Expanded territorial aulalab: experience of integration of design thinking and engineering design in the interdisciplinary projects workshop I of the UNAL La Paz Campus

Abstract

Since 2019, the newest campus of the National University of Colombia was launched in the municipality of La Paz, in the department of Cesar. This ninth UNAL campus serves as the setting for the consolidation of an academic project known as the “Extended Territorial AulaLab”, an interdisciplinary space for reflection, construction, and pedagogical transformation that articulates teaching, research, and outreach through a direct dialogue with the territory. This innovative academic environment not only fosters collaborative and context-based learning, promoting the development of interdisciplinary competencies, but also acts as a catalyst for shifting pedagogical cultures within the university, reaffirming its commitment to rethinking the role of higher education in the 21st century.

A prominent example of this initiative is the course Interdisciplinary Projects Workshop I (IPW I), an eighth-semester course worth two academic credits in the Mechatronic Engineering program at UNAL La Paz campus. This course is part of a three-part pedagogical sequence, along with IPW II and IPW III, designed to foster research, innovation, and technological development with a social focus. Its objective is to strengthen students’ ability to frame, contextualize, and implement engineering projects that respond to real territorial problems, promoting social innovation, sustainability, and transformative entrepreneurship.

This article focuses on the IPW I experience, where students develop the capacity to analyze relevant contexts, identify and define problems or opportunities, and generate creative, ethical, and viable solutions that address the needs of local communities. Specifically, it describes the methodological integration of Engineering Design with the initial stages of Design Thinking—empathize, define, and ideate—as the central learning axis. This combination aims to foster the formulation of user-centred solutions that are aligned with territorial needs and local knowledge systems, recognizing the importance of epistemic diversity. The article also examines the evolution of the course across different cohorts, highlighting improvements made, challenges encountered, and lessons learned as key inputs for strengthening the campus’s educational model.