Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Approaches for the Strengthening of Coastal Territorialities in Central America

Abstract

The objective of the study is to address the complex issue of territoriality on the Central American coasts, as a phenomenon that must be studied and strengthened from an equally complex approach. It is proposed to overcome the traditional dichotomy between center-periphery, which has marked the elitist generation of knowledge, affecting university praxis in conjunction with the social and political subjects of the territories. It means that universities must overcome the unidisciplinary approach to reach, in the best of cases, interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity as an integral and political action together with these social and political subjects, from a critical perspective. We approach the research methodologically with case studies as an example, the model of the Interdisciplinary Coastal Program (PIC) of the National University and the Center for Multidisciplinary Studies of Coastal Zones (CEMZOC) of the Universidad de Oriente in Cuba. Theoretical and epistemological elements are rescued, which complement the actions of university institutions and coastal community social subjects, in the search for a more inclusive geography, from the cases studied. The study reflects the need to overcome territorial inequities, in the face of risk scenarios where the systemic shock threatens realities such as economic-environmental, social, political, and cultural, as a result of the interdependence at the macro, meso and micro levels of these phenomena.