Medellin will be recognized by the “Inter-American Award for Innovation in Effective Public Management”, an initiative of the Department for Effective Public Management (DGPE) of the OAS, whose main objective is to encourage, systematize and promote innovations in public management that are being carried out in the region; with the purpose of contributing to public institutions in the Americas to be increasingly transparent, effective and have mechanisms for citizen participation.

Two strategies of the Mayor’s Office of Medellin will be honored with honorable mentions: the “Suppliers School” in the Innovation in Open Government Category and “Being Able at Home” in the Innovation in Social Inclusion Category.

The certificates will be awarded this April 27 in Denver, Colorado (USA), where the OAS will organize the event “Summit of the Cities of the Americas / Plenary Session: Digital Tools: Improving City Revenues and Public Service Delivery”.

The Suppliers School strategy of the Mayor’s Office of Medellin receives this recognition among 17 innovative experiences pre-selected from a total of 48 applications from nine countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru and Dominican Republic.

“With the Suppliers School we have trained more than 12,000 suppliers interested in participating in the selection processes with the Mayor’s Office of Medellín. Since 2016 we went from five proponents per process to a record of ten proponents per selection process in this 2022,” expressed the Secretary of Supplies and Services, Karen Delgado Manjarrés.

Since 2020 and to date, the Suppliers School has trained these people in topics and regulatory concepts of public procurement, transparency, management of contracting platforms such as Secop I and Secop II, among others. These sessions have been conducted virtually and in person to offer greater opportunities for companies and entrepreneurs to contract with the State.

Through the virtual trainings, which were implemented as a result of the pandemic, the Suppliers School has expanded nationwide, reaching different regions of the country. Entities such as the Mayor’s Office of Cali and the Mayor’s Office of Curití (Santander), as well as the Éxito Group, among others, have connected to the trainings to learn about these topics, as well as about the District’s contracting model, which is a reference in the country.

“The Supplier School trainings have been very good, because they teach us how to submit bids to the District of Medellín and to all entities in general. They promote transparency because they allow us to participate in open competition with other participants in the calls for bids. We can see that there is transparency and that there is a way to win a bid”, said Julio Humberto Ruiz Vélez, one of the attendees at the Suppliers School.

Meanwhile, the Ser Capaz en Casa project was recognized for being a strategy that promotes access to rights, the elimination of barriers and the reduction of inequalities for people in vulnerable situations, in an inclusive and equitable manner, with the objective of positively transforming their living conditions.

During the four-year period, Ser Capaz en Casa has served more than 3,700 users. In addition, it promotes, from an educational and biopsychosocial approach, the strengthening of individual and family capacities through support from areas such as physiotherapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, nutrition, nursing, oral hygiene, dentistry, social work, psychology and pedagogy, reaching the users’ places of residence and bringing the institutional presence to them.

The care process carries out actions at the individual, family, community and social levels, through the identification of needs and the activation of routes to guarantee rights, contributing significantly to the quality of life and the elimination of barriers for people with disabilities, their families and caregivers, through interdisciplinary work and bringing the supply of services in the 16 districts and the five townships of the District.

“Ser Capaz en Casa has helped me a lot with their rehabilitation service. They have helped me to know my rights, to keep them in mind because I did not know them. They have taught me exercises with which I have improved my disability condition and the economic support I also receive thanks to them,” said Aicardo de Jesús Escobar Quintero, beneficiary of the Ser Capaz en Casa project of the Disability Team.

Applying for international awards is an effective strategy for positioning the city of Medellín in the global market as a model of successful public management. The Agency for Cooperation and Investment of Medellin and the Metropolitan Area (ACI Medellin) has used this strategy to highlight innovative policies and projects that have been implemented in the city and have had a positive impact on the quality of life of citizens.

The international awards allow Medellín to gain global recognition and improve its image abroad. In addition, the awards can serve as a tool to attract foreign investment, tourism, and other resources that contribute to the economic and social development of the city.

