UNESCO-ICHEI and Universidad Mayor Joint Project Approved by Chile's Ministry of Education
A project jointly proposed by the International Centre for Higher Education Innovation under the auspices of UNESCO (UNESCO-ICHEI) and Universidad Mayor of Chile, entitled "Institutionalization of Real-Context Learning: Developing Competencies Aligned with Social and Industry Needs through Teacher Empowerment and Student-Centred Active Pedagogy" (Institucionalización del Aprendizaje en Contexto Real: Transversalización de metodologías activas de enseñanza-aprendizaje centradas en el estudiante para el desarrollo de competencias pertinentes al medio social y productivo), has recently been approved and selected for funding under the 2026 Institutional Development Fund (Fondo de Desarrollo Institucional, FDI) of the Undersecretariat of Higher Education (Subsecretaría de Educación Superior) of the Chilean Ministry of Education. As a key partner in the project, UNESCO-ICHEI will work with Universidad Mayor and other institutions to advance its implementation.
The Chilean Ministry of Education announced the results of the Strategic Areas 2026 competition of the Institutional Development Fund (FDI) for universities, administered by the Undersecretariat of Higher Education
The project proposal was jointly developed by UNESCO-ICHEI, the Centre for Educational Innovation under the General Academic Directorate (Dirección General Académica) of Universidad Mayor, and other institutions. The project is built on the Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) model, in which students from different years and disciplines form long-term teams working under faculty guidance. On this basis, the project has designed a real-context learning model that engages teachers and students in industry projects to jointly solve real-world industry problems, with the competencies students develop recognized through jointly issued project certificates. The approval of this project marks substantive progress in cooperation between UNESCO-ICHEI and higher education institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean, as the partnership moves from exchange and dialogue to project implementation. During implementation, UNESCO-ICHEI will draw on its experience in developing the International Institute of Online Education (IIOE) platform, the "AI + Discipline" and "AI + Industry" micro-certification courses, and competency certification, working with Universidad Mayor to explore pathways to institutionalize real-context learning and to better align talent cultivation in universities with economic and social development needs. About Universidad Mayor Universidad Mayor is a leading private, non-profit university in Chile, headquartered in the capital, Santiago. It holds advanced-level institutional accreditation from the National Accreditation Commission of Chile (CNA-Chile) and was among the first Chilean universities to obtain international accreditation from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) of the United States. The university has solid academic strengths in life sciences, health sciences and interdisciplinary applied research, and plays an active role in advancing the internationalization of Chilean higher education, academic exchange and research translation.
