Catalogue of Local Inclusive Public Policies

Public policies
catalogue

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Cali Ecocrea

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Santiago de Cali - Colombia

Region
Latin America and the Caribbean
Range of Demographic Size
1,000,000 inhabitants or more (metropolis)

11.1 By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums.

11.2 By 2030, provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons.

11.3 By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries.

11.4 Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage.

11.5 By 2030, significantly reduce the number of deaths and the number of people affected and substantially decrease the direct economic losses relative to global gross domestic product caused by disasters, including water-related disasters, with a focus on protecting the poor and people in vulnerable situations.

11.6 By 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management.

11.7 By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities.

11.a Support positive economic, social and environmental links between urban, peri-urban and rural areas by strengthening national and regional development planning.

11.b By 2020, substantially increase the number of cities and human settlements adopting and implementing integrated policies and plans towards inclusion, resource efficiency, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, resilience to disasters, and develop and implement, in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, holistic disaster risk management at all levels.

11.c Support least developed countries, including through financial and technical assistance, in building sustainable and resilient buildings utilizing local materials.

A - Full integration of population dynamics into sustainable development with equality and respect for human rights.

American Convention on Human Rights

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in economic, social and cultural rights (San Salvador Protocol).

Summary

For the first time in Colombia, a public body at the territorial level is determined to attend to some of the most significant needs of its citizens through an innovative and internationally acclaimed policy, which offers a comprehensive solution to the following issues:

 

1.- Qualitative public space deficit.

2.- Low use of plastic waste.

3.- High youth population with low possibilities of technical training and working relationships.

4.- High risk of violence, especially among vulnerable youth.

5.- Low appropriation of public space.

 

Implementation of public policy relies on the active participation of local citizens, since Cali Ecocrea understands the design of public space under a framework that involves cocreation and codesign as methodologies that are transversal to the project. These methodologies are essential because, through these building spaces, common ground for dialogue is developed, which allows for a distributed and horizontal power relationship to the benefit of the community and the learning process of all interested parties.

 

By building these participative design spaces, ideas come to life from their own realities and a sense of appropriation of the territory is ensured while tools and skills are exchanged with the participants, something that prompts participants into action and the empowerment of their space. In addition, by implementing a cocreative methodology, more high-risk youth from the targeted territory become involved.

Implementation Date:

Start: 03 / 8 / 2020

End: End: Currently in force

Enviroment - Environmental education Local economic development - Education / Labor Training Enviroment - Urban solid waste management
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The main causes of the issues to be resolved are neglect by municipal administrations; low appropriation of green public spaces by local citizens; drug-trafficking; lack of opportunities and difficulties for youth inclusion in educational, social, and employment settings; scarce recycling culture; and, lastly, the effects of the 2021 national strike.
Contributing, by means of an innovative solution of cocreation and codesign along with the community, to the improvement of quality of life, urban sustainability, spatial equity, increase of tree canopy cover, rise in the use of solid waste, decrease in homicides, especially of youth in vulnerable situations, through the creation of opportunities and a sense of belonging and appropriation of the territory and public space. Increasing qualified public space in deficit areas: deteriorated public space areas are identified for development and qualification, understanding the significance of community participation for greater impact and appropriation, and developing workshops along with the community to transform its needs into cooperative designs. Strengthening of circular economy by transforming plastic waste into urban furniture. This relates to the current chain of recycling in Cali through the separation of plastic waste for its processing; private environmental collectives also take part, which are in charge of transforming this waste. Linking high-risk youth to a process of training and employment that ensures them a better future by evincing the correlation between these deficit areas and the high rates of violence in the city.
Cali Ecocrea is a public policy devised and formulated by the Administrative Department of District Planning (DAPD) of the Municipality of Cali. The DAPD is the body responsible for coordinating and implementing Cali Ecocrea, forging alliances with associations of recyclers by trade and companies that turn plastic waste into plastic wood, along with the Fundación Escuela Taller de Cali (Cali School Workshop Foundation)—an entity that offers training and supports employment relationships with those youth in vulnerable situations who take part in this effort. The DAPD also defines the spaces to be intervened, establishes and implements methodologies of codesign and cocreation, and articulates participation within the public policy framework of the rest of the district administration departments. All resources used in the different stages of public policy, from its formulation to its implementation, rise to approximately USD 300,000, which have been paid from the budget allocated to the DAPD.
Cali Ecocrea, the public policy spearheaded by the Administrative Department of District Planning, is articulated with several sectoral public policies such as, for example, the Public Policy of Inclusion of Recyclers by Trade in the Formal Cleaning Economy, the Public Policy of Environmental Education, the Public Policy of Economic Development for Cali, and the Public Policy for the Youth. These public policies are supervised by the Administrative Department of Environmental Management (DAGMA), the Secretariat of Economic Development, and the Secretariat of Social Development and Participation.
The legal framework for Cali Ecocrea as public policy is based on the 1991 Political Constitution of Colombia; the National Development Plant 2018–2022, “Pact for Colombia, Pact for Equity”; and the Plan of District Development 2020–2023, “Cali United for Life.”
The youth
Society in general
Advice
Education and training
Implementation of public policy began with the definition of codesign and cocreation methodologies by the Municipality of Cali, the main executioner of this policy. Public space deficit areas were later identified for intervention across the city. The following stage consisted in linking the current chain of recycling in the city to the sorting out of plastic waste for its processing; at the same time, alliances were established with different companies to turn solid plastic waste into plastic wood. Next, common ground for dialogue was reached among the different actors involved through the methodologies defined, with the aim of facilitating a distributed and horizontal power relationship to the benefit of the community and the learning process of all interested parties. An alliance was established with the Cali School Workshop Foundation to link and train youth in situations of vulnerability from the intervened areas based on a learning methodology of theoretical and practical learning. This would help improve their opportunities in the labor market through the incorporation of new skills acquired in the building of furniture from recycled materials.
Public policy is innovative for addressing issues, since for the first time in Colombia a public body is determined to reclaim public space with a focus on circular economy, using the plastic wood obtained from the city’s solid waste as raw material. Also, this effort includes the design of public space under a framework involving cocreation and codesign as transversal methodologies to the project. These methodologies are essential, since common ground for dialogue is reached through these building spaces. By training and establishing working relationships with vulnerable youth living in those areas, not only are their lives transformed but also those of their families and neighbors, creating at the same time a sense of belonging to and appropriation of the territory.
During the development stages of Cali Ecocrea, relationships were established with recyclers by trade; companies that turn recycled plastic into plastic wood; the Cali School Workshop Foundation, an entity with experience in training and working relationships with youth; the Pontifical Xavierian University, for the planning and development of new aspects of public policy; and, lastly, the most important relationship, that of local citizens, by means of codesign and cocreation workshops in which they are the main protagonists and the ones who define future interventions. Moreover, after achieving two awards during the Latin American and Caribbean Forum of Housing and Habitat, the support offered by the Urban Housing Practitioners Hub (UHPH) prompted learning experiences of similar initiatives in Barcelona and drove other Latin American entities to replicate Cali Ecocrea in their respective countries.
Local citizens are active participants in Cali Ecocrea, since it is a public policy that encompasses the design of public space under a scheme involving cocreation and codesign as transversal methodologies to the project. These methodologies are key to the project, given that it is through these spaces of collective building that common ground for dialogue is reached, which allows for a distributed and horizontal relation of power to the benefit of the community and the learning process of all interested parties. By building these participative design spaces, ideas come to life from their own realities and a sense of appropriation of the territory is ensured while tools and skills are exchanged with the participants, something that prompts participants into action and the empowerment of their space. In addition, by implementing a cocreative methodology, more high-risk youth from the targeted territory become involved.
Budget is guaranteed by the local government.
Monitoring and assessment of Cali Ecocrea is carried out on a monthly basis at the Administrative Department of District Planning, and every three months before the Governing Board of the Municipality of Cali. Along with local citizens, monitoring and assessment is continuous during and after the interventions, and follow-up meetings are held with regard to all commitments taken on by the community. A monthly follow-up is also conducted on the advancements linked with the implementation of public policy and informed by the operator in charge of training youth in situations of vulnerability. Quantification of the effects on the quality of life of surrounding communities near public spaces is complex and there are still no composite indicators to measure this. In terms of quality, a greater use of intervened spaces has been observed in commercial corridors, where businesses may expand their gastronomic options, taking advantage of spaces formerly destined to vehicles. Intervened spaces, youth linkage, and the recovered plastic materials are among the quantitative indicators assessed. Additionally, an indicator of the sales impact on businesses surrounding the intervened areas is currently being developed.
Local goverment
A better quality of life for 720 people, since 180 youths have been trained and have established working relationships, which has allowed them to obtain income for themselves and their families. Of the total number of people who inhabit the neighborhoods where these interventions take place, 200,000 are direct beneficiaries. Indirectly, all Cali inhabitants—almost two and a half million people—have benefited from these policies because the implemented actions have a direct impact on air quality. With regard to recycled plastic, 21,5 tons have been used. Twenty deteriorated green areas have been revitalized, creating an improved public space within 280,000 square meters. One and a half linear kilometers have been pedestrianized.

Instrumentos

11.1 By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums.

11.2 By 2030, provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons.

11.3 By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries.

11.4 Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage.

11.5 By 2030, significantly reduce the number of deaths and the number of people affected and substantially decrease the direct economic losses relative to global gross domestic product caused by disasters, including water-related disasters, with a focus on protecting the poor and people in vulnerable situations.

11.6 By 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management.

11.7 By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities.

11.a Support positive economic, social and environmental links between urban, peri-urban and rural areas by strengthening national and regional development planning.

11.b By 2020, substantially increase the number of cities and human settlements adopting and implementing integrated policies and plans towards inclusion, resource efficiency, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, resilience to disasters, and develop and implement, in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, holistic disaster risk management at all levels.

11.c Support least developed countries, including through financial and technical assistance, in building sustainable and resilient buildings utilizing local materials.

A - Full integration of population dynamics into sustainable development with equality and respect for human rights.
American Convention on Human Rights
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in economic, social and cultural rights (San Salvador Protocol).

Location

Region
Latin America and the Caribbean
Range of Demographic Size
1,000,000 inhabitants or more (metropolis)

Contact details

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