SUSTAINABLE COMPETENCIES: A DIALOGUE BETWEEN LOCAL AND ACADEMIC KNOWLEDGE TO PROMOTE TRANSFORMATIVE AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION

Abstract

This article analyzes the articulation between sustainable competencies, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), and the dialogue between local and academic knowledge as key elements to promote transformative agricultural education in rural contexts. The study emerges from the recognition that traditional approaches focused primarily on technical training are insufficient to address contemporary socio-environmental challenges. Drawing on authors such as Leicht, Heiss, and Byun (2020), Sá (2022), Lozano et al. (2021), Rezende, Ostermann, and Guerra (2021), and Parada, Lárez and Vega (2024), the theoretical framework supports the need to integrate knowledge, attitudes, and practices into contextualized educational processes where sustainability and epistemic dialogue become structuring principles of agricultural education. Methodologically, the study is grounded in the positivist paradigm and adopts a quantitative approach through a correlational field research design conducted in an agricultural educational institution in Arauca, Colombia. Data were collected using structured surveys and Likert-type scales and analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistical procedures. The analysis suggests that integrating sustainability, dialogue of knowledge, and methodological rigor projects significant changes in pedagogical practices, territorial understanding, and the ethical formation of agricultural students. It is concluded that agricultural education guided by these principles can effectively contribute to sustainable development in rural contexts.