ACI Medellín has been very active in nominating the city for different international awards, such as the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize in Singapore, the Global Smart Cities Award in Barcelona, and the Dubai International Best Practices Award, among others. These awards recognize cities that have implemented innovative policies and projects in areas such as sustainability, innovation, social inclusion, security, among others, and allow Medellin to stand out as a leading city in public management in Latin America and the world.

The Parques del Río Norte project, one of the most important projects within the Medellín Futuro Development Plan, will receive international cooperation for its execution. The C40 Cities (Climate Leadership Group) and the GIZ (German Society for International Cooperation) have set their eyes on this project because they consider it an urban reference that will not only improve people’s quality of life, but will also contribute to the sustainability and conservation of the environment.

Parques del Río Norte will change the face of the communities of Popular and Santa Cruz and will benefit more than 390,000 people.

The international alliance was sealed with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Mayor Daniel Quintero Calle and representatives of C40 and GIZ. The agreement will allow for technical support for the entire project and support Medellín in obtaining economic resources for its financing.

“Our Development Plan bets on a different vision and Medellín, the one of the future, which is an exercise of resistance to the processes that led us to become the city of no future. This space will not only create 300,000 square meters of green spaces, it will be a meeting place to finally put an end to all wars, to recognize ourselves again as brothers and to concentrate all of us united hand in hand in moving Medellín forward,” said Mayor Daniel Quintero Calle.

The C40 Cities (Climate Leadership Group) and the GIZ (German Society for International Cooperation) have their eyes on the project for its contribution to environmental conservation. The international alliance was sealed with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the District of Medellín, C40 and GIZ.

This agreement is possible thanks to the Cities Financing Facility (CFF), a program funded by the governments of Germany, the United Kingdom and France, and jointly implemented by C40 and GIZ. In April 2021, the call was opened to support cities in Africa, Asia and Latin America to mobilize funding for climate change mitigation and adaptation projects. As well as Medellin, Rio de Janeiro and Salvador (Brazil), Lima (Peru) and Bogota were other beneficiary cities.

“Medellín is a clear example of how cities are leading at the regional level an inclusive and innovative response to the climate emergency and the other crises we have had to live through during these years such as the Covid-19 pandemic. This is evidenced by the city’s key role as a regional representative in the working group of mayors for a green and just recovery,” said Cristina Argudo, interim deputy regional director for Latin America at C40.

This collaboration will have some important working points such as support in the technical development and technological evaluation of the project; the creation of business models and financing structures; and support for accessing international resources. In addition, there will be an exchange of lessons learned with other cities in the world regarding the challenges in terms of infrastructure to face climate change.

Currently, for the execution of Parques del Río Norte, the District is making progress in the land management (43%) and environmental management (14%) required for the first phase of the project, which will allow the construction of 70,000 square meters of public space. The physical work is expected to begin in the first days of 2023 and will include the adaptation of green areas, the construction of bike paths, the installation of urban planning and the construction of pedestrian walkways. An investment of more than $62.7 billion is planned for this first stage.

“Parques del Río Norte will be a work that will bring opportunities, quality of life and development to those who live in that area. We are finalizing design details to put out to contract the first polygon of this first stage, which will be approximately 26,000 square meters. Receiving the trust of such important and qualified international actors shows us that we are doing things right and that we are on the right path to make Medellín an Eco-city”, added the Secretary of Physical Infrastructure, Natalia Urrego Arias.

Parques del Río Norte will benefit more than 390,000 people and will transform communes 1 (Popular) and 2 (Santa Cruz), which make up one of the most densely populated sectors in Latin America. There, the current rate of public space per inhabitant is 1.5 square meters, far from the 15 square meters recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).

