Latin American universities (LAUs) have been going through a serious lack of economic resources which has plunged them into a deep financial crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this calamity. However, LAUs have implemented online teaching processes in order to mitigate the effects of scheduling and other classroom disruption. There is evidence that these modes of teaching have had a reasonable reception but the level of student satisfaction is yet unknown. This article takes a systemic view of the predicament facing LAUs. It represents the elements related to the disruption caused by COVID-19 in a rich picture, building a systemic framework to explore student satisfaction with remote teaching. Using a sample of 298 students from Brazil, Colombia, and Peru, the study analyzes their situation through: (a) Well-being, educational resources, and learning experience and; (b) General satisfaction with virtual classes. Applying exploratory factor analysis, this study identifies three dimensions: (a) satisfaction with support and adaptation in the virtual modality; (b) satisfaction with the interaction in the virtual classroom; and (c) satisfaction with the development of the study program. Medium/high scores for the dimensions indicate moderate/high levels of satisfaction. The findings suggest that there are still unsatisfied needs regarding access to digital resources and socio-emotional needs. This article could be of interest to Higher Education Institutions (HEI) planners dedicated to post-pandemic, virtual education.

Inefficient management and handling of organic waste generated by the food service sector is a big global challenge. In addition to the negative environmental impacts of food waste, the effect of the amount of food that is wasted when it is not handled properly is even more alarming. This is particularly when we witness the millions of people who suffer from lack of food and malnutrition. The objective of this research is to examine the situation of organic waste management in food services in the cities of Lima and Tacna in Peru. Using a quantitative methodological approach to waste management, a questionnaire was administered to a sample of 67 restaurants in both cities. The survey results suggest that the restaurants do not carry out the separation or reuse of organic waste. Furthermore, the main methods of disposal include providing surpluses to the staff and sending organic waste to the sanitary landfill and slaughterhouses. There is also a lack of awareness and training about the importance of organic waste management. From the restaurants interviewed, although around 60% claimed to segregate them, only 28% measured organic waste using a manual control and 18% indicated that they weighed the waste for management purposes. As a corrective measure for this deficiency, the production of an awareness video was created to improve decision-making and support change.

(1) Background: Health literacy (HL) debates have increased significantly in the last two decades. HL concepts/themes and models have achieved substantial development in the US and Europe. Although there have been some efforts to develop HL in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), these seem to be few and scattered. This paper reviews and discusses developments of HL concepts and themes globally and in LAC over the last two decades. (2) Purpose: This study aimed to identify the prevalent health literacy concepts/themes deployed globally and in LAC as reported in academic journals from 2005 to 2022. We looked into which fields of knowledge have been informing HL research over the last decades. (3) Methods: We conducted a structured search on the Web of Science (WoS), Scopus, PubMed, and SciELO databases to extract the textual data for bibliometric analysis. We analyzed the textual data with VOSviewer and Biblioshiny to better understand health literacy themes and strands currently being researched in the LAC region. We conducted the searches in two periods: the first in May 2023 and the second in October 2023. (4) Results: The bibliometric study highlighted five WoS categories informing most HL global studies: (i) public environmental occupational health; (ii) environmental sciences; (iii) health policy services; (iv) health care science services; and (v) communication. The two predominant categories in LAC are public environmental occupation health and health policy services. Journals hosting HL publications come from these WoS categories. Themes in HL publications can be organized into four thematic clusters: (i) analytical (research designs, analytic techniques, and criteria for examining HL data); (ii) psychometric (measurement properties of data collection tools); (iii) pragmatic (practical issues related to implementing HL programs); and (iv) well-being (effectiveness of HL programs on mental health and illness treatment). (5) Conclusions: There is expanding interest in health literacy among scholars. The number of publications has increased substantially, particularly over the last five years. These are dominated by the Global North. The metrics show that LAC and Africa are trailing in publications. There is an emerging focus on adult literacy, functional/low health literacy, and their effect on improving capabilities, comprehension, and communication regarding health-related topics.

Brazil is Latin America’s largest country and has a strong economy, but it is also characterised by many inequalities. These are very conspicuous in the health sector, particularly in health education, which is expected to modernise according to the planetary health (PH) perspective. This paper describes the health education scenario in Brazil and undertakes an analysis of the postgraduate health programmes and policies in place, identifying the extent to which these support the cause of PH. To achieve this goal, this paper deploys a bibliometric analysis to gain a better understanding of the research streams related to higher education and PH. In addition, it presents and discusses selected case studies in the field and cross-checks documents from the Brazilian Ministry of Education against five domains of PH in education. The results indicate that despite some progress to date and the fact that some programmes are in place, there is a perceived need for policies and efforts from education organisations towards connecting PH principles in the education of current and future health professionals.

In recent decades, Latin America (LA) has been frequently and severely affected by floods and landslides. There is an urgency for adopting Comprehensive Disaster and Climate Risk Management (CRM). In 2016, a group of Peruvian universities established a network (Gestión Integral del Riesgo de Desastres y Adaptación al Cambio Climático (GIRD-ACC)) committed to the principles of CRM. This article compiles and evaluates the network results/plans and actions. A qualitative study and a methodological strategy are reported featuring: a bibliographic/network documentary review; an account of the events that led to the start and development of the network; and a case study of a three-university network. Results show that the network can help in deepening knowledge and forging a culture of risk prevention. This is by incorporating risk management and climate change awareness in professional training and intensive activity to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs -11, 13, and 17). Results indicate the importance of gaining consensus (a notoriously difficult task in LA) between the authorities and the operational departments; the role of universities’ social responsibilities; incorporating sustainability and risk management themes in the mainstream curricula; and developing a network by learning from similar groupings across LA to improve CRM within universities.