The objective of this project is to generate new institutional arrangements at the national level in a set of Latin American territories considering the visions of traditionally excluded territorial actors, whose well-being and development are currently affected by the persistence of socio-territorial conflicts. This initiative is made possible thanks to the financial support of the Ford Foundation, within the framework of the project “General and Core support for Institutional Strengthening for Rimisp”.

The project has promoted the grounding and strengthening of Rimisp’s thematic area of socio-territorial conflicts (STC) through the adjustment of our theoretical and methodological framework to guide action, as well as the definition of a research agenda aimed at understanding the relationship between the definition and implementation of public policies, and the existence and treatment of conflicts.

In this sense, processes of applied research, capacity building, dialogue and advocacy have been implemented in rural territories in: Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia, Peru and Ecuador in alliance with our territorial partners: PRISMA in Ahuachapán (El Salvador), CEDEPAS in Piura (Peru), CESDER in Sierra Norte (Mexico), IEI-PUJ Cali in Valle del Cauca (Colombia) and APROBASANK in Alta Verapaz (Guatemala).

Based on the identification and characterisation of a STC, progress was made in the implementation of different routes to understand and handle them, recognising the experience and nature of our partners, their level of involvement in the conflicts and the conditions of each territory. As a whole, the actions implemented from a territorial approach have contributed to:

• Strengthening the capacities of rural, peasant and indigenous communities to understand and analyse the STCs that affect their wellbeing in their territories, with the aim of creating strategies for their recognition and treatment.
• Coordination and strengthening of our network of partners, jointly building appropriate strategies to achieve rapprochement with the actors involved, based on a better understanding and evidence on the axes of the conflict.
• Definition of diverse mechanisms and strategies for the treatment of STC that link the vision of traditionally excluded actors, and strengthen communication with different levels of government (subnational and national).

In its first three years, these processes were linked to the development of the Territories in Dialogue: Inclusion and Well-being programme. Currently, actions are focused on understanding and dealing with conflicts related to:

• Management of buffer zones of protected areas and sustainable management of natural resources (El Salvador).
• Community cadastre as an instrument to strengthen self-government systems (Guatemala).
• Policies to address illicit crops (Andean sub-region: Colombia, Ecuador and Peru).