Universidad San Francisco de Quito
PAE-19: Community Sustainability Partnerships

USFQ has various formal partnerships with local communities, Non Profits, governments and International Universities to foster community relations and advance sustainability efforts.

PASEC Partnerships
The first partnership includes over 55 Non Profits, health clinics and public schools where students volunteer for 80 hours as a class requirement. Most of the partnerships have been ongoing since 2003. Organizations that wish to form a partnership with the university go thought proper screening to make sure the requirements and objectives of the class can be achieved. After this screening takes place, a signed agreement among the parties is properly signed and filed. The Non Profit will then be published in the list of partners for PASEC. Every year the list is updated and partnerships are only terminated if one of the two parties raises the desire. Most of the partnerships are focused on the “people” part of sustainability. We have categorized partnerships into areas that organizations serve for example age groups, sector of practice and geographic presence.

Academic Department partnerships for projects for 2012

Academic Department -Project- Geographic Scope
COCSA -Community development-Altura and Guangaje- Cotopaxi
COCSA- Identify endangered fauna that could potentially be commercialized- Ecuadorian Territory
Politécnico-Energy Efficient Power Plants-Macas
CTT- Water management and Quality-Riobamba

Scientific Stations and Community development

a. The Galapagos Institute for the Arts and Sciences (GAIAS)
GAIAS is an academic and research institution offering hands-on academic programs for international and Ecuadorian students. Students partaking in semester programs have the opportunity to choose between three tracks: Marine Ecology; Evolution, Ecology and Conservation; and People Politics and the Environment.
Established by Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ) in 2002, GAIAS was created with the support of the Galapagos National Park, the Municipality of San Cristobal, and the local government as well as in support of Chapel Hill University.

GAIAS recognizes that effective environmental conservation requires accessible and sustainable economic alternatives for the local people.
It is with this focus and understanding that GAIAS seeks to promote the development and replication of sustainable, non-extractive economic opportunities through access to quality higher education.