Edgar Alonso Vanegas Carvajal is a professor at Universidad de San Buenaventura Medellín, in Colombia. He is a philosopher and theologian with a passion for education to which he has dedicated most of his life – he considers it a key field for social transformation.

With a Ph.D. in Philosophy and licenses for teaching philosophy and theology, his work has focused on teaching and research at university level, on topics related to ethics, bioethics, civic culture and Franciscan thought. He coordinates the diploma course in institutional identity and Franciscanism, from which he presents the interreligious experience of Francis of Assisi as a spearhead to promote meeting places between religions and Christian churches, based on values such as universal brotherhood, peace and interreligious dialogue.

He participates as an active member of the Gonzalo Soto Posada Centre for Classical and Medieval Studies Association, which promotes research on issues relating to religion and interculturality based on classical and medieval sources; he is also a member of the National Network of Ethics Teachers-INIS, whose concern focuses on evaluating the place of ethics in the curriculum and its teaching-learning process to form citizens in the 21st century. Professor Vanegas considers religion an integral element of culture and believes that in order to achieve peaceful coexistence among people it is necessary to train citizens for fraternal dialogue, interculturalism and respect for differences and diversity.