EXPERIENCIAS EXTENSIONISTAS EN TERRITÓRIO FRONTERIZO

Abstract

Extension projects, the context of the international border between Mato Grosso do Sul State (Brazil) and its neighbor Paraguay, and the academic production within the Graduate Program in Regional Development and Productive Systems inspired the reflections presented in this project. The perspective of development as freedom and its regional implications correspond to the theoretical review. The experience report was supported by investigations that relate to the role of a state public higher education institution as a vector of development in a territory, in general, highlighted by its challenges in terms of public security. Extension has always been one of the foundations of higher education, along with research and teaching, however, for many reasons, often occupied the third place in the hierarchical order of priorities or even of interest to the academic community. Extension is the driving force behind UEMS' social role as a promoter of socioeconomic development. And the responsibility of the academic community of the Economic Sciences and Law courses, in this development process, whether to propose alternatives to overcome the regional bottlenecks or to build new economic and legal proposals to transform the peripheral and challenging reality that Mato Grosso do Sul’s border imposes on social, public, and private actors, is considered significant. Both the undergraduate and graduate levels are being provoked, through the external evaluation process, to indicate how they effectively generate positive impacts on the community. Extension is accepting this provocation and has great responses to share.