SUSTENTABILIDADE, TECNOLOGIAS SOCIAIS E ECONOMIA SOLIDÁRIA

O PAPEL DAS ITCPS NO BRASIL E A TRAJETÓRIA DO NÚCLEO TECSOL- UFPEL

Abstract

This article represents a contribution to the debate on the objective and scope of university
extension in Brazil in face of the challenges in the double crisis of our historical time: the structural
crisis of the capitalist economy and the crisis of environmental and climate. It discusses the crisis
from the concept of sustainability and approaches the theoretical approximation between the
notions of ecological economy and solidarity economy, as well as the phenomena that serve them
as their objects, like sustainable alternatives to the current model of development. So that, the
roles that research, innovation and university extension play and could play in this context are
discussed on a critical and purposeful way, positioning the ethical-political definitions as guides
for the scientific-technological options in this process. Finally, as concrete experiences related
to these formulations, the article presents the historical trajectory of the University Network of
Technological Incubators of Popular Cooperatives, in Brazil (ITCPs), as well as its associate, the
Interdisciplinary Center for Social Technologies and Solidarity Economy at UFPel.