The main theme in this licentiate thesis is the focus on strengthening institutional capacities to promote cooperation within a cluster initiative between public and private sectors in Latin American contexts, especially in Bolivia. The argument is the need to generate spaces for interaction through participatory practices in order to incorporate different points of view, academic and non-academic, which can lead to a more critical production and appropriation of knowledge. In the particular case of Bolivia, the pilot development of cluster initiatives was used as an interaction mechanism between the university, industry and government, which means developing skills in innovation among stakeholders, instead of starting immediately with the search for solutions.

This licentiate thesis focuses on practices based on collective and dynamic interactions generated in an emerging cluster based on the Triple Helix framework in the leather productive sector in Bolivia. This as a result of seven years of participatory action research participating in cluster initiatives promoted by a public university, the case of the Universidad Mayor de San Simon - UMSS (trans. San Simon University).

In the case of the Leather Cluster Cochabamba experience presented in this licentiate thesis, I found that the introduction of concepts such as cluster development, Triple Helix and knowledge production in Mode 2 as fieldwork by a public university (UMSS), participation is a positive ingredient and contributor to the improvement of democratizing innovation.

The generation of collaborative relationships on a participatory and democratic basis is a time-consuming process that needs to begin with reflection and accountability of researchers to their direct involvement in participatory processes and practices.