“Resistir hasta el final” (resistance until the end) is the name of the song written by Eunice Vergara brave, strong and fighting woman, who, despite having lived in the midst of the armed conflict in Cauca, continues to believe in and bet on building peace. Because of this, her song has become the theme song of the Memoria Sonora para La Paz (Sound Memory for Peace) Tour.

“I feel very deeply. Seeing how things can truly be accomplished when we put in our best efforts. What I find most important is that these songs will reach the hearts of many people and will travel the whole country,” said Eunice Vergara.

With a suitcase full of dreams and a recording team, we arrived at the north of the Cauca department, to record songs, poems, testimonies, and reflections from many artists and organizations. This material became a document of resistance and dignity, which contributes to building peace and harmony, and confirms once again that music is a tool for social change.

The tour allowed artists from the municipalities of Suárez and Buenos Aires, Cauca, to come together for the musical, artistic and cultural creation, and performances of their communities. We collected demonstrations, expressions, feelings and practices of children, teenagers, women, and men who peacefully confront the violence that affects the territory. This process is the possibility of continuing to consolidate a legacy for the country in terms of art and culture for peace.

“At Fundación PLAN we are convinced of the power of art and culture in peace building, not just to stop the war, but to remind society the importance of not repeating our violence; it is also a mechanism that tells our country’s history. Art is the greatest form of resistance, and the most important form of resistance in a conflict such as what has been lived in Colombia, every bullet fired in our country had a song, a poem, or a work of art in parallel” said Gustavo Quintero, Vice-President of Fundación PLAN.

For this process we’re working with César López, ambassador of Fundación PLAN, a musician from Bogota and an artist committed to building peace. “Hope will always be alive. I invite you to follow us on this path and together we can heal all wounds and build a better country”, concludes César López.

This May 11 at 3:00 pm we will start the Memoria Sonora Tour in the Casa de la Memoria Museum located at Cl. 51 # 36 – 66, where there will also be an exchange of experiences with groups from Comuna 13, will be an afternoon full of music and great stories of peace building from art and culture.

This process is promoted from EmpoderArte por la Paz, a project implemented by Fundación PLAN in partnership with National Forum for Colombia-South West Chapter and Otra Escuela Corporation, financed by the Swedish Agency for International Cooperation for Development, SAICD.

Medellín received international recognition for its work in cultural democratization, the improvement and adaptation of cultural facilities as learning spaces open to all citizens. This plan is shown in the CATUL network project that includes the Culture Houses Network, Theaters, Articulated Life Units and Sound Production Laboratories.

The capital of Antioquia is one of the three winners, along with Santos (Brazil) and Torres Vedras (Portugal), within a group of 50 cities from four continents.

The delivery took place within the framework of the 16th AICE International Congress, virtually and with the assistance of the organizers of the AICE Network award, juries, mayors, delegates from the other winning cities and the more than 500 cities that make up the association.

The award-winning project, CATUL network, impacts an average of 400,000 people each year.

The secretary of Citizen Culture, Álvaro Narváez, was present at the ceremony, he highlighted: “The Culture Houses Network receives more than 400,000 people a year to make an exchange between the State, the community and artists. We are recognized for being innovative through social, educational and cultural transformation of a Medellín that continues to move through culture towards it way to the future ”.

The award was announced in October of last year and constitutes an achievement, thanks to the application made by the Agency for Cooperation and Investment of Medellín and the Metropolitan Area – ACI Medellín and the Secretariat of Citizen Culture.

For the executive director of ACI Medellín, Eleonora Betancur: “this AICE award grants global recognition in inclusion and democratization of culture, thanks to the work done with the CATUL network. Today, thanks to the Medellín Futuro Development Plan, our city presents itself to the world as a city where culture and the arts are consolidated as an open, diverse, critical, dynamic ecosystem committed to the transformation of Medellín ”.

The recognition is delivered within the framework of the 16th International Congress of AICE, led by the President Delegate of the AICE, Commissioner for Education of the Barcelona City Council.

