Social, cultural and environmental development

Social, cultural and environmental development underpins and stabilises economic growth and improve community health and welfare, social cohesion as well as clean, healthy and sustainable environment. This chapter will review the contribution of the higher education institutions of the Bío Bío Region to its social, cultural, and environmental development. Due to the fact that the region has the highest percentage of a rural population in Chile, the chapter will have a special focus on rural development, where social innovation aiming to foster local initiative is one of the features of sustainable rural economies. The chapter concludes with recommendations.