Cooperation of URACCAN - University of Tromsø

The University of Tromsø and URACCAN, a University in Nicaragua , are cooperating on the NUFU financed project “Cultural revitalization, environment and the natural resources of the indigenous peoples of the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua.” This cooperative project led to a visit from the University of Tromsø to URACCAN. This program is now in its fifth year and has completed its first phase and will receive support from NUFU through 2008. The program seeks to shed light on the situation of the indigenous people on the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua . An important goal for the program is capacity building and strengthening the economic status of URACCAN. As of June 2004, some 50 individuals (students and staff) have received support from the program and 30 projects are being prepared or are ready for implementation.  Professor Svein Jentoft and Associate Professor Harald Gaski have been the project leaders in the first phase; Svein Jentoft will be project leader in the second phase. Jens Revold is project administrator. You can find a paper on indigenous people, resources and rights in Nicaragua by Svein Jentoft on PDF file here or the website with pictures.

About URACCAN

URACCAN was established in 1995. The primary mission of URACCAN is to address the various needs of the local communities.  Important fields of study and research include sociology, the use of minerals, engineering, fisheries and agricultural studies, resource management, language and bilingual studies, traditional medicine, women’s studies and intercultural communication.

URACCAN considers it important that courses of studies accommodate prospective students who have traditionally been excluded from higher education and that the university be part of a process of cultural revitalization. Thus, it is necessary to integrate various perspectives and knowledge traditions in teaching and research.

URACCAN offers courses for leaders of local communities in land use, law, customary law and indigenous rights.  The university has to be sensitive to the dilemma of the common perception that people are educated only to leave the local community with their expertise. Therefore, URACCAN strives to be guided by a philosophy of partnership between the local community and the university.  It must make itself accessible to indigenous students, a meeting place for interaction and exchange, and also to earn the trust of the local communities. 

URACCAN has campuses in Managua , Puerto Cabezas, Siuna, Bluefields and Nueva Guinea.

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