This recognition highlights good government practices in access and participation the community, with greater relevance in vulnerable populations, in order to promote their participation in the cultural scene, either as a spectator or as active members of the different artistic, social and cultural groups. Likewise, it highlights the way in which the city’s people appropriate spaces to impact the real needs of the social and cultural environment, in order to improve it.

Touring downtown Medellin has become an inevitable to-do on the agenda of tourists, investors, diplomats and citizens of the world who want to perceive the scents, colors and flavors of Medellín at its best. For this reason, after almost a year of closure for theaters and spaces for cultural socialization due to the pandemic, some of them are preparing to reopen their doors to the public, preserving all biosafety protocols.

The SOS Centro strategy and Caminá pal Centro, prepare their first activities and tours in March and April in order to turn some sectors of this city commune into transformation centers through theatrical and musical performances in the open air or in closed spaces, with limited capacity.

The different sellers and unique characters from the city’s downtown are intended to be the protagonists of this exercise that brings people from all the city’s and world’s corners to  Medellín’s downtown for cultural walks and appropriating public space.

These initiatives stem from the Alianza para el Centro, a network working alongside institutions such as the University of Antioquia, the Pablo Tobón Uribe Theater, Comfama, Banco de la República, Corpocentro, the Mayor’s Office of Medellín and Casa Centro Cultura, among others, whose task consists of recovering downtown spaces that were once epicenters for prostitution, drugs, crime and abandonment in order to invite all citizens to walk its streets without fear.

The city’s downtown still has many social, economic and environmental challenges, but it also has a journey that shows transformation, life and hope not only for the city but also for positioning itself as an internationally chosen destination.

The Network of Culture Houses, Theaters, UVA and Sound Production Labs  (CATUL Network) of the Citizen Culture Secretariat of the Mayor’s Office of Medellín, in alliance with Comfenalco Antioquia, was chosen as one of the three winning projects for the 2020 Educating Cities Award for Best Practices in the Inclusion and the Democratization of Culture, by the Association for Educating Cities (IAEC), which Medellín has been part of since 2004.

Medellín is one of the three winning cities, along with Santos from Brazil and Torres Vedras in Portugal, within a group of 50 cities in 4 continents. The recognition is given by the International Association of Educating Cities (IAEC).

This recognition exalts good government practices in access and citizen participation, with greater relevance in vulnerable populations in the cultural scene, through inclusive, democratic and healthy coexistence processes, in addition to the promotion of cultural diversity as development axes.

The application, made by the Agency for Cooperation and Investment  of Medellín and the Metropolitan Area – ACI Medellín, and the Secretariat of Citizen Culture, achieved the recognition of the project Red CATUL by “giving value to the importance of a network of territorial articulation that achieves greater democratization of cultural facilities as learning spaces open to all citizens”.

In this sense, Eleonora Betancur González, executive director of ACI Medellín, says: “It fills us with joy to know that the International Association of Educating Cities – AICE, recognizes our city for its inclusion and democratization of culture. This allows us to visualize the path we’ve gone through, both in this international network and in our history where Red CATUL has played a relevant role in the social and community fabric; demonstrating how Medellín lives its culture”

The CATUL network, which is integrated by 14 physical equipment and 20 cultural processes throughout Medellín and its districts, impacts an average of 400,000 people each year, and weaves meaningful networks  between different local, inter-territorial and institutional actors, on the basis of the recognition of others as a space for training and the circulation of knowledge and experience, which energize cultural processes with a community basis, through strategic lines such as training, community cultural management, promotion of creation, memory and territory, exchange and dialogue, and communications.

The award ceremony will be held during the 16th IAEC International Congress in March 2021.

Álvaro Narváez, undersecretary of Art and Culture of Medellín, says that: “the CATUL Network is an example of how innovation allows cultural management processes to be developed through the understanding of each territory’s particularities, where formation in diverse knowledge, creation, memory, and dialogues, strengthen and build new imaginaries. This recognition for the project and for the city, fills us with much joy and invites us to continue to bet more and more on culture and education as transformative axes of our society”.

