Where innovation meets community - Uniminuto Bogota

The IASP Latin America Division event this year took place in Colombia, and taking advantage of the trip, IASP CEO Ebba Lund and Director of Community & Events Francesca Antoniazzi also visited IASP member Parque Científico de Innovación Social (UNIMINUTO) in Bogotá. 

Rector Juan Fernando Pacheco Duarte and Jairo Alberto García Riveros Director of Business Affairs gave the IASP team a comprehensive tour of the site, explaining how, via 7 key thematic topics, PCIS works with regional science, technology, and innovation ecosystems to cocreate cost-effective solutions aimed at solving local challenges, with a focus on social impact and special attention to underserved communities. 

They have created a "Social Innovation Route", a five-stage methodology for developing and implementing social solutions to community problems. Via this process they can help align all the organisations and researchers involved, ensuring that the support is effective. The final step in the process is preparing the solution to be replicated and spread to other communities, thus ensuring that the benefits go beyond the inaitila community where the work started.

From 2025 annual data, they had 305 active projects, 18 registered patents, and 1,478 researchers working on these activities, collaborating with both national and international entities. From supporting rural producers with access to technology to transforming organic waste into biomaterials and co-creating engineering solutions with surrounding neighborhoods, the work is grounded in a single guiding question: what challenges do communities need to solve today? 

It is clear that Uniminuto is making great strides in becoming a catalyst for social change across Colombia, connecting academia with communities, entrepreneurs, and regional ecosystems to create innovation that truly helps people.