Objective And Subjective Well-Being FromThe Interaction Of University Extention. StudyCase At The National University (UNA), Costa Rica

Abstract

The National University (UNA in Spanish) maintains an important interaction with the society, oriented towards
strengthening of the organizational fabric of thedifferent social groups. The Programa en Planificación y Promoción Social para la Gestión del Desarrollo Local Sustentable (Planning and Social Promotion for the
Management of Sustainable Local Development Program), of the School of Planning and Social Promotion,  seeks to contribute to transforming the social fabric of different groups and academic action in planning through the integration of the functions and substantive university processes (teaching, research and extension). This article presents, through a case study of a critical outreach process, an approximation of objective and subjective well-being based on local interlocutors’ perspectives located in a Costa Rican border district. The investigation concludes that the need for well-being studies must start from the paradigms of the target population, from its own assessments. It also means the contribution of the university in the transformation from outreach without ignoring the political systems as determinants of the socio-economic and cultural status of the nation. The populations preponderate aspects such as health, family, relationships with others such as life and nature. This proves their conscious demand towards the university, from critical and purposeful perspectives, with a vision of development in favor of the human care of life in harmony with nature.