Banca de DEFESA: JAEDNA DANIELLE ALVES DA COSTA

Uma banca de DEFESA de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : JAEDNA DANIELLE ALVES DA COSTA
DATE: 02/03/2026
TIME: 14:00
LOCAL: Google Meet
TITLE:

Knowledge and Innovation in peripheral regional contexts: an analysis of Caicó/RN as an academic pole

KEY WORDS:

Internalization of higher education; territorial innovation system; Urban-regional centrality; Caicó.

PAGES: 164
BIG AREA: Ciências Humanas
AREA: Geografia
SUMMARY:

The concentration of higher education institutions (HEIs) in large urban centers of South-Southeast Brazil, to the detriment of interior regions, reflects the historical process of formation of the Brazilian territory, which generated deep regional inequalities. In this sense, the internalization of higher education in Brazil is considered a strategic tool to reduce these disparities and foster innovation processes, due to its ability to gather fundamental elements for the constitution and consolidation of Territorial Systems of Innovation, especially in peripheral regional contexts. Given this, we start from the following questions: In a peripheral environment, what is the role of a city that concentrates higher education institutions (HEIs), as is the case of Caicó, in the transformations of territorial dynamics of knowledge and innovation in the semiarid? Furthermore, what is the importance of its condition as an academic pole in the exercise of urban centrality for the configuration of embryonic elements of a territorial system of innovation? With this, the present work intends, therefore, to investigate the urban-regional role of the city of Caicó as an academic pole in order to understand its contribution to gather potential elements of formation or consolidation of territorial systems of innovation in the semiarid. For this, we used a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods in a process that involved literature review, application of questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, survey and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data, among others. The results show that the internalization of higher education expanded access to education, strengthened regional teacher training, stimulated flows of students and qualified teachers, as well as foster the emergence of dynamics of knowledge production. In this way, although structural obstacles to the consolidation of innovative dynamics persist, embryonic elements of a Territorial Innovation System are identified in Caicó, especially linked to the performance of public HEIs. It is concluded that the internalization of higher education in the region, besides reaffirming the urban-regional centrality of Caicó, transcends the teaching processes and constitutes as a catalyst agent of territorial transformations.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Interno - 1804177 - DIEGO SALOMAO CANDIDO DE OLIVEIRA SALVADOR
Externo à Instituição - FERNANDO CAMPOS MESQUITA
Externa à Instituição - MARIA DAS NEVES MEDEIROS DE MELO
Presidente - 1216653 - THIAGO ADRIANO MACHADO