Erika Jaillier Castrillon

Erika Jaillier Castrillon serves as a Research Professor at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana (UPB) in Colombia, affiliated with the Urban Communication Research Group (GICU). Holding a Doctorate in Information and Communication Sciences, she maintains an active research profile with 92 scientific publications and an h-index of 12. Her work directly contributes to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in sustainable cities (SDG 11) and climate action (SDG 13).

Her educational foundation in Information and Communication Sciences enables interdisciplinary approaches to complex societal challenges. She actively participates in academic events, including delivering the 2023 guest lecture "Social Innovation and Creation: Benefits and Social Impacts for Communities Through Culture" and co-participating in the 2019 IX International Seminar on Management Trends.

Research Focus

Dr. Castrillon's scholarship centers on Sustainable Development Engineering and Social Innovation, with specialized expertise in Urban Communication and Climate Change Adaptation in vulnerable territories. Her methodological toolkit includes advanced Data Analysis techniques such as correlation analysis, trend analysis, and social network mapping, often applied to Facebook and other digital platforms. She integrates scientific visualization with community-based research to address Latin American urban challenges, particularly in Medellín's mining territories and community development initiatives.

Recent publication trends reveal three dominant themes: (1) Social innovation frameworks for community development, (2) University sustainability metrics and performance analysis, and (3) Alternative research impact assessment methods for social sciences. Her work consistently bridges academic research with practical community applications, evidenced by 24 publications in 2023 and 7 in 2024.

Dr. Castrillon actively advises on community knowledge appropriation projects like Novaventa-En Rojo y Negro UPB while co-investigating five major research grants from 2022-2026. These include the $2.3M Social Innovation project (2024-2026), Climate Change Adaptation in Mining Territories (2024-2026), and Higher Education Process Management (2022-2024), demonstrating sustained funding success across social and environmental domains.

As a core member of the Urban Communication Research Group (GICU), she contributes to transdisciplinary initiatives including TICD Citizen Laboratories, which develop human security frameworks, urban tourism models, and environmental management systems for Medellín communities through technology-mediated social transformation.