The Centre for Latin American Studies (ZILAS) regards academic research as a public responsibility. For four decades, the institute has been connecting the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt with society and creating spaces for dialogue between academia, social actors, faith communities, civil society organisations, the media, and decision-makers in Germany and Latin America.

Through lecture series, public debates, workshops, and cultural activities, ZILAS addresses issues such as migration and displacement, environmental justice, memory, gender and violence, socio-spatial inequalities, and the coloniality of power. Many of these formats are developed in cooperation with partner universities, networks such as CAPAZ, grassroots organisations, peace initiatives, and artistic collectives from Latin America and Europe; KU students are actively involved in these processes.

ZILAS initiates projects that reach beyond the seminar room: processes of peacebuilding in Colombia, dialogues on territories of re-existence in Brazil, critical analyses of migration policy, as well as knowledge transfer activities in Bavaria. In this way, the institute establishes itself as a bridge between research and practice and helps ensure that Latin American experiences become a vibrant part of contemporary societal debates in Germany and in the broader European context.