Caring for Life in the Territories: Voices from the Community – Interwoven Dialogues : Saberes y Prácticas Comunitarias -Diálogos entretejidos

https://doi.org/10.22490/UNAD.
John Gregory Belalcazar Valencia, ; Diana Yovana Riascos López, ; Reinaldo Giraldo Díaz, ; Milton Cesar Ararat Orozco, ; Julio César Montoya Rendón, ; Maira Alejandra Miranda Parra, ; Yuli Andrea Botero Caicedo, ; César Antonio Vallejos Salazar, ; Kilwangy Kya Kipitango -A- Samba, ; Cecilia Castro Ramirez, ; Martha Isabel Cabera Otálora, ; Sandra Milena Morales Mantilla, ; Juan Esteban Monsalve Cardona, ; Ximena Escobar Cardozo, ; Diana Carolina Cuaran Imbacuan, ; Díana Yulithza Tarapues Piarpuezan, ; Leonardo Alvarez Rios, ; Magda Piedad Valdés, ; Henry Hurtado Bolaños,

Synopsis

This text: “Caring for Life in Territories: Voices from the Community – Interwoven Dialogues from a Situated, Critical, and Relational Approach” is a weaving of multiple voices that emerge with, from, and for the communities.
Throughout its unfolding, expressions, paths, memories, and knowledges intertwine—ways of inhabiting, ways of life, and territorial experiences. These voices do not merely denounce or speak to the living forms of resistance and action; they also express embodied experiences, memories, tensions, ethical-political meanings. They are voices that take shape in the world: in productive projects, meanings of care, pedagogical actions, organizational forms, and territorial ways of being.

Guided by a dialogical purpose that animates them, the body of this text does not deal with isolated voices or discourses. Rather, it is a web of dialogues, where the diversity of voices gains its character through a relational way of thinking that enlivens them based on three premises:

  • Voices, as a premise: not only are testimonies recognized, but experiences are understood from the voices themselves.
  • Dialogues, as an epistemic stance: the text unfolds as a conversation between academia, communities, and lived experiences.
  • Relationality, as a principle: the meanings of dialogue take shape, intertwine, create tension, and mutually recognize each other, evoking forms of recognition that emerge from the common—especially from rural and peri-urban territories.

Thus, we gather around “Caring for Life” in the key of territory and community, through three dialogues:

The First Dialogue: “Critical Voices from the Communities: Contrasting Visions”
This section takes ethics, the recognition of diverse conflicts, the role of communities, and the implications of territorialities in positioning processes as its reference points. Chapter 1: “Ethical Perspectives for Addressing the Situation of Political, Social, and Armed Conflict in Colombia” offers a reflection on the ethical and philosophical foundations for understanding the armed conflict based on life in community. Chapter 2: “Peasant Reserve Zones and Zones of Interest for Rural, Economic and Social Development” highlights the contrast between rural development models from a peasant worldview and the institutional discourse of the State. Chapter 3: “Environmental and Agricultural Legal Analysis in Rural Land and Its Implications for Ethnic and Peasant Communities in Valle del Cauca” presents a discussion on rural land use policies and regulations, and reflects on their impacts on local communities.

The Second Dialogue: “Voices from Below: Entwining Local Struggles”
This dialogue is grounded in the notions of communalities, the role of agencies, and the central place of memory within community processes, social organizations, and diverse collectives. Chapter 4: “The Meaning of Community in Territorial Recovery through Participation and Narrative Memory of an Indigenous Woman” emphasizes the role of elder women’s narratives in territorial recovery processes, opening space for discussing the concept of we-ness. Chapter 5: “Those Who Dream First: The Role of Peasant Women in Community Organization” sheds light on women’s leadership and their commitment to social transformation and community organization in rural settings. Chapter 6: “Urban Gardens as Foundational Spaces for Teaching, Learning, and Territorial Re-signification” offers an understanding of peri-urban gardens as practices of food sovereignty and territorial construction, where the communal plays a central role.

The Third Dialogue: “Voices of Care: Rooted Contexts and Plural Knowledges” This final dialogue draws on education, the significance of pedagogies, the need to think about sustainability, and the understanding of life horizons shaped within rural spaces. Chapter 7: “The Common Home: Psycho-pedagogies for the Care and Preservation of the Environment” presents an educational proposal centered on environmental care, inspired by the Laudato Si’ encyclical. Chapter 8: “Curricula for Life: Towards Sustainable, Just, and Locally Situated Curriculum Organizations” proposes a reflection on the reorganization of university curricula from a territorial approach and a vision of socio-environmental justice. Chapter 9: “Entomophagy and Food Security – Insects as a Rural Nutritional Resource” explores sustainable food alternatives by recognizing edible insects as offering significant nutritional and ecological benefits, positioning them as an attractive option.

The invitation to the reader is to participate in these collective dialogues, emphasizing the vital importance—through a situated, critical, and relational approach—of engaging in conversations about caring for life, and finding meaningful understandings of the knowledges that arise from the territories—from the voices of the communities.

Keywords: Agroecology, Food sovereignty, rural development, sustainable human development

Chapters

  • Perspectivas éticas para abordar la situación de conflicto político, social y armado en Colombia
    Julio César Montoya Rendón, Martha Isabel Cabera Otálora, Henry Hurtado Bolaños
    Descargue aquí
  • Zonas de Reserva Campesina y Zonas de Interés de Desarrollo Rural, Económico y Social : un contraste desde la cosmovisión campesina y el discurso de desarrollo del Estado
    John Gregory Belalcazar Valencia, Diana Yovana Riascos López, Reinaldo Giraldo Díaz, Julio César Montoya Rendón
    Descargue aquí
  • Análisis normativo ambiental y agrícola en el suelo rural y sus implicaciones en las comunidades étnicas y campesinas en el Valle del Cauca, Colombia
    Milton Cesar Ararat Orozco, Maira Alejandra Miranda Parra
    Descargue aquí
  • El sentido de comunidad en la recuperación de territorio desde la participación y la memoria narrativa de una mujer indígena
    John Gregory Belalcazar Valencia, Diana Carolina Cuaran Imbacuan, Díana Yulithza Tarapues Piarpuezan
    Descargue aquí
  • Las que sueñan primero : el papel de las mujeres campesinas en la organización comunitaria, una experiencia desde la Unión de Pueblos de Morelos
    Cecilia Castro Ramirez
    Descargue aquí
  • Las huertas urbanas como espacios de base para la enseñanza, el aprendizaje y la resignificación territorial
    César Antonio Vallejos Salazar, Kilwangy Kya Kipitango -A- Samba
    Descargue aquí
  • La casa común : psicopedagogías para el cuidado y la preservación del medio ambiente
    Yuli Andrea Botero Caicedo, Juan Esteban Monsalve Cardona, Ximena Escobar Cardozo
    Descargue aquí
  • Currículos para la vida : hacia organizaciones curriculares sostenibles, justas y territorialmente situadas
    Martha Isabel Cabera Otálora, Sandra Milena Morales Mantilla
    Descargue aquí
  • Entomofagia y seguridad alimentaria - Insectos como recurso nutricional rural
    Leonardo Alvarez Rios, Magda Piedad Valdés
    Descargue aquí
portada
Descargue aquí

How to Cite

Belalcazar Valencia, J. G., & Riascos López, D. Y. (Eds.). (2026). Caring for Life in the Territories: Voices from the Community – Interwoven Dialogues: Saberes y Prácticas Comunitarias -Diálogos entretejidos. Sello Editorial UNAD. https://doi.org/10.22490/UNAD.

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Published

September 15, 2026
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