On Saturday, 21 September 2019, the Diploma Course ‘Peace and Territorial Planning in the Upper Cauca,’ presented by the University of Valle in association with Loughborough University (UK), was completed. The course was aimed at 90 members of various social organizations from the priority municipalities of the PAZ ALTO CAUCA project: Miranda, Corinto, and Buenos Aires, under a quota allocation based on criteria of gender representation, inter-ethnicity, and the inclusion of ex-combatants.

The main objective of the course was to strengthen capacities for territorial planning with a local approach, to (re)build bonds of trust between communities, and to enhance knowledge of governmental and state institutions in the three zones.

The Diploma was organized into two types of sessions:

The first set of joint sessions, held between February and May 2019, was attended by 90 indigenous, Afro-descendant, mestizo peasant, and ex-combatant representatives from all municipalities. These sessions addressed the conceptual and practical foundations of territorial planning from their own perspectives.

Subsequently, each participant selected a topic of interest and, between June and October 2019, worked on their chosen topic in small working groups organized by municipality. They focused on geographic information systems, productive planning, biodiversity conservation, and audiovisual communication, with the aim that participants would replicate and share this knowledge in their communities.

The course concluded with a knowledge and product fair where participants, gathered as a whole and accompanied by their grassroots organizations, shared their learning and progress in the pluralistic planning of the territory.

The course consisted of 120 hours of training: 80 classroom hours and 40 hours of independent work.