IDRC Research Support Agreement No 102987-001

SUMMARY OF FINAL REPORT

Research Team:

Mario Torres Ph.D.
Project Coordinator

Terrance Hunsley M.A., Francois Laviolette, David Newman, Marie-Eve Racette
The Advocate Institute of Human Resources, Canada

Lic. Jose Blanes M.A., Manuel F. Rebollo, Claudia Jimena Claros
Centro Boliviano de Estudios Multidisciplinarios, Bolivia

August 16, 2006
Ottawa – La Paz

CONTENT

1. INTRODUCTION                       

2. STAKEHOLDER IDENTIFICATION                

2.1. A Matrix of Stakeholders                
2.2. IDRC, WBI and IADB                 
2.3. International Offices of Canadian Universities                          
2.4. Canadian Associations                             
2.5. Canadian NGOs                 
2.6. External Affairs Agencies                
2.7. Government Agencies in Bolivia and Peru              
2.8. Andean Universities and Research Centres              
2.9. Latin American Networks                
2.10. Andean Private Sector Organizations                             
2.11. Conclusions                  

3. DISTANCE EDUCATION TRAINING COURSES: ASSESSMENT OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND        

3.1. Consultation with Experts                
3.2. Latin American and Hispanic Studies Programs                         
3.3. WBI, IADB, and IDRC Courses and Programs                         
3.4. Canadian Universities and Research Centres                          
3.5. Latin American Programs              
3.6. The Potential Demand                           
3.6.1. Peru               
3.6.2. Bolivia                
3.7. Conclusions
                  
4.    CANADA-ANDES PORTAL: FORMAT AND COMPONENTS                                           

4.1. Exploration of Websites              
4.2. Conclusions                          
4.3. A Prototype for a Canada-Andes-Latin America Portal                      
4.3.1. General Characteristics             
4.3.2. Technical Characteristics             
4.4. Sustainability                 

5.    CANADA-ANDES EXCHANGES                           

5.1. Exploration of Canadian Professional Organizations                      
5.2. Exploration of Interests from Counterparts in Bolivia and Peru                     
5.3. Feasibility of an Exchange Program            

6. A STRATEGY FOR ON-LINE COST RECOVERY           

6.1. Receipt of Payments from Foreign Countries                               
6.2. Receipt of Payments from Inside Bolivia                       
6.3. Conclusion              

7. CONCLUSIONS               

7.1. General Comments              
7.2. AI’s Approach to a Partnership Exchange Program          
7.3. CEBEM’s Approach to a Partnership Training and Information Program      

1. INTRODUCTION
 
The idea to search for innovative approaches to North-South knowledge partnerships emerged as a result of the experience of the Centro Boliviano de Estudios Multidisciplinarios (CEBEM) (www.cebem.org) with the new learning tools that information and communication technologies (ICTs) and virtual distance education methodology have created around the world.

Along the past years CEBEM, created in 1988, began to expand its institutional capital by leading Latin American research networks on topics of local government, natural resources, and environmental management (Red de Investigación y Acción para el Desarrollo Local – RIADEL – and Red de Desarrollo Sostenible y Medio Ambiente – REDESMA). Most recently CEBEM has been designated as the Executive Secretary for the Red Iberoamericana de Postgrados sobre Políticas y Estudios Territoriales (RIPPET), a network of graduate programs on local territorial development in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Guatemala, Mexico, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

CEBEM initiated also, in collaboration with universities, the delivery of graduate courses and turned to focus on short-term courses for professional upgrading under the format of virtual distance education. The reason was that while graduate programs were becoming abundant in the region – despite questionable quality of many of them – upgrading and updating of graduated professionals was lacking. Additionally, CEBEM began to produce and circulate newsletters for each one of the mentioned networks, which reach thousands of researches and professionals around the region.

