Throughout its history, the National University of San Juan has maintained a commitment to promoting Human Rights (HR). In recent years, projects have been promoted to create spaces that support study and action on Human Rights (Resolution 456/2010/R), as well as the institutionalization of the UNSJ Human Rights Program (Resolution 264/12/R), with the goal that all members of our university community (teaching and non-teaching staff, researchers, students, and graduates) carry out actions together with various Human Rights organizations.

Our university has a Framework Cooperation Agreement with the Human Rights Secretariat of the National Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, and since 2021 UNSJ has been part of the Interuniversity Human Rights Network under the National Interuniversity Council.

This program follows that line of action by recognizing the relational dimension of Human Rights with other areas of social life and in dialogue with the national legal system, which represents a challenge for the entire institution: it places UNSJ before the challenge of achieving universality through dialogue rather than through imposed models.

For this reason, the university system as a whole must promote the decolonization of educational and cultural models, work to break with market-driven and patriarchal approaches to education, and incorporate gender and humanistic perspectives in its policies, with stronger commitment to historically marginalized groups (indigenous peoples, the LGBTIQ+ community, older adults, migrants, people in confinement contexts, among others).

The Human Rights Program of the National University of San Juan seeks to strengthen knowledge on Human Rights, promote its curricular integration within our university, build a more pluralistic university, and deepen ties with social organizations and provincial and national government institutions through both internal and external actions.

Under the University Extension Secretariat, this program is designed as a space for coordination and co-management of university human rights policies through the following lines of action:

• Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights
• Memory, Truth and Justice
• Disability and Inclusion
• Gender and Diversity
• Childhood, Youth and Human Rights
• Mental Health and Human Rights
• Human Rights of People in Confinement Contexts
• Indigenous Peoples
  • Res N°: 1043-22-R
  • Contact: jimesancholuc@gmail.com

In recent years, UNSJ has developed numerous policies to strengthen Extension within our university, including the approval of Ordinance 12-20-CS (implementation of Socio-Educational Practices at UNSJ), the organization of the Spring School of Extension (2019), and the 8th National Extension Congress (2018), among others. The purpose has always been to foster reflection among different actors of our university on the importance of university social commitment with popular sectors, critical extension work, and the curricular implementation of Socio-Educational Practices (PSE) through Ordinance 12-20-CS.

This growth in university extension requires specific policies that support, promote, and develop stronger territorial and institutional social engagement actions, as well as training in critical extension and Socio-Educational Practices (PSE), aimed at integrating UNSJ's essential functions: teaching, extension, research, and creation.

In this context, the goal is to propose a policy that includes broad and integrated actions in two directions: on one hand, in terms of dissemination and communication, specific training, and the generation of debates and reflections that raise awareness about university social commitment and critical extension, while developing actions for adaptation and implementation of Socio-Educational Practices (PSE) in the different academic units of UNSJ. On the other hand, a pilot experience is proposed through a "UNSJ Territorial Extension Center," as a major political-institutional step where transfer actions are materialized to contribute to San Juan's territorial development and to energize commitments within the university community regarding Critical Extension and PSE.

• Res: 2847-22-R
• Contact: consultasextensionunsj@gmail.com

Originally created in 1989, the University Program for Municipal Partnerships (PUAM) resumed its actions in 2021 with the objective of generating stronger interaction between the National University of San Juan and the different municipalities of the province.

The project seeks to facilitate better coordination between the activities and services of UNSJ's different academic units and municipal governments, in order to strengthen the University's integration with the diverse communities of San Juan, always based on principles of justice and social equity.

This proposal is not focused on creating or maintaining degree programs in municipalities, but on involving UNSJ stakeholders to develop policies that strengthen territories, promote collaborative actions, and align with the strategic priorities of the University Extension Secretariat: Social Economy, Human Rights, and Culture.

• Ord. N°: 28/89CS
• Contact: seure@unsj.edu.ar

The Critical Extension Program for Alternative Economies (PECOE) is a joint initiative between the UNSJ University Extension Secretariat and the National Institute of Agricultural Technology, San Juan Experimental Station (INTA). It seeks to consolidate an interinstitutional space within the university for Social, Solidarity, Popular, and Feminist Economy (ESSPyF) from a critical extension perspective.

The province has a population strongly concentrated in Greater San Juan, which maintains direct links with rural territories. In response, the project seeks to recover the extension work carried out by INTA in order to create continuity through consistently dialogic proposals.

This positioning necessarily leads to rethinking the idea of work, not only around knowledge production but also for social action. Considering that the issues addressed by ESSPyF are fragmented, this project aims to organize them, recover the role of the University, and propose the concept of territory as an articulating axis. The complexity of territories therefore requires an approach based on dialogue among disciplines both inside and outside academia, in this case through dialogue between Critical Extension and INTA, in order to build a collective identity.

From March 2022 to July 2025, the program is guided by a transformative approach both inside UNSJ (courses, teaching and learning processes, extension projects, theses, scholarships, etc.) and outside, together with other social actors. Its goal is to activate new practices and knowledge that connect academic and community work to promote alternative ways of building the economy.

PECOE seeks to recognize the diversity of training, extension, and research work on ESSPyF within UNSJ, in order to promote and integrate joint actions and define medium- and long-term work strategies in San Juan. Creating exchange spaces can help identify the background and concerns of social actors and organizations, carry out participatory analysis, and make visible all the work that both UNSJ and INTA perform from these broader perspectives, contributing to the strengthening of the entire ESSPyF sector.

• Res: 0739-22-R
• Contact: pecoeunsjinta@gmail.com

The University for Older Adults program (UPAMI) emerged through an agreement between PAMI and national universities, with the objective of promoting personal growth, improving quality of life, and achieving greater equality of educational opportunities by developing cultural and vocational values through various free courses that do not require previous studies.

UPAMI began its activities in San Juan in 2008 and in 2015 expanded to various spaces of the National University of San Juan (Faculty of Social Sciences, Faculty of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences, and the UNSJ Central Building). In 2016, it continued in additional UNSJ units and added Drawing and Painting, Resilience, and Macrame Weaving workshops. During 2018, a four-month implementation format (August to November), a fixed course load (32 clock-hours per course), and more effective planning (work guided by university professors and UNSJ graduates) were established, along with an expansion of workshops (Radio, Photography, Computing, and Theatre, all with beginner and advanced levels).

In 2019, additional courses were added (Graphic and Artistic Structural Composition, Writing Workshop, Practical Philosophy, Literature, Guitar, and Oral Scenic Storytelling), and a free visit to the Anchipurac Environmental Center was coordinated for all UPAMI participants.

In 2020, this university policy faced major challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since older adults were among the highest-risk groups, the University Extension Secretariat organized a work plan to sustain UPAMI's educational and social support function, adapting activities to virtual and phone-based formats (WhatsApp, Facebook, and others), while also providing support and guidance during the pandemic.

• Res: 1435-22-R
• Contact: upamitalleres@gmail.com.ar