- The 'Cali Para Mí' citizen participation strategy, unprecedented in Colombia, allowed people to vote for the priorities for the city, through a digital application and from 20 projects.
- Citizen security, quality education, healthcare on time, zero hunger, better roads for Cali, a recycling park and commuter train, were some of the projects and initiatives prioritized by those who voted.
- The prioritization of projects was the first step. Now Cali for me will move forward with the positioning of what is prioritized by the citizens and will keep the citizen conversation active as a mechanism for monitoring the progress of said agenda.
The results of the vote of nearly 18,000 people from Cali were known with the presentation of 'Cali for me', the great city conversation that for a month called on the people of Cali to prioritize the projects and initiatives that they consider should be developed in the medium and long term in Cali. From October 25 to November 25, this citizen participation exercise -unprecedented in a major Colombian city- invited people to vote through a virtual application for 20 key projects for the transformation of Cali in the medium and long term.
Citizen security, quality education, healthcare on time, zero hunger, a peasant collection gallery, better public schools, better roads to Cali, a recycling park, in addition to the suburban train, were some of the projects that prevailed in the voting. There is also the improvement of incomplete neighborhoods, a block of environmental impact initiatives, and another of initiatives that promote culture, diversity, and civility, aspects that have historically been a priority for the people of Cali.
Among the findings, it stands out that the most important thing for those who voted is that the city provide basic living conditions for citizens: walking quietly, having quality education, health and food services. Similarly, the results show that citizens perceive that roads and public transport should be strengthened, so they highly value projects that generate solutions on these fronts. In addition, the results of this great conversation for Cali made explicit the high concern that there is in the city for the protection of rivers and animals, the recovery of civility, the recognition of diversity and the promotion of culture.
“Citizen participation is essential for any territorial planning exercise. The voice of citizens must be taken into account when defining the destiny of the city, since it is to them that decision makers must respond. With 'Cali para mí' we wanted to integrate a single citizen voice so that we could agree on what should be done first. This is a highly valuable input for those who, in the future, will have the reins of our city in their hands,” said María Isabel Ulloa, executive director of ProPacífico.
This great conversation for Cali was led by ProPacífico, the Cali Chamber of Commerce, Comfandi, Comfenalco Valle Delagente, the universities of Valle, Javeriana Cali, Autónoma de Occidente, ICESI, San Buenaventura, in addition to 20 organizations that promoted it. All of them have ratified their commitment so that the effort does not end here. On the contrary: Cali for me will advance with the positioning of the projects prioritized by the citizens and will keep the citizen conversation active as a mechanism for monitoring the progress of said agenda. It is expected that in these next steps more organizations and citizens decide to join.
After the delivery of the results of 'Cali for me, what was prioritized by the citizens will be socialized with key actors for decision-making in the city, taking into account that 2023, an electoral year in the regions, will be fundamental.
“Together we can put this citizen agenda on the political agenda for next year. Here we have to tell the politicians that the citizens have already said something and the idea is that they ask us how it can be done. In this sense, among all of us we must make a great effort so that these projects of Cali for me are present not only during the campaign agenda, but that they are reflected in the Development Plan of the city", said the Jesuit priest Luis Felipe Gómez, rector of the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Cali.
Methodology and participation process
The selection of the 20 projects for which the citizens voted was based on a strict methodology that started from the identification of 116 initiatives that were found in various territorial planning instruments. Next, 40 initiatives were shortlisted based on the application of impact indicators and taking into account their contribution to the development of the city. These initiatives were valued by 962 people, representatives of 22 population, thematic and territorial groups, from the realization of 63 workshops. Thus, 20 projects were put up for mass voting through the virtual tool.
Citizens actively participated through the digital application since last October 25, for a period of one month, getting 17,831 people to respond. It should be noted that the goal of the project was to achieve the participation of 10,000 people and that, of every 100 people contacted, 88.6% participated.