CEBEM is a small institution that has achieved important accomplishments due to its capacity to innovate and its proven ability to establish alliances with institutions in Bolivia, the Andean region, Latin America, and outside the region.  This is in itself a very valuable element to take into account, as the capacity to promote and lead regional initiatives is key in a global environment. Besides, CEBEM’s flexibility, proper to a small institution, has a clear comparative advantage for innovation purposes in relation to universities, given that the large size and complex bureaucratic procedures of universities are not always favourable to innovation and change. On the other hand, the Advocate Institute (AI), also a small institution, created in 1995, was willing to explore expansion of its services to organizations adapting to the changes in the economic and social climates in Canada and abroad, and to professional development programs for individuals and organizations. In particular the Institute was interested to undertake an international exploration to examine the feasibility of a program of activities focused on visits and professional exchanges and collaboration.

On the base of above, AI and CEBEM proposed to IDRC to conduct a pilot project in order to explore potential innovative approaches and services to support mutually reinforcing partnerships for Canada and the Andean Region, building on relationships and networks existing in sectors, disciplines and professions, and on information and communication technologies available in the region. The activity consisted of conducting a six-month pilot project with the general objective to identify and design the specifications for the basic components of an innovative Andean-Canadian partnerships program aimed at professionals, development practitioners, academics, researchers, and entrepreneurs, using local territorial development and policies as the primary area of focus.

The specific objectives were:

a. To identify the major stakeholders who would benefit from partnerships, using as entry points four or five specific
    topics related to the local territorial development;

b.  To identify potential supply and demand for short distance-education training courses targeting Latin American
     professionals requiring skills and knowledge upgrading;

c.  To identify the technical specifications for a portal or gateway to publicize and support core activities with relevant
     information, training and communication tools and services;

d.  To design a Canada-Andes exchange program for professionals, development practitioners, academics,
     researchers, and entrepreneurs; and

e.  To design a strategy for on-line cost recovery modalities for delivery of distance education courses and information      services.
 

2. STAKEHOLDER IDENTIFICATION

2.1. A Matrix of Stakeholders

A sample of stakeholders for training activities were identified on the base of results from the exploratory phase – done previous to this pilot project – and information about their experience, activities or interests in Latin American or the Andean region. This is not a complete representative sample. However, it permitted to obtain indication about potential interest and commitment to get involved in North-South partnerships. They are institutions with mandates, audiences, membership, and resources that cover important academic and non-academic sectors.

The identification was made through an iterative process. Once a key institution was identified and selected in one side (Canada or the Andes or Latin America), a similar one was looked for on the other side. Subsequently, contacts were made, institutional documents examined, and finally a field visit to Lima and La Paz was conducted. The conclusion is that, as a whole, they represent a good starting point for a strategy of partnerships promotion.
 
Regarding the Canadian side, results from examination of official documents and discussions are mixed. On the one hand, there is interest to promote ties with Latin America and develop partnerships. There is a growing number of academics, researches, and institutions devoted to the study of Latin American issues. Canadian private sector investments in some sectors, like mining and banking, are expanding.  However, on the other hand, the perception obtained from discussions is that these links and partnerships require a proactive approach and clear available resources to materialize.

On the Latin American side, and the Andean side in particular, a general impression after data were examined and interviews conducted is that knowledge about Canadian institutions and opportunities for partnerships is also limited. Interest exists but it is more “passive” than active, occasional. One explanatory factor is that easy access to information about Canadian interests, activities and initiatives in the region, does not exist, neither the operation of a regular proactive circulation of an alerting newsletter service about emerging opportunities for Canada-Latin America partnerships. This situation does not facilitate promotion of this sort of endeavours neither, specially, expansion and use of current niches of opportunity.

2.2. IDRC, WBI and IADB

The World Bank Institute (WBI) and the Inter American Bank (IADB) indicated early interest in this initiative. Examination of current training activities conducted by both institutions showed that there are a great deal of materials about most countries of the region, which may be a base for a large number of short-term courses.   

2.3. International Offices of Canadian Universities

International Offices are an entry point to Canadian universities, the community of foreign students attending Canadian universities, and cultural activities organized about Latin America by these educational institutions. A list of 51 International Offices of Canadian Universities with Latin American or Hispanic studies programs, including names and addresses of contact persons was prepared using the data with the purposes of exploring (1) interest in innovative partnerships, (2) dissemination of information about virtual courses, and (3) contributions to a Canada-Andes-Latin America Portal.

