UPN Participates in International Peace Congress

Universidad Pedagógica Nacional (UPN), reaffirming its ongoing commitment to critical reflection and peacebuilding, took an active role in the international congress “The Legacy of the CEV: Challenges for Peace in a Global Crisis Context,” held on August 28 and 29 at Universidad de Antioquia. The event, organized by Instituto Colombo Alemán para la Paz– CAPAZ, brought together experts, academics, and social organizations to discuss the current challenges of global peace.

Professor Paola Helena Acosta Sierra, Vice-Rector for University Management at UPN, represented the Institution on the panel “Challenges of Political Education in Times of a Shift Toward the Political Right”

In her presentation, the Vice-Rector offered a profound reading of the global context, which she described as marked by a “repertoire of war” and the globalized nature of violence. She pointed out how these dynamics affect schools in both rural and urban settings through rising inequalities, educational neoliberalism, and the impoverishment of language.

Professor Acosta explained that schools today are traversed by multiple forms of violence. In response, she argued that political education must be built on pillars such as collective action, trust, ethical narratives, and the joint fabric woven between teachers and students.

A central point in her analysis was the role of art as a key didactic tool for a pedagogy of memory. “Art has endured through many political shifts and has contributed to fostering questioning and critical thinking,” she stated. She highlighted how the arts support political formation by cultivating knowledge aimed at transforming oppressive realities, directly linking with university research.

Professor Acosta also outlined the concrete challenges posed by the current “Shift Toward the Political Right” to education: the weakening of public institutions due to budget cuts, reduced university autonomy, the criminalization of student and teacher protests, and the prioritization of efficiency and speed over critical reflection.

In light of these challenges, she proposed strengthening memory pedagogy as a “living and contested field” that makes it possible to shape narratives about the past, present, and future. She emphasized that working with the legacy of the Truth Commission (CEV) is essential for educational spaces, enabling society to share knowledge about painful histories and recognize what needs to change.

UPN’s participation in such high-level international forums is vital. It positions the University as a key actor in the global dialogue on education and peace, reaffirming its mission to train the country’s teachers with a multidisciplinary and critical perspective.