CabildoXLatAm

A space for digital participation in Latin America

Motivation

In the face of the challenges that have emerged and been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, collective responses by, with, and for communities have developed in Latin America (e.g., community food banks and open data citizen-led initiatives). Faced with this scenario, the research group Democratic Reconfigurations of the IASS Potsdam has decided to convene a Cabildo por América Latina (CabildoxLatAm), a participatory digital space to learn, strengthen, and design collective responses to the pandemic. The event will bring together civil society actors, governments, communities, and citizens from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, and Puerto Rico.

  

The CabildoxLatAm was a virtual event held during the Covid-19 pandemic, allowing for agents across different constituencies to deliberate on issues and solutions surrounding the pandemic health emergency, from a grassoots perspective. We provided communication access to the cabildo events via Zoom, as well as telephone lines and via WhatsApp. The cabldo featured spaces and activities geared towards open deliberation, building on new forms of participatory and planetary governance. Some of the main areas discussed during the cabildo included food sovereignty, education, and digital governance.

The mission of the Cabildo is to create a space for horizontal, inclusive, and digital participation where a roadmap for self-management and a unified petition of processes and participatory responses necessary to confront the Covid-19 pandemic will be jointly designed.
 

   

Contributions

Event design, online facilitation, data analysis and reporting.

Collaborators

Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, Diversa, MIT Center for Civic Media, Planetary Health Alliance, Women Leaders for Planetary Health, TEC Monterrey, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, LATINNO Project - WZB Berlin, Asuntos del Sur, Fundación Avina, el Centro por la Justicia y el Derecho Internacional (CEJIL), Ciudadania Inteligente, Hackeo Cultural, Instituto Cultural, Diversa, and Global Change.

Outputs

* Ramos, M & Reynolds-Cuéllar, P. (2021) ¿Qué es CabildoxLatAm?. In “CabildoxLatAm: a digital and transnational townhall in Latin America”, Morán, A., & Ross, M.