CALL FOR PROJECTS – Peace Civic Innovation Laboratory, Nariño, Colombia

The High Council for Post-Conflict, Human Rights and Security (ACPC) of the Presidency of Colombia, the Governorship of Nariño, and the Civic Innovation Project of the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB), are launching a call for experimentation and civic innovation proposals for research, development, documentation and/or prototyping at the Civic Innovation Laboratory for Peace and Post-Conflict – Nariño (#LABICxlaPAZ), which will be held from 13 to 25 February 2018 in the city of Pasto, Department of Nariño, Colombia.

The #LABICxlaPAZ – Nariño also counts with the collaboration of the Colombian Ministry for Culture and the Ministry of the Interior, the Nansen Center for Peace and Dialogue of Norway, Zaragoza Activa, Medialab-Prado, and Instituto Procomum.

Nariño has been one of the areas most affected by Colombia’s armed conflict, which has left a total of more than 8 million casualties across Colombian territory (16% of the total population). This is the main reason for holding the LABICxlaPAZ laboratory in this department.

The post-conflict strategy is an ambitious programme that has been presented by the Colombian Government, whose first stage is titled “Rapid Response Strategy (RRS)”, and in which will be entail the staging of 3 civic innovation laboratories where citizens can generate new proposals and ground-breaking solutions for the post-conflict. This call for projects is for one of these three laboratories.

At this laboratory to be held in Nariño, 10 projects will be selected that will be developed by working teams formed of the promoter and 9 collaborators (to be selected in an upcoming open call for collaborators), with the on-going support of specialised mentors, technical specialists and local mediators.

It is to this end that this call for projects has been launched for anyone interested in submitting proposals for civic innovation projects geared towards the common good in the following three priority, post-conflict subject areas:

All of the projects submitted shall generate proposals on these subjects and which are applicable to the rural and urban areas of Colombian territory. To this end, proposals shall provide for the project’s beneficiaries, which, as a matter of obligation, shall be the peoples, communities or institutions of Colombia, with a special emphasis on Nariño. Should the proposer of a selected project not be in direct contact with Nariño’s communities, populations or institutions, the organisation will liaise with local entities in order to ensure realisation of the initiative.

1.1. Registration and publication of results

Anyone interested in taking part in the #LABICxlaPAZ

must fill out and send the form available on the Civic Innovation webpage.

Project call launch: 31 August, 2017
Project call deadline: 8 October, 2017
Publication of selected projects: 20 October, 2017
The results will be published on the Civic Innovation Project webpage.

1.2. Civic innovation and laboratories

We believe that Civic Innovation means any process that settles social problems using ground-breaking technologies (digital, social, ancestral) and methodologies via the involvement of the affected community itself.
This definition means that citizens cease to be the passive recipients of institutional actions to become the protagonists and drivers of their own alternatives through an empowerment process that is much more democratic (bottom-up solutions), much more resilient, owing to the effect of learning by doing and trial and error, and, above all, much more dynamic and efficient because it has the knowledge of the communities themselves.
Civic innovation laboratories (LABIC) are spaces designed to ensure that this can happen; to systematise and fast-track these spontaneous, citizen-driven innovations in communities, in neighbourhoods, which transform local realities and have the potential to be copied in other cities. Spaces that can be used simultaneously for experimentation, learning and prototyping of ground-breaking proposals.

The LABICs are inspired by Medialab-Prado’s production workshop structure, which has been adapted and new developments added. For at least 10 days, they are the assembly point for a variety of projects that are developed collaboratively by multidisciplinary teams of citizens of different origins, making the laboratory a space for the delivery of specific proposals by citizens for citizens, as well as a space for intercultural interaction.
This will be the fourth edition of a LABIC; the first was held in 2014 in Veracruz, Mexico (#LABICMX), the second in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2015 (#LABiCBR) and the third in Cartagena, Colombia in 2016 (#LABICCO). Each edition of the LABIC is updated in keeping with the best proposals by the participants themselves and the lessons learnt by the organisers.
In this opportunity, the LABIC is put at the service of Colombia’s Post-Conflict Strategy, where citizens have a unique space for contributing to the building of long-lasting peace and reconciliation in Colombia.

2.1. Purpose of the call for projects
The purpose of this call for projects is to select a maximum of ten projects to be developed collaboratively at a ten-day laboratory. Selected projects will be developed with the assistance of mentors, mediators and technical specialists, in addition to a group of 90 collaborators (who will be selected in an upcoming open call for collaborators).
This call for projects is targeted at any person or group interested in the proposed subjects, above and beyond their level of education, specialisation or experience. For example, artists, engineers, sociologists, architects, town planners, educators, programmers, psychologists, journalists, ecologists, graphic designers, cultural managers, ancestral cultural tradition holders, community leaders or anyone else interested in the proposed subjects. We especially urge groups of young people, indigenous persons or afro-descedants, women, the disabled, the displaced, victims of conflict, demobilised men and women, teachers, LGTBI social sectors and persons from rural areas, among others, to submit their proposals.
As a matter of obligation, projects to be submitted in this call shall deal with the subjects of “human rights and coexistence”, “culture of peace and reconciliation” and/or “alternative local development”. There is a special interest in projects that address the subject of the rural environment from a ground-breaking perspective, bearing in mind that work will be done with local communities that expect and need case-specific proposals.
This call for projects also accepts proposals for social transformation, object design, facilities, platforms and methodologies that explore forms of civic and cultural innovation and are sufficiently flexible to adapt their proposal to Nariño’s context, through joint production work with local communities; initiatives that use both digital and social technologies and/or ancestral knowledge to meet their goals.
Projects that present concrete proposals to specific challenges, for example:

