Introduction
In light of the Global Challenges and systemic failures that we are facing, we recognize that the process of capacity building is about learning together and co-creating new patterns and structures that can serve the emergence of a new system of influence. We believe in building capacity through transdisciplinary dialogue and co-creation, bringing together the grassroots with global networks to explore and learn together. At the University Hecho x Nostros, capacity building works hand in hand with local action and global policies, involving MSMEs, entrepreneurs, artisans, designers, students, and professionals from different areas, NGOs, Ashoka fellows, international organizations, and Universities.
Systemic Change, Social Innovation and Sustainable Development
The University Hecho x Nosotros has co-created courses, seminars, webinars, workshops, training and talks bringing social innovation tools that align with Sustainable Development Goals and aim for a systemic change paradigm. As a member of the Economic and Social Council of the UN (Ecosoc) and Ashoka fellow, we consider these key elements to achieve long term social and economic changes.
A co-creative approach focuses on experimentation and prototyping as ways to integrate active learning by doing and drive positive impact for all. The objective of the University HxN is to create a platform for students, professors, entrepreneurs, and professionals from different backgrounds to together build capacity for thinking, doing and living a sustainable way of life, with an interdisciplinary vision, through systemic change, social innovation and sustainability principles.
Arts and Crafts
Fabric the Change
Hecho x Nosotros University believes in knowledge exchange by co-creating with producers for systemic change. Since 2008, we have shared tools with and get inspired by over 7,500 artisans and 300 micro, small and medium enterprises across Latin America. In different trainings and workshops, we learn about the ancestral techniques transmitted from generation to generation, meanwhile, fiber producers and processors gain managerial, technological, and design skills they can use to increase their production and strengthen their livelihoods.
The artisans are the safeguards of an extraordinary capacity, talent, and ancestral knowledge;
they have the ability to transform the products of nature into beautiful handicrafts. However, it is necessary to gain knowledge about design, communications, or marketing strategies to transform the art into sustainable local development. That is why the HxN University
of Arts and Crafts collaborates with local entrepreneurs focused on handmade products and the use of collective knowledge in design and sustainable practices to co-learn, and in a dialogue they find the way to build up their businesses.