Medellín received the Music Cities Awards international recognition for its support to local musicians and artists during the pandemic with the Medellín Me Cuida Route. The city stood out among 842 nominations and was on the shortlist with two other American initiatives: Black Fret and Music Export Memphis.

The city was exalted by the Medellín Me Cuida Route, in the third category: Best city initiative to directly support musicians.

This award highlights an initiative that brought hope, art and culture to the neighborhoods and hamlets of Medellín during the confinement, as a contribution to economic, social and cultural dynamization. A distinction that exalts the implementation of direct support policies to musicians.

In this way, Medellín establishes itself as a musical city by being part of the UNESCO Network of Creative Music Cities.

The Medellín Me Cuida Route was an itinerant stage designed to economically reactivate the artistic and cultural sector of the city, and whose protagonists were the winners of the Call for Art and Culture Incentives in the line of the Cultural Agenda.

There were 16 tours, 80 neighborhoods and hamlets receiving art and culture, 16 musical groups benefited, 109 artists, more than 150 kilometers traveled. It also highlights the ethnic, cultural and gender diversity of these routes, since out of the 16 groups, six were Afro-Colombian, four were led by women and eight groups were winners for the first time in the Call for Art and Culture Incentives of the Cultural Agenda.

“We are happy and thankful towards all those who have made it possible for Medellín to obtain this honor, this distinction. We are sure that our caravans will continue to reach the whole city, every commune and every hamlet, and we will continue to work to not stop and continue  supporting all those who are part of the arts and culture sector”, said the Secretary of Citizen Culture, Lina Gaviria.

The award was presented by Music Cities Events during a live ceremony. In addition to the statuette, five free tickets were received for a future event of choice and three years of free subscription to the Community of Musical Cities.

The application was supported by the Agency for Cooperation and Investment of Medellín and the Metropolitan Area – ACI Medellín.

In Medellín, we believe that education is the avenue to overcome the inequality gaps, the engine for social transformation and territorial development. Betting on education is the opportunity to move forward as a society and build a better city. Facing this challenge, the city’s educational system has been strengthened by reinforcing the achievements we have had, reaffirming the commitment to ensure quality and educational relevance, and promoting learning opportunities.

Postsecondary education is one of the main focuses of the Medellín Mayor’s Office in its strategy to close gaps and create economic and social development, as well as to have solid foundations for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

As a result, the current administration has placed a special emphasis on postsecondary education as a generator of economic and social development, based on the training of citizens who are able to face the global challenges and those of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

This is achieved with the conviction of overcoming social gaps and driving young people away from violence and poverty. These figures are evident, when analyzing the results of access to higher education. The city average in 2016 was 43.6%, and the goal for the end of 2019 is to be able to achieve 52.7%.

When analyzing the Multidimensional Quality of Life Index, figures show that in those neighborhoods with the lowest rate of access to higher education, the most complex situations such as insecurity, informality, difficulty in entering the labor market, income generation and family violence, also converge.

The bet on strengthening postsecondary education is the challenge to achieve integral security, so the most vulnerable people have the possibility of improving their living conditions and those of their families. This is done by generating income, accessing decent jobs with qualified profiles, contributing to social mobilization and reducing inequality in the city.

Every young person who has access to education is acquiring skills to have a positive impact on their environment. We are taking away space from illegality as an alternative, and promoting tools that will allow them to overcome poverty.

Scholarships for the Fourth Industrial Revolution

The Project of Scholarships for Technologies of the Medellín Mayor’s Office has the objective of increasing coverage and access to higher education by offering relevant technological programs, in the “comunas,” where the access rate is below average.