• Encourage interest and involvement in the fight for Human Rights
• Promote collective awareness for the protection of Human Rights
• Methodologies to promote civic culture
• Improve the access to justice, education and health of affected populations.
• Strategies for the de-stigmatization of demobilized persons and their adequate reintegration into civic life
• Reconstruction and enhancement of the collective memory of communities
• Facilitate the relationship of ancestral cultures with urban environments
• Improvements in social integration and coexistence, promoting the inclusion of populations affected by the conflict
• Innovative solutions to social challenges derived from the conflict
• Use of technologies for the solution of conflicts, improvement of coexistence or social inclusion
• Methodologies and ancestral knowledge applied to the new problems of coexistence
• New formulas for generating self-sustaining economies in vulnerable communities
• Developing competencies of members of vulnerable communities for the creation of solidarity economies
• Promotion of entrepreneurial ecosystems in communities that live in Natural Parks without affecting their protection
• Interconnection between local entrepreneurship and the regional or national market
• Designs to converge ancestral and digital technologies
• Methodologies, practices or devices that improve coexistence
• Participatory artistic expressions or installations that reinforce peace and coexistence
• … and all those proposals that arise from your experience or creativity

Special attention will be paid to projects that propose working with victims of the armed conflict, such as women and young people at risk of vulnerability and the children of demobilised men and women, as well as with transition zones .
Projects may be submitted on an individual or collective basis. Each participant or team may submit as many projects as they wish.
Selected projects shall be open to the participation of other interested collaborators who may contribute to their development during the course of the laboratory.

2.2. General aspects of the laboratory
Methodology:
The aim of this laboratory is to be a collective learning, research, production and prototyping space that gives utmost support to the development of the selected projects. Proposals will be worked on in multidisciplinary working groups formed of: 1 project promoter and 9 interested collaborators (to be selected in an upcoming call for collaborators), with the conceptual and technical guidance of mentors, mediators and technical specialists.
Throughout the #LABICxlaPaz, different activities will be scheduled, such as talks, presentations, seminars and mini specific workshops.
Working days will be morning and afternoon and will be adapted to the projects’ specific requirements and according to the activities and schedules of the facility where the laboratory will be staged. The working language of the laboratory will be Spanish, without simultaneous translation.
Participants will be urged to prepare adequate documentation on the projects developed, both during the course of the laboratory as well as following its conclusion. The use of free software and hardware tools will also be encouraged. Results publication shall be under free licences and in open repositories that allow access to and dissemination of the knowledge produced during the laboratory.

Material resources and technical requirements:
The organisation will provide basic resources and means for the production of selected project prototypes always upon prior request of the proposal promoters (up to a maximum of 350 dollars per project).
The selection committee will study the technical viability of implementing the projects in depth. For this reason, projects whose technical and spatial requirements are clearly specified will be valued positively.
Access to and use of the technical means provided by the organisation will be coordinated and supervised by the laboratory supervisors.
The project team shall meet any material or technical equipment costs not requested or approved previously.
Should the selection committee have any queries regarding a technical requirement, it will get in touch with the proposal author(s).

Accommodation, travel and meals
The organisation will cover the travel, accommodation and meal expenses of one promoter per project. Should authorship be collective, the expenses of one person per project will be covered.
Accommodation will be in shared rooms with full board for non-Pasto residents. Pasto residents will be offered lunch everyday.
Selected promoters residing outside Colombia should take out travel health insurance on their own account. They should also find out the requirements for obtaining a visa for Colombia for their nationality where appropriate (more info here).

3.1. Selection committee
The selection committee will be formed of the SEGIB Civic Innovation Project, the High Council for Post-Conflict, and the Center for Social Innovation of the Government of Nariño, with the counseling of the Ministry of Culture, and mentors.

3.2. Project assessment
In selecting projects, the committee will rate:
• Adaptation to general objectives and to the subject proposed in this call for projects.
• Clear, precise objectives and willingness to change.
• The proposal’s quality, originality and degree of innovation.
• Technical viability.
• Specification of project beneficiaries.
• Openness to collaboration.
• Use of open-source tools and licensing that facilitate free access to processes and results.
• Resource optimisation.
• Diversity in approaches and sources will be valued and their incorporation into all of the proposals to be selected.

