The Ixil University is a regional initiative supported by the ancestral authorities of the Ixil Region located in the western highlands of Guatemala. The Ixil University does not have, and is not seeking, state recognition. Its program seeks to teach students Ixil-Maya ways of knowing, values and tichajil (Ixil for el buen vivir/the good life). The focus is not to prepare students to be employees of the state or corporations as in formal educational and colonial institutions, but rather to serve their communities and defend their natural resources and territories, especially with the arrival of megaprojects to Guatemala such as mining and hydroelectric dams.