After our talk with the mayor and tour of the city, we all piled back into the bus and headed for an auxiliary campus of EAFIT in the nearby countryside. The ride out was beautiful, as we wound alongside the river, which, for the most part, is blanketed on both sides by open countryside. The city hopes to turn this area into a city park that will run the entire length of the valley, which is exactly what our class about to discuss.
In an inspiring demonstration of interdisciplinary thinking and real world application (exercises which I'm coming to understand are more of the norm than the exception around here), the political science class I was traveling with were shown a presentation outlining a proposed urban development plan for the city. This plan had been put together by A's office at the request of the city several years ago, but for some logistical reason has been shelved despite major interest in the proposed outcome. After a brief discussion of the merits of the plan itself, the professor posed the question to his students, "If the mayor's office is interested in putting this plan into action, how should they go about doing so, from a political perspective?"
The students broke up into groups, discussed their ideas and came back to present a variety of viable options. Already quite impressed by the whole process, I was further elated to find out that the next part of the assignment was even more exciting. Over the course of the next week, the students were to research, provide examples, and write up their solutions, not as essays for the class, but as formal proposal to the mayor's office. Talk about some class action!
One of the things that drew me to Medellin in the first place was the fact that through a series of cross-disciplinary actions and public/private ventures, the government managed to completely turn around a city that had some of the most depressing statistics in the world. I, like many other people, was incredibly curious how exactly they had managed to bring together all the right players and come up with just the right mix of endeavors to have a real impact. I'm still quite far away from understanding that entire process, but this week has brought some serious insights.
Unlike the mentality that is often evidenced in the United States, where every stakeholder wants their piece of the pie, regardless of the expense to their fellow constituents, there seems to be a genuine sense of camaraderie and community among the players here in Colombia, or at least in Medellin. It might just be that I'm working for an institute who has made it their mission to advance cross disciplinary dialogue and ensure well rounded perspectives, but I'm beginning to get the feeling that these sentiments run a little deeper than that. It seems to me that in everything from everyday interactions to government policy, there is a constant concern for the health and well being of everyone, and not just oneself. There don't seem to be many lines drawn between people, or organizations, or topics. So far, it seems as though people here have a much more innate sense connectivity than I have become accustomed to. Overall, quite refreshing and thoroughly inspiring.
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