In support of the USSOUTHCOM mission, the Perry Center designed and directed a course on interagency coordination for civil and military officials of the National Administrative System for Territorial Consolidation in Colombia. The course ran for three weeks, including a two-week distance phase and one week in Bogota, from March 17 until April 5, 2014. The course objective was to broaden the students’ knowledge of interagency coordination strategies, to assist in the improvement of the interagency coordination and synchronization processes at the executive and middle-management level of the entities important for territorial consolidation in Colombia.

The course, which was taught by Perry Center Professors Manuel Lora and Michael Gold-Biss, was attended by 43 individuals who represented diverse civil and military institutions that are components of the System. They focused on identifying the current state of the System and examining the legal and administrative measures for its continued implementation. During the distance phase, the participants analyzed diverse documents and articles related to the course’s theme and discussed concepts, ideas, and perspectives through the course’s discussion board. Through a combination of plenary session, small group discussion, and exercises the participants engaged in an intensive dialogue realizing the existence of different organizational cultures, distinct decision-making processes, and a variety of administrative processes. The participants recognized the importance of political leadership in constructing a common vision for the interagency process, and in harmonizing the interpretations of concepts and definitions of different elements and institutions within the System.

The course concluded with an exercise designed to offer the participants the opportunity to apply the concepts learned and the experiences gained in the course by crafting a document outlining the guidance of a plan for the implementation of the National Administrative System for Territorial Consolidation. During the closing ceremony Brigadier General Ricardo Jimenez, member of the Commandant’s Advisory Group, expressed satisfaction and gratitude to USSOUTHCOM and the Perry Center for the high quality of the course, emphasizing the importance of having generated a space for reflection, discussion, and learning conducive to advancing Colombia’s process of territorial consolidation.