See who are the winners of the ElDorado Creativity Award, in the Innovation for Peace-Building category

The ElDorado Creativity Award was created in order to promote great ideas and to reward the best creative pieces which contribute to the development of advertising and communications in Colombia on a daily basis.

It has consolidated its position as the flagship event attracting the best creativity in Colombia, and is a unique opportunity to promote a dialogue between the different stakeholders in the industry, and it has become a place to get together and network with the most important brands in the country, with important international leaders, with a select audience that sets new trends, the media, the press, and many others.

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Tour of memories

This is an initiative by the private and public sectors as well as by citizens, whereby different bicycle rides will be organized in order to give new meaning to certain spaces and locations in the city, to the way in which we relate to them, in a peace-building environment. The project comprises ten rides (one per month), in which the city's memories and the riders' bicycles generate new dynamic ways to experience public spaces.

We are also looking for entrepreneurs, bicycle users, public officials, minors and victims to have dialogues about the different perspectives and ways in which we establish our relationships with the city.

Our first ride was held on Friday, November 25th, with the main purpose of identifying different points in the city that have been scenarios of violent actions resulting from the armed conflict, and which are present in, or absent from, the lives of the many citizens of Bogotá who traverse them every day, including entrepreneurs and business people.

Launch of the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates

The Bogotá Chamber of Commerce (CCB) and the Permanent Secretariat of the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates launched the 16th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, an event to be held in the Colombian capital city between February 2nd and 5th, 2017, and for which 16 Nobel Peace laureates and recipient organizations have already confirmed their attendance.

Some of the Nobel Peace Laureates who have confirmed their attendance to the event include former presidents: Jimmy Carter, of the United States; Mikhail Gorbachev, of the former Soviet Union; Oscar Arias, of Costa Rica; Lech Walesa, of Poland; and Frederik de Klerk, of South Africa.

The Summit is one of the most relevant and renowned events related to the construction of peace and the search for tools to end warfare, foster disarmament and promote world reconciliation. It is a meeting point for top social, enterprise and political leaders, as well as students and representatives from many countries. This will be the first time since its creation in 1999, that the Summit will be held in Latin America. See pictures of the event .

Launch of the Alliances for Reconciliation Program 

This program seeks to promote actions by the private sector that will contribute to reconciliation, through public-private partnerships.

With support from the CCB, ACDIVOCA led this launch that will include a component of public-private partnerships to promote actions by the private sector that will contribute to the country's reconciliation efforts, while generating labor opportunities for populations traditionally excluded from economic dynamics. Around 30 entrepreneurs took part in a session aimed at answering the question: How can private companies contribute to reconciliation in Colombia?  See pictures of the event .

Launch of the Human Capital Fund for Transition in Colombia

With support from the CCB, the Institute for Integral Transitions (IFIT) launched the Human Capital Fund for Transition in Colombia. The project will bring together foreign and national individuals and institutions from different regions, with direct and proven experience in the design and construction of the different agreements achieved as a result of the peace talks between the National Government and the FARC-EP group.

The fund also seeks to bridge the gaps between the knowledge that was generated during the peace talks, and the one that needs to be made available, active and organized as part of the peace-building efforts. See pictures of the event .

Entrepreneurs answered questions about their own role in the construction of peace

Over 400 entrepreneurs met with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos in the discussion session dubbed "The Private Sector's Approach to the Construction of Peace". Additonal information .

Movie Forum "El cacao, semilla de paz" (Cocoa, seedling of peace) 

The movie forum dubbed "El Cacao, Semilla de Paz" (Cocoa, Seedling of Peace) was held in Bogotá, with presence from entrepreneurs from the agro-industrial and creative industries sectors.  After showcasing the documentary "Chocolate of Peace" produced by Londoner Gwen Burnyeat, a discussion was held around peace-building exercises through the production and marketing of cocoa; the forum was moderated by the CCB, joined by Fedecacao. See more images of this event .

Peace Conversations with Padraig O'Malley

Jointly with the Itinerant Movie Festival and Vice News' Pacifista! channel, the CCB's Direction for the Construction of Peace held the discussion session dubbed "The agreement is only one step. The challenges of transition and reconciliation in Colombia", centered around the documentary about the life of international mediator Padraig O'Malley ("The Peacemaker").  Participants to this conversation session included Padraig O'Malley, Iván Orozco and Alejandro Angulo, from Cinep. See more  image of this event .

Enterprise peace-building agenda in Colombia, a strategic contribution by entrepreneurs 

Jointly with other partners of a local, regional and national level, the CCB has decided to start a process for the articulation of agendas, in order to draft a joint corporate and enterprise peace-building agenda that will guide the efforts of the private sector in the short, medium and long term.

The agenda purports to become a useful reference and to provide tools and practical methodologies to entrepreneurs who make the decision to participate in the peace-building process the country is going through. We suggest a collective-impact project through which organizations of different sorts will get articulated and coordinate efforts to face the challenge posed by the construction of peace from the private sector. Under this project, each organization shares its knowledge, experience and network of contacts in order to achieve a very ambitious common goal, that cannot be achieved by a any one institution.

Training session on citizen competencies

Three workshops were held with SMEs, with support from Fundación Ideas para la Paz (the Ideas for Peace Foundation), in the context of the initiative dubbed "Mi contribution to the construction of peace", which seeks to provide an academic space where individuals, who are members of companies, are able to develop competencies that will prove useful to personally address the challenges of the new scenario that is coming to pass, making strategic decisions about the construction of peace in their immediate environments, and reflecting about what they as citizens are contributing to peace.

Exchange of international experiences about the role played by the private sector in the construction of peace

The CCB's Direction for the Construction of Peace, along with the UN, the Government of Ireland, and the Ideas for Peace Foundation, held a discussion regarding the role entrepreneurs play in the construction of peace.  This discussion included both Colombian entrepreneurs, as well as international ones from Northern Ireland and the Basque Country.

"Innovation in Peace-Building" Award

The El Dorado Festival, and the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce present the "Innovation in Peace-Building" Award, an initiative created in order to promote and reward the best ideas that contribute to the construction of a culture of peace in Colombia.

The jury will base their decision on the idea, the strategy and its potential for replication.

Additional information  here .

From words to actions - Laboratory for a culture of peace 

Several sessions of the workshop dubbed "From words to actions: Laboratory for a culture of peace (CH2)", in the context of the "Creative industries for reconciliation" initiative.  Throughout its sessions, the workshop has seen participation by over 40 entrepreneurs from the Creative, Cultural and Graphics Communications Industries, which have been working on initiatives aimed at solving challenges related to the construction of peace in Colombia, from a myriad of approaches.

Public opinion survey, reconciliation and peace, 2016  

It is the first major survey about reconciliation in the country, carried out by the Centro Nacional de Consultoría, which makes it a benchmark for work from the different sectors in order to build a culture of reconciliation in the long term.  Additional information .

Contributions to the construction of peace, from the enterprise sector

Our president, Mónica de Greiff, talks about the responsibility of the corporate sector in the construction of peace.  Additional information .

Forum: “Corporate perspectives about the construction of peace”

As an institution that is committed to the construction of peace, the CCB has been developing and implementing initiatives that will contribute to the social, economic and human development of the different stakeholders involved in the country's armed conflict.  Conscious of the need that exists to suggest contents and scenarios of awareness that contribute to the construction of peace in the country, the CCB's Vice-Presidency of Public-Private Articulation, jointly with different national and international stakeholders has decided to identify and analyze the perceptions of entrepreneurs about proposals and solutions suggested by citizens regarding the armed conflict and the post-conflict stage, as well as to consolidate private-sector participation in the construction of peace.