3.3. Project dissemination and continuity
The works developed will be presented publicly by the promoters and collaborators on the final day of the laboratory.
Furthermore, participants authorise projects and/or their documentation to be published on the organisers’ webpages.
At a later date, the High Council for Post-Conflict will conduct a study on the future viability of the projects so that they can be implemented in Colombia.

3.4. Obligations of selected persons or groups
• Selected persons or groups undertake to attend the laboratory every day from 13 to 25 February 2018, inclusive. They shall also complete, as far as possible, proposed projects and their documentation.
• Selected individuals or bodies corporate may use equipment or materials that have been previously requested and awarded. Project authors shall pay any expense that is unforeseen or not approved in material or equipment rental.
• Developed projects shall be under free licenses with author attribution and enforcement of the “share alike” clause is recommended (in a Creative Commons license it would be BY-SA). In turn, whenever these projects are shown at festivals and/or exhibitions and whenever their pictures are reproduced in catalogues and/or webpages, their connection with the Civic Innovation Laboratory for Peace and Post-Conflict (#LABICxlaPaz) shall be mentioned. Furthermore, the names of the people who collaborated in developing the projects shall always be stated.

3.5. Limitation of Liability
The organisers are not liable for any data or contents that participants may use. Neither is it liable for any royalties or rights applicable to third parties pursuant to respective laws.
The #LABICxlaPaz is an event lasting several days; hence, we trust in the responsibility of each participant over this period. The organisation shall not be held liable for any theft or loss of personal belongings or for physical injury to persons.
The LABIC does not pay any economic remuneration to its participants on the understanding that it is a space for collaboration and contribution by everyone for the benefit of the community.

3.6. Interpretation and amendment of the terms of this call for projects
Committee members may make any clarifications, amendments or interpretations they deem fit.
Any circumstances not foreseen in this call for projects will be solved by the Committee.
Decisions, grading and results shall be final.

3.7. LABIC code of ethics and coexistence
1. We focus on collaboration and not on competition.
2. Ideas have value in themselves and not because of the person proposing them. We drive the common good, not gurus.
3. We defend the right to information, knowledge and participation. Dialogue and free interchange guide our activities.
4. At the LABIC, we encourage free licenses and open repositories as a way of ensuring transparent knowledge and its dissemination.
5. Expressions of hate or intolerance in matters of gender, race, ethnic group, social position, sexual or religious orientation or origin are unacceptable.

• ¿Los proyectos sólo se pueden se aplicables a la zona geográfica donde se desarrolla el laboratorio? 
No necesariamente, uno de los principales objetivos de los proyectos es que sean aplicables en diferentes contextos y para diferentes comunidades a lo largo del territorio nacional.

• ¿Los proyectos sólo se trabajarán dentro del espacio físico del laboratorio?
No necesariamente. Podrán serán trabajados en el espacio físico del laboratorio, y también fuera de él al momento de trabajar en conjunto con las comunidades locales.

• ¿Como se contacta con las comunidades que trabajarán con el proyecto?
La organización contará con mediadores locales que acompañarán el contacto con las comunidades locales. Aunque también los participantes del proyecto podrán establecer contacto por su cuenta con comunidades locales (o de otros territorios) que consideren y que sean pertinentes para el proyecto.

• ¿Los proyectos pueden ser propuestos por organizaciones o colectivos?
Sí, es entendible que los proyectos pueden surgir de alguna colectividad. En caso del proyecto ser seleccionado, el colectivo u organización debe definir un representante (promotor) quien asistirá al laboratorio. La organización (LABIC) cubrirá los gastos de sólo uno de los promotores. Los otros miembros pueden postularse para participar en el laboratorio como colaboradores.

• ¿El resultado del proyecto (prototipo, metodología, etc.) contará con protección de derechos de autor?
Se busca que las licencias de los productos resultantes del LABIC sean libres y bajo repositorios abiertos. La organización podrá compartir los resultados en otros escenarios, así como quien esté interesado. Sin embargo, siempre se deberá reconocer la autoría de quienes lo elaboraron.

• ¿Qué pasará con los proyectos una vez finalizados los Laboratorios?
Habrá un proceso de seguimiento por parte de la ACPC, para su posible implementación a mayor escala o en otros escenarios

• ¿Qué tipo de recursos y materiales pueden ser proporcionados por la organización para el desarrollo de los proyectos?
En la convocatoria se expresan unos topes financieros para los requerimientos de los proyectos, de acuerdo con su viabilidad y aprobación, estos pueden ser solicitados a la organización, quien se encargará de proporcionarlos.

• ¿Puede una organización o entidad financiar mi traslado al Laboratorio?
Sí, la organización proveerá una certificación de participación en el LABIC de ser requerida por la entidad correspondiente. Se permitirá la inclusión de logotipo de la entidad en la documentación y piezas gráficas del evento

• ¿Los proyectos son exclusivos para implementar en las zonas priorizadas para el posconflicto?
No, sin embargo, sí se tienen en cuenta dentro de los criterios de selección los proyectos que beneficien a dichos municipios. Para ver la lista de municipios priorizados haga clic aquí.