During this four-year term, we have delivered 36,793 opportunities for access to education, in scholarships and grants, with an investment of COP 536,000 million. The Instituto Tecnológico Metropolitano (ITM), Pascual Bravo, the Colegio Mayor de Antioquia, the Tecnológico de Antioquia and the Politécnico Jaime Isaza Cadavid, are institutions of the Municipality of Medellín. They all joined forces and have offered 41 programs to support the project.

Medellín Bilingüe

One of the great challenges of our citizens is learning and mastering a second language, preferably English. The objective is achieving a better job placement and being suitable for work in national and multinational companies.

In view of this need, the Medellín Mayor’s Office implemented the “Medellín Bilingüe” (Bilingual Medellín) strategy. This is a foreign language training program that seeks to teach a second language in an joyful and interactive way.

To optimize and innovate the teaching and learning processes of English, Medellín Bilingüe has developed projects and programs with the necessary components for children, youth and adults, to expand their knowledge as part of a global society.

One of these initiatives is the “Territorio Bilingüe” (Bilingual Territory), a strategy of the Secretariat of Education. This project seeks to train citizens of the “comunas” and townships of Medellín, with the purpose of improving their profile. At the same time, it will allow for citizens to be inserted in the communication processes of a city as Medellín, known today in the world as the cradle of international events and host of the first Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Latin America. The program is an opportunity for the working population whose courses are taught in the Social Development Centers (CDS for its acronym in Spanish) and in the Medellín Public Library Network.

Beyond job training

Being able to successfully pursue a technical or professional career is what was required for many years to obtain a degree. Today there are other fundamental skills in the workplace. These requirements are the so-called soft skills, associated with the personality and nature of the individual. These soft skills include among others leadership, adaptability and attitude towards life.

Soft skills teaching with experimental creative workshops, socio-affective skills and vocational guidance has been achieved as part of the training programs for work and life projects taught to young people during the last years of high school. As a result, it has given them more complete training related to their personal and professional development.

Medellín, a Learning City
by Unesco

In February 2019, Medellín reported the lowest dropout rate in the last 14 years: the city went from 3.4% to 2.9% in three years (2016-2018). This is the result of the implementation of programs such as:

• “Buen Comienzo” (Good Start), in which the city benefited 82,650 children with actions to improve their integral development and quality of life. An achievement for their future, of their families and the entire city.
• “En el colegio contamos con vos” (In School, We Count on You), a strategy that managed to get 7,648 students to return to school. “This was one of the hardest hits we gave to criminal structures,” says the Medellín Mayor, Federico Gutiérrez.
• “Escuelas Entorno Protector” (Protective School Environment), in which we delivered tools to 229 educational institutions to promote good living, the construction of citizenry and the exercise of human, sexual and reproductive rights among 291,000 students.

As a result of the implementation of these good practices, Medellín was selected as one of the 10 Learning Cities in the world by Unesco, during 2019. Also, in 2017, the city was chosen as the first Learning City in Colombia. This recognition is also aimed at the great commitment of the municipal administration, which currently allocates between 35% and 37% of its resources to education.

Therefore, and to reaffirm Medellín’s commitment to the development of education, during October 1 to 3, 2019, the IV International Conference on Learning Cities was held in Medellín. In this event, government officials, city representatives and education experts gathered to identify, exchange and discuss effective lifelong learning policies and practices that lead to the achievement of inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities.

On February 20, the meeting of Learning Cities: Challenges and Opportunities for Colombia was held at 8:00 a.m. in the Teacher’s Innovation Center, MOVA.

The event was led by the mayor of Medellín, Federico Gutiérrez Zuluaga and Raúl Valdés Cotera, program manager of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning and coordinator of the Network of Learning Cities.

During the event, José Octavio Cardona, mayor of Manizales; Constance Alarcón, vice minister of Preschool, Primary and High School Education; and Rodrigo Pardo, editorial director of Semana magazine, held a dialogue on the country’s regional educational policies and its contribution to strengthening Learning Cities. 

