Effective alliances for social development and territorial transformation are meaningful words which are part of the Alvaralice Foundation’s essence. A major example is the Civic Prize for a Better City (Premio Cívico por una Ciudad Mejor), a project coordinated and promoted by the Foundation in Cali since 2006. It has respectfully articulated project allies and has been flexible in adapting and including innovations each year.
The Prize is an opportunity to widen all participants’ social impact, as we share our knowledge and resources to draw attention to diverse social and community initiatives throughout the territory. We discover examples of positive leadership seeking to transform situations based on social wisdom, but which also require an economic push and training to realize their potential and achieve effective solutions. The Prize includes a pathway to institutional growth, which seeks to strengthen and advance the initiatives, as well as donation of seed capital in kind.
The initiatives presented are wide-ranging; each one has its own nature and expression. In the search to find answers to territorial needs, we discover solutions in diverse realms: the arts,
culture, education, sports, attention for the handicapped, environmental protection and community leadership, among others. Each of these projects focuses on diverse target groups – children, youth, adults and senior citizens – in innovative ways.
In 2021, a year characterized by protests which became known as the “social explosion”, Commitment to Valle (Compromiso Valle) was established, soon becoming part of regional leadership processes. The Civic Prize has become increasingly dynamic in the cities of Cali and Yumbo, where it was already established, and was opened in the cities of Palmira and Buenaventura. In Cali, it grew from three prize-winners per prize cycle to twenty prize-winning initiatives receiving seed capital in each version.
By actively listening to social leaders involved in Commitment to Valle (Compromiso Valle), and program allies, the Laboratory for Community Ideation (Laboratorio de Ideción Comunitaria) was born. It has potentialized individual skills of community leaders and opened spaces for training and fomenting their work, while providing more effective tools for their day-to-day efforts. The Laboratory originated In Cali, and thanks to its results, was replicated in Jamundí and Candelaria.
In social processes, united effort and joint work with communities is the best formula to achieve significant social impact. This is reflected in territories which were once invisible and now have come to the forefront, based on their popular wisdom, recognition of their own value and their participative potential. The social impact in Valle del Cauca municipalities participating in the Civic Prize and the Laboratory for Community Ideation is characterized by improved communication, visibility, empowerment, recognition, backing, development and community reciprocity.
For the Fanalca Foundation, participating in these activities contributes building civic culture and stronger citizenship, one of our purposes since our origin twenty years ago. We are happy and proud to be part of an alliance that makes the Civic Prize and Laboratory for Community Ideation possible. We believe that our participation allows us to continue building better quality of life and stronger communities, promoting development in the arts, sports and culture, providing attention to special needs populations and exercising the social responsibility that each of us has as citizens.
Elizabeth Gutiérrez Muñoz
Executive Director
Fanalca Foundation