We live in a moment in the humankind history where the reinforcement of democracy, human rights, solidarity among people, communities, countries, and continents is of vital importance. Influenced by the digital world, we assist gradually, to the transformation of the social model, in which it is asked to the citizens and the social society to participate in different levels of the society, for a better democracy and for better day to day life.  We verify that the participative process is increasingly expressed in the different social domains, incorporating public policies, action plans, funding lines, forcing the public organizations and the society to capacitate in this domain.

From the scientific, political, and organizational point of view, the participative and reflexive processes earn more and more a prominent role in the mediation context between the production and use of knowledge. And if today there is a consensus that knowledge means power, the participative process comes as a mean to an end to produce and distribute the power in a different way.

The production of knowledge, through the History of Mankind, has always been a natural and continuous activity in people’s lives, necessary to their survival, conceived as an integrative process which involved three modalities: thinking, acting, and feeling. However, the occidental epistemology restricted it only to the rational dimension, which resulted in a separation between theory and practice, speech and action, science and life.

Moved by the idea that should be a higher development of common people in the production and application of knowledge to its contexts, that they should learn to present coherent and credible alternatives of individual, organizational and community development which allow them a better quality of life, we try to reestablish the connection between science and life, through processes and participative methodologies which are in accordance with the principle of respect, equality, diversity and inclusion, participation and citizen collaboration, social learning, reflexive practice, transparency, flexibility, empowerment, and sustainable development.

We believe that knowledge is also built by the people through their life experience, and our work goes through (re)creating participation and collaboration spaces, where people and organizations with different knowledge, competences, experiences and resources connect and have a relationship as partners in the development of new contents and collective solutions which will lead to the desired transformation. In this line of thought, we take into action based on a methodological approach and in a Conception of knowledge which lies in three pillars: