crezca la Comunidad (Cultivating the Land to Enhance the Community)

Although in Table 2 the criteria in the first column are contained within the governance mode of dialogue, the interaction with the communities of women heads of household in the Callejón de San Bruno in the Egipto neighborhood was consolidated to the extent that different areas of the university had previously built bonds of trust that consolidated a fundamental social capital to be able to continue weaving dialogues, knowledge, actions and decisions. The pretext was a “lettuce”, but what was really important had to do with opening up the space for dialogue and sharing the daily life and difficulties that, as mothers who are heads of households in an area of crime and social vulnerability, were common to the participating women. The nitrates and composting to prepare the soil for the urban vegetable gardens paved the way for the creation of these bonds of trust. Subsequent processes, such as incorporating vegetables into everyday ingredients or recognizing the savings from producing in the garden or offering surplus food for restaurants in the historic center, would be complementary elements of the weaving.

3.4. Project Four: Laboratorio de Gobierno y Geografía Municipal (Municipal Government and Geography Laboratory)

The Municipal Government and Geography Laboratory works at various levels and can provide information for analysis from two scenarios: on the one hand, the interactions and legitimacy of the actors are important, which make it possible to bring out the appropriate channels for the reappropriation of the territory. On the other hand, and as mentioned above, it is a useful tool for providing feedback on multidimensionality. A very significant element of these experiences corresponds to the possibility of breaking with a closed structure of interaction between academic programs within the university. In contrast, both the agri-food problems table and the interaction between the academic tools of the government and geography programs contribute in an integral way to the training of students, but even more so, to the solution of real problems in the eastern province. The result of these interactions is the dialogue (see Table 2) that stands out in the governance criteria when consolidating actions and decisions between the academic programs and the community surrounding the university.

3.5. Project Five: Jornadas Geográficas de la Reconciliación (Geographic Days of Reconciliation)

In this scenario, the MTLAFS review the conditions that have been designed in the public policy of reconciliation and peace derived from the Peace Agreement. The appropriation and potential of the design of incentives and facilitation mechanisms is reviewed under the structure of the legitimization of the agri-food system as an axis of recognition of the other, their value and their contribution to an issue that touches the whole of society (production and consumption of food). As part of the learning from the different forms of interaction between the university, its environment and the associations and communities with which these links have been created. Dialogue again stands out in the mode of governance (see Table 2), and this is the case to the extent that peace is required to be put on the table. The report of the Truth Commission [38] as a mandate of the 2016 Peace Agreement made it clear that the armed conflict had peasants as its main victims. For this reason, it is necessary to make their work visible and exalt it, not only from the respect it demands, but also from their role as an actor that provides food and cares for the environment. This is why, through dialogue, it is hoped that days of reconciliation, recognition and interaction will be carried out with the peasant communities invited to participate in the academic events.

4. Conclusions

In response to the question—what have been the main strategies and coordination mechanisms implemented by the UEC to achieve multiple interactions between the actors involved in the MTLAFS—the answer has been arranged, in light of the description of the case studies. In that sense, among the first actions taken by the university to recognize the territory, there was a lack of clarity about the orientation that it hoped to offer; however, taking as a platform the interaction with the Egipto neighborhood and the current project called Egipto Vivo, progress has been made in the construction of a dialogue of knowledge that in the light of Jessop’s governance proposals, understood as the mechanisms and strategies for coordination between agents, organizations and systems with which the university has interacted.

Recognizing the value of the peasants in this urban–rural corridor of which the university is geographically a part, the aim is to redefine and legitimize their historical weight through the recognition of their knowledge from the institutional framework represented by the university. The exercise includes the peasants who remain in the rural area (central-east zone) and those who have arrived in the city and adapted, changing their practices for those that are less favorable to the environment, their economy and their social links.

The MTLAFS methodological scheme suggests the integration of the dimensions that are in conflict on a daily basis. Thus, as a result of and learning from the interactions in this territory, it is hoped to implement a scheme where the university does not limit itself to analyzing the problems, but also acts as an actor of influence within the respect of the dialogue of knowledge. The proposal of the MIPA aims to formulate recommendations along these lines.

In the same sense, in addition to the supply for the cooking courses, taking into account that the university has a Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management, it will be sought that both the kitchens and the courses taught take up the traditional dishes whose native seeds favor the biodiversity of the moorland. This reconstruction of traditional gastronomy has a positive impact on the common heritage that is represented socially, on the collective fabric and on the projection of a food that is appropriate to the climatic conditions with a balanced diet. It is assumed that the economic impact is intrinsic to the reorientation of short-circuit flows.

On the other hand, based on the experience with the peasant communities of the eastern province and what was produced in the urban vegetable gardens of the project cultivating the territory so that the community can grow, a business wheel of suppliers could be set up that favors access to the food of these producers at the university and in the Candelaria (historic center of Bogotá), There are still several tasks to be carried out, one of which is to understand the use of space, ecology and the environment from an academic point of view, in order to know what is produced and to promote these products. Debate on the conceptual horizon is represented by food security, sovereignty or autonomy, and given that UEC has a center for multicultural interactions that brings together 60 members of 25 indigenous communities from all over the country, which represents a wealth of ethnic and ancestral knowledge, concepts such as food autonomy could cover more subjects of study.

Likewise, the possibility of institutionally strengthening links with the Museum of Maize Seeds in Choachí or with the seed guardians of the same municipality are actions that will contribute to improving the understanding of agri-food problems, and thus open up the possibility of participating more actively in the solution of these debates that allow for the recognition of the territory and the reconstruction of traditional gastronomy.

Finally, one of the university’s aims over the last decade has been to strengthen the spaces for interdisciplinary dialogue that were previously limited to discussions within each faculty. MIPA is one more institutional example of these new dynamics.

As part of the analysis of the information in this article, the importance of systematically recording the actions carried out in each faculty, using an interdisciplinary focus according to common criteria that allow for standardized analyses, was recognized. Likewise, the function of the university in its articulating and dynamizing role can be further developed in actions such as serving as an epicenter for territorial farmers’ markets, promoting short agri-food circuits within the university and in restaurants in the historic center of Bogotá and, finally, raising awareness among the academic community and the inhabitants of neighboring neighborhoods of the importance of local food consumption and good nutrition.