Social Appropriation of Science, Technology and Innovation (SASTI): Policies and Practices in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru

based on the work done by the Convenio Andrés Bello, this paper presents the main transformations in four countries of the region: Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, during the process of consolidation of social appropriation of science and technology. The paper shows how during the last decade, these countries have experienced an increasing use of the expression “social appropriation of science” when talking about goals of public policies regarding this topic, as well as, less often, when talking about processes that are actually done. Likewise, this paper shows that, in spite of this situation, the region is not able to reach the point of a clearly defined theoretical vision, even though there are tendencies that link the aforementioned expression to goals related to actions of democratization of science, developing of a scientific culture and human development and to processes such as a dialogue of knowledge, increasing of public participation in science and the development of processes of social innovation