Desarrollo desde la Base: Educación, Capacitación y Microemprendimiento

Overview & Synopsis

It is suggested that development in Latin America should be understood as a multidimensional process that depends both on public policies and on the social meanings associated with the term. From a territorial perspective applied to Ecuador, it maintains that sustainable progress is driven “from the ground up” through the articulation of education, relevant training, and microenterprise. Chapter I highlights a gap between the academic notion of development and its everyday use, which is often linked to social assistance and state institutions, limiting expectations and transformative strategies. Chapter II, with a systematic review (PRISMA 2020), concludes that formal education is decisive, but its impact depends on the quality, equity, and coherence of policies; training complements and improves employability and productivity. Chapter III analyzes microenterprise driven by necessity and opportunity and highlights the role of entrepreneurial education, institutions, and financing in promoting initiatives with greater growth potential, proposing differentiated policies. Chapter IV examines the vulnerability and resilience of urban microenterprise to economic, social, and climate risks and argues that resilience requires internal capacities and institutional and urban support.