The event is part of the activities prior to the meeting of UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities which will take place in Medellín from October 1 to 3.

The Medellín Mayor’s Office leads programs such as Buen Comienzo [Good Start], La inclusión es con vos [Inclusion is with you], Formando Talentos [Training Talents], Escuela Entorno Protector [Schools as Protective Environments], En el Colegio Contamos con vos [We Count on you at School], Teacher’s Innovation Center – MOVA – and Scholarships for access to higher education. They are at the service of citizens and ratify the administration’s commitment to providing enough tools for the formation of citizens throughout their lives.

Medellín becomes a worldwide example of best practices on education issues with the lowest dropout rate in its history reaching 2.9%. This is a result of policies and programs which seek to train citizens throughout their life cycle.

This is the lowest dropout rate in Medellín’s history. Medellín, the first Colombian city to join the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities, will host the Network’s world meeting in 2019.

14 years ago, the capital of Antioquia started a transformation process in which education has been fundamental to achieve social changes. The work and the combination of efforts have reduced the school desertion, one of the biggest problems of the educative system, in 29% during this period. The greatest results were reached during the last two years through programs like: En el colegio contamos con vos, ¡y con tu voz! [We count on you and your voice at school!] which has brought back 5,165 children and young people to the classrooms.

These programs join other best practices such as Buen Comienzo, Sapiencia, the Software Nursery, and the recently inaugurated Teacher Innovation Center – MOVA -, among others. All of them have made Medellín a world leader in educational issues, thus guaranteeing its entry to the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities, and to be chosen to host the Network’s global meeting for the first time in South America in 2019.

In November, Medellín will have a new space for healthy indoor entertainment with 100 trampolines and a wide range of activities for children, young people, and adults. In a 2,900 mt2 area, the park has a capacity for more than 400 people per hour and will generate 35 direct jobs.

Under the concept of healthy entertainment for all ages, the first indoor trampoline park arrives in Medellín with an innovative and fun model seeking to differentiate itself from the available offer in the city.

This is the second opening in Colombia within the framework of a Regional expansion plan of the U.S. based company which includes cities such as Panama, Dominican Republic, Chile, and Uruguay. Their investment totaled 2 million dollars and will generate 35 direct jobs.

“This park fits the strategic proposal of INDER which aims at promoting sports, recreation, and physical activities in different spaces. The Olympic trampolines will help future young promises of the Team Medellín to practice gymnastics” affirmed Andrés Felipe López Vergara, INDER’s chief city-events officer.

Thus far, the city has received a total amount of USD 249.9 million between new investments and reinvestments. 22 new companies have settled in Medellín and eight more have reinvested. Therefore, 2,945 jobs in the infrastructure, real estate, food and industry 4.0 sectors are estimated. ACI Medellín supported the opening and settling process of the Summit Trampoline Park in the city.

The XV Congress of Educating Cities: “The city belongs to the people,” was held in Portugal, from November 13 to 16. Medellín participated with the project Child Workshops for Citizen Participation of the Medellín Mayor’s Office and managed by the Secretariat of Citizen Participation.

It is the Educating Cities Award of the International Association of Educating Cities (IAEC).

• The project Child Workshops for Citizen Participation is executed by the Secretariat of Citizen Participation of the Medellín Mayor’s Office.
• The project received the award in the XV Congress of Educating Cities, Cascais 2018.
• ACI Medellín managed and supported the application of this initiative.

Child Workshops for Citizen Participation is a proposal born in 2013. It aims to increase the participation levels among children and young people of Medellín through a training process in citizen and democratic capacities.

The Secretariats of Citizen Participation, Education, Youth, Inclusion and Environment and the Inclusion Unit of the LGBTI Population work together in this project.

The Agency for Cooperation and Investment of Medellín and the Metropolitan Area – ACI Medellín – led and supported the award application process in which 49 cities from 12 countries nominated.