Bogotá is recognized in Spain as a leader in women-led culture

26·APR·2023
The Secretariat of Culture, Recreation, and Sports of Bogotá (SCRD) has been recognized and invited to Spain by the INCIDEM and the Madrid City Council.
Bogotá is recognized in Spain as a leader in women-led culturePhoto: Secretariat of Culture.
Bogotá has been invited to Spain for being recognized as an international cultural leader through the 'Creative Districts Network' project.

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The Secretariat of Culture, Recreation, and Sports of Bogotá (SCRD) has been recognized and invited to Spain by the Institute of International Cooperation and Municipal Development (INCIDEM) and the Madrid City Council. They see Bogotá as an international cultural leader through their project 'Creative Districts Network: a gender-focused and human rights-based strategy for social, cultural, and economic reactivation in Bogotá, in response to the crisis generated by COVID-19', which has had the cooperation of these Spanish organizations.

What is the purpose of this visit?

The purpose of the trip is to conduct two technical exchanges between the teams of SCRD and INCIDEM from Monday, April 24th to Friday, April 28th. During these meetings, both organizations will share significant experiences about the development of actions, policies, and projects in the cultural and creative sectors in the diverse territories that make up the Colombian capital and the cities of Madrid and Barcelona.

Regarding Bogotá, thanks to the project developed jointly with the two Spanish institutions since 2022, it has been possible to positively impact various women in both the five prioritized Creative Districts (La Candelaria - Santa Fe, Centro Internacional, Teusaquillo, Diverso La Playa, and San Felipe) and the rest of the city.

"Since last year, we have been working on this project together with INCIDEM and the Madrid City Council, which has allowed us to certify 99 women in business and entrepreneurship knowledge, in an 80-hour training program taught by the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana. We have also been able to benefit six women from our Creative Districts with economic incentives of 60 million pesos and provide them with support in the development stages of their proposals. The six projects increased their sales and revenues by an average of 20%, and 4 of them were able to increase their sales between 8% and 60%," added Catalina Valencia, Secretary of Culture, Recreation, and Sports.

Who will be traveling to Madrid and Barcelona, and what is the itinerary?

The commission that traveled to Spain is led by Secretary Catalina Valencia, along with officials and collaborators from the Directorate of Economy, Studies, and Policy of SCRD: Alejandro Franco, Director of Economy, Studies, and Policy; Erika Rivera, leader of the Creative Districts Network of Bogotá; and Teresa Loayza, coordinator of the gender-focused cooperation project financed by the Madrid City Council.

In view of Catalina Valencia's participation, a technical agenda and a bilateral agenda have been defined in conjunction with INCIDEM.

On the one hand, the technical agenda aims to socialize significant experiences in the city of Madrid and Barcelona regarding governance models in the cultural sector, in which the state contributes to the sustainability of territorial processes in the city.

On the other hand, Catalina Valencia will meet with the International Cooperation Area of the Madrid City Council and the Culture, Education, Science, and Community Area of the Barcelona City Council. She will also meet with the Union of Ibero-American Capital Cities (UCCI) and the Ibero-American Organization of States (OEI).

Finally, the commission sent by the Secretariat of Culture, Recreation, and Sports will exchange experiences with the Culture Institute of Barcelona (ICUB) and the Ateneu Popular 9 Barris in the city of Barcelona, and with the Spain Creative Association, the Centro-Centro space, Matadero - Center for Contemporary Creation, and the La Parcería Collective in the city of Madrid.

What is planned for this agreement in 2023?

In September 2023, a technical visit is scheduled to the city of Bogotá, where members of the INCIDEM delegation and the Madrid City Council can learn about the gender-focused network working experiences led by women in the cultural and creative sectors, as well as visit the strengthening processes under the cooperation project.

This will also be an opportunity to transfer knowledge of governance and association models led by Bogotá's Creative Districts Network, as well as other social and cultural impact programs and projects of the SCRD, to women entrepreneurs in the cultural and creative sectors. This technical exchange will allow the sharing of results and the establishment of possible future partnerships.