FACULTAD LATINOAMERICANA DE CIENCIAS SOCIALES

Their core work

FLACSO is a prestigious Latin American social sciences graduate institution with a campus in Costa Rica, specializing in critical social research across gender equality, urban studies, and socio-environmental conflicts. They bring deep regional expertise on Latin American development challenges — extractivism, indigenous rights, post-colonial urbanisation — into European research consortia. Their work bridges academic social theory with real-world policy questions around institutional change, environmental justice, and the rights of marginalized communities, particularly indigenous women in the Amazon region.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

FLACSO's H2020 involvement began in 2018 with a focus on gender equality and institutional reform in research organisations (ACT project), alongside global governance analysis (GLOBE). From 2020 onward, their work shifted decisively toward Latin American territorial conflicts — extractivism, indigenous rights, post-colonial urban dynamics, and feminist epistemologies rooted in Amazonian communities. This evolution shows a move from broader European policy topics toward deep, place-based critical social research anchored in Latin America's most contested development questions.

FLACSO is increasingly positioning itself as the go-to Latin American partner for European projects studying extractivism, environmental justice, and indigenous knowledge systems.

How they like to work

FLACSO has never coordinated an H2020 project, consistently joining as a participant or third-party partner — a typical role for a non-EU institution bringing regional expertise into European-led consortia. With 48 unique partners across 21 countries from just 4 projects, they operate in large, geographically diverse consortia. This suggests they are valued as a specialist voice that European coordinators seek out when Latin American social science perspectives are needed.

Despite only 4 projects, FLACSO has connected with 48 partners across 21 countries — an unusually wide network driven by participation in large multi-country consortia. Their reach spans both EU member states and Latin American research institutions.

What sets them apart

FLACSO occupies a rare niche in H2020: a credible Latin American social sciences institution that can provide on-the-ground research capacity in Central and South America for European-funded projects. For any consortium needing field access, local knowledge, or academic authority on extractivism, indigenous communities, or development alternatives in Latin America, FLACSO is one of very few institutions with both the academic standing and the EU project experience to deliver. Their combination of feminist and post-colonial methodologies with concrete territorial case studies is distinctive.

Highlights from their portfolio

• ACT
  Large CSA consortium on gender equality in research institutions, where FLACSO contributed a non-European perspective on institutional change practices.
• CONTESTED_TERRITORY
  A Marie Skłodowska-Curie project running until 2025 that directly connects Latin American urban displacement and extractivism with European academic frameworks — FLACSO's strongest thematic fit.
• AWAREFOREST
  Centres indigenous women's knowledge from the Ecuadorian Amazon as a contribution to redefining environmental struggles — an unusual and highly specific research angle within H2020.