 January
26, 2004 - Bogotá, Colombia.- It is common
to observe that solutions given to certain relevant social
problems are not accurate because they solve them in the
short-term, but over the long-term they have counterproductive
effects.
Being aware of this, the Global Development Learning
Network (GDLN) and Colombia's Universidad de los Andes
released the "International Virtual Course: Formulation
of Social Projects". This course was born in response
to the different needs that people with planning and
management responsibilities have in identifying the
deep difficulties in complex problematic situations
and formulating accurate projects to solve them. From
this perspective, the course was designed for the participants
to develop a systemic vision and acquire tools with
a social focus that allows them to carry out effective
projects in order to solve complex situations.
The objective of this course is to get the participants
to identify the central and real problems in a problematic
situation in their role as a social planner. This will
allow them to make accurate descriptions of the problematic
situations and to be able to see the problem from a
different perspective in order to lead them to an appropriate
solution. Additionally, participants are expected to
develop the capacity to design social projects in a
logical and creative way.
This program had the support from its beginning through
to the design of GDLN and was developed by Eduardo Aldana
Valdés, PhD in Urban Systems, B.S and M.S of
Civil Engineer; and Alfonso Reyes Alvarado, PhD in Management
Cybernetics, M.S.C. of the Engineering Industrial Department
of the Universidad de los Andes. The University designed
a mixed methodology, that works with community and self-paced
learning, which is used with the help of the available
on-line tools made available through the web site http://sicua.uniandes.edu.co.
Additionally, there are three scheduled videoconferences
with the aim of bringing the participants closer to
the experts, and allowing them to formulate questions
and sustain debates in real-time.
The Formulation of Social Projects Course version 2004
counts with the coordination of Mr. Jorge Gamarra N.,
GDLN Colombia Coordinator and the participation of the
GDLN centers in Guatemala (Universidad Rafael Landívar),
Nicaragua (Banco Mundial Nicaragua) and Colombia, with
representatives of the public, private and academic
sectors and NGO's.
For additional information regarding this activity
or to learn of future programs to be offered by GDLN
Colombia in related topics, please contact please contact
Jorge Gamarra at (jo-gamar@uniandes.edu.co).
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