PDT Nariño – AECID Colombia

In 2016, the Peace Agreement between the Government of Colombia and the armed group FARC-EP was signed. This opened up an opportunity to establish new pathways for sustainable development across Colombian territory, but signing an agreement alone is not enough. Peace is not merely the absence of conflict: peace emerges when people feel secure about their future, when institutions are strong and accountable to the communities they serve, when the social fabric is genuinely restored, and when the territory is cared for as a means of livelihood.

This is why the PDT-Nariño was created (Territorial Development Project of the Department of Nariño under Conditions of Peace), with contributions from AECID (Spanish Cooperation) and the EUTF (European Union Trust Fund for Peace in Colombia).

What role do Design and Communication play in a project of this scale?

Designing economic opportunities in a post-conflict context

PDT-Nariño brought together public actors, social organisations and cooperation agencies to create development alternatives in rural areas that have historically been excluded. Its lines of action ranged from community-based tourism to access to water and the strengthening of citizen participation. Our role lay at the very heart of the intersection between design and communication: we supported the project from a communication perspective understood not as a one-way loudspeaker, but as a process of creating shared meaning among highly diverse actors. From there, we helped make PDT-Nariño visible, generated spaces for encounter and dialogue, and consolidated narratives that enabled communities to recognise themselves as protagonists in the transformation of their territory.

In many rural areas of Nariño, the historical absence of the state and the lack of sustainable alternatives pushed entire communities towards illicit economies and dynamics of conflict. PDT-Nariño worked precisely at that tipping point: what new economic opportunities can emerge when a territory begins to move out of war, and how can they be built in ways that do not reproduce inequalities or damage ecosystems?

Through communication and design, we supported lines of work aimed at changing crops — and horizons: moving from coca to cacao and other agro-ecological products, strengthening community tourism networks, and accompanying educational processes linked to local entrepreneurship. This involved creating materials, dynamics and narratives that connected economic initiatives with a vision of peace rooted in Buen Vivir: living in harmony with people and with the environment, and generating income without destroying the ecological foundations of the territory.

In this sense, design allows us to give structure and visibility to new socio-technical configurations: community-managed tourism services, fairer agricultural value chains, or educational initiatives linking school, family and territory. Our task was to translate these processes into experiences, messages and formats that helped weave trust between economic actors, local communities and institutions, reinforcing local ownership of the opportunities that were emerging.

Communication for Development and Institutional Communication

Communication for Development (C4D) places emphasis on participation, dialogue and the creation of shared narratives, rather than on the mere dissemination of messages. More than “telling what is being done”, the aim was to create conversations, spaces and tools that would enable communities to name their own problems, imagine solutions and narrate their achievements in their own language.

This translated into processes of listening and co-creation, through which we designed both media (brochures, educational materials, visual resources, digital content) and activities (workshops, participatory dynamics, networking spaces and events). These devices acted as mediators: they helped bring together people who had not previously met, made visible initiatives that often went unnoticed, and consolidated agreements and learning into tangible forms that could circulate beyond each workshop or meeting.

At the same time, there was a more institutional communication dimension, focused on project visibility, accountability and coordination with other public and private actors. This involved aligning the project’s brand with other key stakeholders, generating trust and attracting allies who could join the processes already underway.

Tools and dynamics for specific cases

Stakeholder mapping and participatory diagnosis

Stakeholder mapping, adapted to vulnerable contexts, helps identify barriers to access before any intervention takes place. In PDT-Nariño, both the project coordination and formulation team and the communication team facilitated on-the-ground dialogues with local actors. Examples include Indigenous communities, women survivors of violence, agricultural producers (e.g. coconut and cacao), public institutions of the Department of Nariño, and the municipalities of Pasto, Tumaco and Ipiales.

Interactive artefacts to build relationships

One example is the “Travel Kit” we designed to enable community tourism initiatives from different parts of the region to connect with one another. We created an event where the initiatives selected to work with PDT-Nariño could meet and build relationships that would strengthen them. One of the materials was a passport to record ideas and note issues that emerged during participatory dynamics or networking. There was also a boarding pass, which acted as an evaluation device for events and experiences. Stickers representing each community tourism initiative enabled visual and tactile interaction. And, of course, shared maps were used to visualise the different tourism initiatives and potential collaborations.

Educational booklets to consolidate learning

The various processes carried out with communities and institutions must, at some point, be consolidated into concrete materials. Sometimes, the infrastructure that remains in place is as engineering-based as a sanitation and water supply project. Other times, what is consolidated is a protocol or a public policy on participation. Or a teaching methodology implemented in schools. In the communications area, we designed many materials that served precisely that purpose: to consolidate processes. For example, a series of booklets that served to consolidate the learning developed in the coconut and cocoa production chains. Or in the area of taxation and relations with public administrations.

Infographics to make complex data accessible

A series of studies and data are generated in the territory about what is happening, and these must be shared in a useful way. In a way that communities and institutions can truly understand them and act on them. And for this, the design of infographics can be a key tool.

One example is the research on Cifras Violeta (Violet Figures) and Cifras Arcoiris (Rainbow Figures). The former is about violence against women; the latter is about violence against people with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. We designed a series of infographics to visualise, in an understandable way, this data on violence in the municipality of Pasto, Nariño.

Life stories

Let the beneficiaries of the project tell their own stories. There is no better way to understand their experiences and how the project is impacting them. We look for opportunities to interview different people – both from the communities and the participating institutions – to collect these testimonies. Many were recorded to be used as communication material.