Deadline to apply extended until Sunday May 4th included !

This workshop comes at a strategic moment for the city of Cali and the neighboring municipalities in Colombia, only 18 months after they have decided to join together in the G11, a pioneer intermunicipal association. The G11 has given itself the goal not only to negotiate with the Colombian State the means to meet the needs of public investment for the development of the place, but also to shape a common vision for the development of the region and to build a strong and shared local identity.
A special feature of this area is its size, since it covers nearly 150 km from East to West and 80 km from North to South, with a marked geography. The two largest urban centers, Cali and Buenaventura, are separated by a mountain range that rises to 2000m. This area is bounded on the East by the Cordillera Central. In the center, the valley of the Cauca River hosts a conurbation of 3 million inhabitants and an agricultural plain, with an intensive cultivation of the sugar cane.
The process initiated by the G11 feeds a field of reflections little explored by municipalities yet, in which common questions are raised about the inclusion of marginalized areas, the development of the infrastructures, risk management, the organization of the inhabitants’ mobility, access to urban services or the protection of the environment…
The G11 includes very different entities, the international and industrial port of Buenaventura on the Pacific side and the vast rainforest that surrounds it, the agricultural areas of the central plains, the dense urban and industrialized areas around Cali. These elements may be spatial and social fractures, but they can also be opportunities to build a common project for the region.
The future of the area seems to rely not only on its integration into the global economy through the port of Buenaventura, but also on its ability to protect its environment and provide opportunities for its inhabitants.
The aim of this workshop is to provide a sensitive understanding of the area and and its challenges, and to suggest methods and projects to build a territorialized vision for the transformation of the place.
This workshop suggests to focus on two major issues of the development of G11 :
1 . Ensure the development of economic activities in the area : How can the existent infrastructures be a leverage for the development of the place ? How to better integrate them to the territory ? What urban forms and shapes do they create ?
2 . Improve living conditions in informal settlements on the fringes of urbanized areas along the metropolitan corridors, on the banks of the rivers or in areas at the border of different municipalities. How to articulate the improvement of living conditions in an urban context with the environmental protection and the management of risks ?