Abstract:

This paper analyzes the university's capacity to influence city policies through a teaching model specifically designed for social transformation. It takes as a case study the Master's Degree in City and Urbanism at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), whose pedagogical design—recognized with the Jaume Vicens Vives Distinction—is based on community outreach and the development of a global citizenship ethically and socially committed to its environment.

The model is articulated through the integration of five interconnected teaching innovation strategies. These strategies include fostering proximity in online teaching through participatory workshops and a direct connection with the territory by applying learning to the immediate urban reality of the students. Additionally, the program is committed to democratizing knowledge through the dissemination of open resources, the transversality of the gender perspective throughout the curriculum, and a system of continuous evaluation and improvement based on the constant analysis of social impact.

The methodology employed for this study is mixed-methods in nature, triangulating quantitative data from 439 academic records between 2018 and 2023 with the qualitative content analysis of social impact surveys. The central objective is to verify whether the deployment of these strategies effectively translates into a real capacity for influence within the professional contexts of the alumni community.

The results and the derived discussion confirm that the implementation of this pedagogical framework enhances two clearly differentiated impact profiles. On one hand, a profile as a "Transfer Agent" is identified within the public sector, where administration professionals manage to operate institutional transformation from within, directly influencing the design of urban policies. On the other hand, a "Structural Catalyst" profile emerges in the private sector, characterized by notable professional mobility and a greater capacity for strategic influence in decision-making.

The data particularly validate the effectiveness of the gender strategy, reflected in the superior academic performance of women. Furthermore, it is observed that the model's flexibility and proximity are decisive for women in Latin America, who report the highest rates of change and influence in their environment, thus allowing for the correction of geographic and gender asymmetries in a traditionally male-dominated professional sector.

In conclusion, the research verifies the robustness of the implemented innovation strategies, ratifying their capacity to generate a tangible impact. This analysis consolidates the role of the university as a fundamental actor in the construction of more sustainable and just cities, demonstrating that the program's effectiveness lies in a teaching approach that empowers alumni as drivers of real change within their respective territories.

Keywords:

Urban transformation, Social impact, Knowledge transfer, Urbanism, Gender perspective, teaching innovation.