Chile's Regional Institutions Honored for Development and Campus Accessibility

The Corporación para la Regionalización del Bío‑Bío (Corbiobío) was awarded the Medalla Rector Hilario Hernández Gurruchaga by the Agrupación de Universidades Regionales de Chile (AUR) at a ceremony on 25 June at the Universidad Católica del Maule. The medal, presented by 22 regional university rectors, recognized Corbiobío’s role in territorial development, collaborative work and decentralisation, placing it alongside other regional media and government bodies in the Social and Political category.

At the Universidad de Atacama, officials inaugurated the campus’s first fully accessible plaza, named in tribute to architect Douglas Sapiains González, former head of the university’s infrastructure office (2012‑2021). The ceremony highlighted the plaza’s inclusion in the university’s 2020‑initiated Accessibility Plan, a one‑kilometre‑plus inclusive route linking the campus north‑south. The rector, the head of Inclusion and Equity, and local fire‑department representatives attended, praising Sapiains’ professional legacy and the project’s community‑driven design.