CITIZEN DIPLOMACY AND CONFLICT PREVENTION WORKSHOPS

IN COLLABORATION WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND (USA), THE UNIVERSITY OF CUENCA AND THE PARTICULAR TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF LOJA (ECUADOR), THE SANTO TORIBIO UNIVERSITY OF MOGROVEJO AND THE PARTICULAR UNIVERSITY OF TACNA (PERU), THE UNIVERSITY OF TARAPACÁ (CHILE), LA SABANA UNIVERSITY, AND UNIVERSITY MARIANA (COLOMBIA), AND AUTONOMOUS UNIVERSITY OF CHIHUAHUA (MEXICO).

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The Citizen Diplomacy and Conflict Prevention Workshops project has been carried out since 2001. Through mirror classes, COIL and other collaborations, these international workshops are offered in the second semester of the year to students in careers related to Communication. The program seeks to put the theory of Citizen Diplomacy into practice, and is coordinated, worked on and executed among the professors of all the attending universities, mainly by the university that will host the international workshop. This year, the University of Texas at El Paso and the University of Chihuahua in Mexico joined the group of universities in the Region (South America).

Through various exercises, the students learned to “discover the other,” to see themselves as “strategic partners,” to understand the meaning of “putting themselves in the other's shoes,” to be tolerant, understanding, and that “there are more similarities.” who share the differences.” Finally, the involvement of universities was evidenced in the strengthening of a peace process and the construction of a culture of dialogue, respect and tolerance in the border regions.