DPU's Catalina Ortiz awarded UCL Global Engagement Funds (GEF)

DPU's Dr Catalina Ortiz will collaborate on the engagement alongside Dr Natalia Villamizar Duarte (School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, Newcastle University), Mg Juan Esteban Lopera, (Institute of Political Studies, University of Antioquia), Mg Eliana Torres (Planearte), Mg Fernando Zapata (Corporación Región), Ana Lucía Puerta Rendón (Medellín’s Secretariat of Citizen Participation), Luis Osorio (Subdirector Social and Economic planning, Medellín’s Planning Department), Dr Gloria Naranjo, (Institute of Political Studies, University of Antioquia), Claudia Rengifo (Corporacion convivamos) and Dr Paula Vargas (Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, University of Antioquia) 

The engagement consists of two strategies. The co-creation of a policy brief and a public pedagogy toolkit strategy will include two workshops where the methodological and pedagogical design focuses on gathering inputs from community actors, victims and signatories to produce a policy brief. 

The public and legislative advocacy strategy will focus on attending spaces of public debate to raise awareness about the central role of co-production and advocates for grassroots planning and multi-scale governance as the key instrument for the construction of urban territorial peace in Colombian cities.

The outcomes will have impacts on three spheres: 1. The realm of territorial planning by bringing an innovative approach to link spatial and reparative justice in tandem; 2) The mechanisms of collaboration between academic partners and local state by bringing public pedagogy and planning co-production with victims of conflict and ex-combatants jointly in an unprecedented approach for local public policy makers; 3) It also offers a platform to work across governance scales to disseminate the findings of previous research work that has policy relevance in the formulation of public policies related to peace and territorial planning. The premise of the proposal is that a recalibrated ​​’neighbourhood upgrading’ strategy based on grassroots planning and multi-scale governance support is at the forefront of territorial reparation, peacebuilding, and reconciliation in Colombian cities.