Research Sprint Cúcuta

The first session of the Edgelands research sprint in Cúcuta with the Universidad Francisco de Paula Santander began on March 22nd. In the next 8 weeks, a group of more than 30 students from programs of architecture, law, and social work will present a research project proposal and a podcast episode about their research process in the city. Expectations are high about the program's potential to raise awareness of the city's safety and security challenges that affect students.

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During the first part of the first session, our co-founder Beatriz Botero welcomed the students and talked about our goals at the Edgelands Institute and the political and academic trends on the digitization of security and surveillance in cities. In the second part, Juan Camilo Chavez - professor of cultural management and journalist - presented a master class on podcasting as a new and interesting narrative and communication medium to tell stories and transmit knowledge. The podcasts made by the participants of the sprint will be a challenge and an opportunity to acquire new skills and make the access and transmission of knowledge more accessible to the public of the city of Cúcuta.

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Our sprint in Cúcuta is the third version of thisEdgelands program, after marathons in Medellín and Geneva. The research programs led by students and young people in their own cities are a pillar of our Edgelands methodology. With them, we seek to empower and inform young people and other citizen groups about the policies that affect them in terms of security and surveillance. Similarly, we seek with these research marathons to put young researchers in conversation with decision-makers so that decisions that affect the city are made in a participatory and evidence-based manner.

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