The Universidad Abierta de Recoleta, in conjunction with the Transnational Institute (TNI), presents the International Diploma in Transformative Local Governments, second edition, which consists of four courses: (i) New municipalism: the local as a space for social change, (ii) Transformative cities: learning from real utopias, (iii) Public policies and local governments: theory, methods and strategies, and (iv) From social movements to the radical democratisation of municipalities.

TNI is an international research and policy advocacy institute working for a more just, democratic and sustainable world. Learn more about TNI at this LINK.

The topic of municipalisms is fundamental when asking ourselves the question about the strategic role that local governments play in social transformations. To this is added the citizen empowerment and the design of local public policies oriented to the common good, inviting to build learning from knowledge and critical reflection, both from theory and from practical cases in cities such as Cloughjordan, Barcelona, ​​Cochabamba, Medellín, Paris, Richmond and Cadiz. 

These cases show that there are options to face the global and local post-pandemic situation, with emerging conflicts, but also other long-standing ones, such as climate change. It is necessary to review the main approaches of the theory of public policies and the various strategies available to generate relevant solution strategies, contact with the basic tools to critically analyse the issues that involve community life as well as the response that is expected from the territory for the demands of citizenship in an increasingly uncertain context. That is why the democratisation of the municipality is an essential step for local transformation as it favors citizen participation and better channels their demands and needs.