Development: a reading from a multidimensional, territorial and systemic perspective

Abstract

In 2014, the Master’s Degree in Local Development, which started in 2002 at the Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas, changed its name to Master’s Degree in Territorial Development. At its base, this can be seen as a continuity of the first one; and indeed, many of the theoretical-methodological references of that initial moment are maintained. But it is not until 2018 that a process of reflection is developed among the teaching team at that time, to establish the approach that underlies the vision of development of the Master’s in Territorial Development. The change of name, from local development to territorial development, made it necessary to make a theoretical-conceptual reflection on what this means for teaching and research in this area. Hence, the work approach of this training program is defined as multidimensional, territorial and systemic. Multidimensional, because it opens the gaze to other dimensions of development beyond the economic one. Territorial, because development is valued as a process anchored in people’s living spaces. Systemic, because it understands the complexity of development processes in the process of interdependence of the elements that make it up. This multidimensional, territorial and systemic view was already present when its name referred to local development; even several of the referent authors of local development recognized and addressed these three elements. Thus, the Master’s Degree in Territorial Development inherits the conceptual and methodological reflections that gave rise to the Master’s Degree in Local Development, so that the change from local to territorial, rather than indicating a discontinuity, promotes the need to deepen the understanding of different territorial approaches to development.

ECA Estudios Centroamericanos, Vol. 78, No. 773, 2023: 21-34.