The southern half of Rio Grande do Sul has experienced, throughout the second half of the 20th century, very low socioeconomic indicators. The region’s cities struggled with social impoverishment, with problems such as sanitation, housing, transport, health, education, employment and low income. These factors contributed to rural exodus and regional migration.
The region was noted for having low Human Development Indexes (HDI, GDP and IDEB). A new university would make it possible to achieve local demands and produce knowledge that could transpass the barriers of regionalization, increasingly introducing it into other territories. These commitments were the premises for choosing the guiding values of a new higher education institution, in defining its mission and vision of the future.
From this perspective, on November 22th, 2005, a university consortium was formed to implement a new university, through the signing of a technical cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Education, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM) and Universidade Federal de Pelotas (UFPel).
These two well established universities were in charge of creating Unipampa’s first 30 undergraduate programs. It was up to UFSM to implement the campuses in the cities of São Borja, Itaqui, Alegrete, Uruguaiana and São Gabriel and to UFPel the campuses of Jaguarão, Bagé, Dom Pedrito, Caçapava do Sul and Santana do Livramento.
On January 11th, 2008, the Federal University of Pampa Foundation (UNIPAMPA) was officially established, through Law Nº. 11,640. Since its creation, the university has aimed to provide access to public, free, inclusive and high quality higher education, targeting especially local communities.
UNIPAMPA was born with the commitment to identify the limits and possibilities inherent to its context. It is focused on contributing and planning actions to change local realities, considering the preservation of the Pampa biome.
This is how the Institution’s performance in management activities, in the courses offered, in the construction and democratization of knowledge, in outreach activities, sustainable development and assistance reflects this commitment. The courses offered are part of the University’s effort to contribute to the development of the region.
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