Fundación Universitaria Tecnológico Comfenalco (FUTCO)

The Social Justice Repair Kit (SJRK) project in the city of Cartagena is coordinated by the Comfenalco University Technology Foundation (FUTCO); the District Secretary of Education actively participates through the Inclusive School project and various Cartagena youth groups of different kinds, including La Guardia Ambiental de Colombia (Environmental Guardians), Boys Ragga, Rizos Cartagena or Save Varadero.

The general objective of the SJRK project is to promote and support the work of youth movements and social justice initiatives at an international level, favoring the transformation of social environments, in a way that welcomes diversity and adopts it as a social value.

In the city of Cartagena, the project has two major challenges. The first “Speaking about the value of diversity” and the second “Making visible the environmental data of the city of Cartagena”, both aiming to promote citizen empowerment in caring for the environment.

Speaking about the value of diversity

The first challenge, “Speaking about the value of diversity”, has to do with the fact that narrating life experiences, social facts, politics, or events that mark the life of a person, community or nation, appeals to the use of individual and collective memory as a primary source to make history. This storytelling promotes participation and reveals diversity in society in such a way that we can recognize the ability of all of us to contribute to making society better.

This challenge was addressed in the platform http://cuentalo.org/, where the youth and youth groups that are participating in the project, as well as those who wish to participate, have the opportunity to tell their stories. The platform cuentalo.org captures the diversity of the city of Cartagena and challenges us to recognize it as a social value.

Making visible the environmental data of the city of Cartagena

The second challenge “Making visible the environmental data of the city of Cartagena” seeks to create citizen awareness about the importance of caring for the environment, supported by data representing the environmental reality of the city. This challenge was addressed through the environmental mapping platform created by the Colombian Environmental Guard: http://guardiaambiental.org/mapas

This platform makes environmental data available to all citizens, using EPA and CARDIQUE, in a very simple and easy way to understand even for citizens who don’t possess technical knowledge. The expected impact of this initiative is that we all recognize the great environmental problem that the city of Cartagena faces and, above all, that through their interaction with the guard, citizens can support environmental care.

Read more about the Environmental Guardians in the Oak Foundation Annual General Report (p54) https://www.oakfnd.org/assets/oak-foundation-annual-report-2018-1.3.19.pdf.

Events

First Event of young people for inclusion, social justice and the environment

A youth event called the First Event of Young People for Inclusion, Social Justice and the Environment was organized in 2018 and was attended by 500 young activists from various youth groups in the city.

Training about inclusion with Teachers from Secretary of Education in Cartagena de Indias

On Saturday, April 18 we carried out a training session for the teachers of the public educational institutions in the city of Cartagena de Indias.

The INTERNATIONAL FORUM (ETEP-D): Education and technology in and for diversity

The INTERNATIONAL FORUM (ETEP-D): Education and technology in and for diversity provides a space for local and international political dialogue on the advances in inclusion processes mediated by information technologies, as well as for the socialization of results of various research, development and innovation projects in the field of construction of an educational system in and for diversity.

ETEP-D VIII, Open Education for Peace is the space created to reflect on openness as a great opportunity to achieve true social justice that enables and provokes inclusion, building a stable and lasting Peace in Colombia and throughout the Ibero-American region.

The forum was carried out from 26 to 27 April, 2018, in the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Sede Medellín.

Jutta Treviranus of the Inclusive Design Research Centre, and Stephen Downes were invited speakers, and some of the work developed through the SJRK project was presented.

The Forum also included a co-creation session involving students, teachers and staff, during which solutions to real problems in the educational system were co-designed.

Ongoing SJRK Work