2024 Award "Best Practice in Citizen Participation"
18th Edition
Commune 12 of Medellín: Promoting citizen participation and community development
The practice ‘Promoting citizen participation and community development in Commune 12 - La América’ seeks to revitalise citizen participation in Commune 12 in Medellín, Colombia. Through a participatory and holistic approach, it promotes the empowerment of community leaders, collaboration between local actors and the improvement of residents' quality of life. The communication strategy focuses on reaching all sectors of the population, including youth, women and vulnerable groups, while continuous evaluation ensures that the process is monitored and adapted. Impacts include an increase in civic awareness, the formation of new leaders and the strengthening of citizen participation, thus contributing to sustainable community development.
The implementation of this initiative began in 2018, with the invitation to the community to prioritise the needs of the territory and review the implementation of the local development plan.
Subsequently, the methodology was designed, which at that time arose organically but later materialised in 4 phases
- Identification of needs - in this phase, the largest possible number of the territory is called upon to take part in the construction of initiatives that meet the needs of the territory.
- Prioritisation of needs - once the territory has defined its needs, we proceed to prioritise which of these needs are most relevant and interesting for the population by means of mass voting.
- Allocation of resources - in this step we review the financial viability of the initiatives to be developed in the territory for their subsequent implementation.
- Oversight of actions - Review and monitoring of implementation.
The practice has generated an increase in civic awareness and community capacity for action in Commune 12. New leaders have been trained, collaborative networks have been established and successful projects addressing local needs have been implemented. Citizen participation has been strengthened and a sense of ownership and shared responsibility for community development has been created.
This practice serves as an inspiring example of how to strengthen participatory democracy at the local level, addressing specific challenges and promoting inclusion and collaboration among all members of the community.
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