2.4. Canadian Associations

Three very different associations were considered under this project: the Canadian Association of Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CALACS), the Asociación Canadiense de Hispanistas (ACH), and the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC).

Identification of Canadian members of CALACS (http://calacs.concordia.ca/) was made with the purpose to prepare an e-mail list for future consultations, organization of calls for partnerships, and distribution of information about future project activities. However, some work will need to be done with this list and the audience it represents. As it can be noted, information about expertise of members is lacking in many cases and, more important, experts in natural sciences fields are almost absent. Expertise existing in the private sector is not included either. CALACS indicated that the association has very few resources to act as a partner, however they could be interested in another form of collaboration if specific requests were submitted.

In the case of AUCC’s data base (http://www.aucc.ca/can_uni/search/index_e.html), limitations of information are even more evident. The entry to get information about Latin American expertise is by searching “Latin American Studies” programs. However, this search gave as a result only 9 universities, which does not reflects the Latin America expertise that exists in Canadian institutions. In addition to this exploration, an AUCC official was met. As a result of discussions, specific requests were sent to AUCC, asking for collaboration for gathering information about AUCC experience with exchanges, and for contacting additional key informants inside the association.

2.5. Canadian NGOs

A large number of Canadian NGOs were explored through Internet. A short list was prepared with those exhibiting important newsletter activity – Human  Rights Internet, Action Canada for Population and Development, Canadian Consortium on Human Security, Charity Village. Depending on the focus of next steps, it will be necessary to review further the interests and activities of the Canadian NGO community interested in Latin America, including the Canadian Council for International Co-operation (CCIC), the Canadian Foundation for the Americas (FOCAL), The North-South Institute (NSI), and others. 

2.6. External Affairs Agencies

The embassies of Peru and Bolivia were contacted in order to give them information about the pilot project, ask for their opinions, and explore their interests. The response was very positive and all possible collaboration was offered. In the case of Peru, complete access was given to its database about Canadian companies with operations in the country, and support was offered for working with the Commercial Bureau of Peru in Toronto. In the case of Bolivia, contacts were made also with the Unidad de Análisis de Política Externa (UDAPEX) of the Ministry of External Affairs of Bolivia. In the case of CIDA, a meeting with CIDA representation in Peru was not possible unfortunately. The meeting with CIDA representation in La Paz had the purpose to inform about activities so far conducted for project development. One conclusion was that the future Portal and its related alerting newsletter would be a key contribution to the work of Canadian representations in the region.

2.7. Government Agencies in Bolivia and Peru

A focus was put on (a) the national councils of sciences and technology given their mandate for the transference of knowledge, and (b) institutions equivalent to Canadian associations of universities, and municipal and local governments.
 
The Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONCYTEC) in Peru indicated interest in obtaining training on distance virtual education, experimenting a course on science and technology management for regional governments, and organizing an study group on these topics in order to promote generation of a critical mass of human resources with expertise in these topics. The Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT) in Bolivia is not of the same caliber as CONCYTEC. They are interested in distance education activities but they do not appear to have enough capacities as to be a partner yet. Rather, it could be a beneficiary of training, information activities, and collaboration to be given by Canadian institutions.

The Asamblea Nacional de Rectores of Peru (ANR) (www.anr.edu.pe) includes all 84 universities, public,  and private and under organization process, existing in the country.  There was great interest in a future project. Full collaboration was offered for circulation of information about the project activities, organization of distance education courses, and promotion and organization of partnerships with Canadian universities and colleges. ANR is another institution with clear interest, mandate, and resources to promote, organize and conduct promotion of distance education courses, internships, and exchanges with Canadian partners.

The Concejo Nacional de Descentralización (CND) (www.cnd.gob.pe) is the government agency responsible for the decentralization process and training of human resources for local and regional governments in Peru. CND would be interested to participate in a future project if courses are of the highest relevance and quality. CND offered to participate in the following ways: providing information about key geographical focus of concentration, reaching local governments, commenting on the content of courses, and indicating by writing its interest in the project.

2.8. Andean Universities and Research CentersCentres

A selection of a few universities was made on the base of (1) quality and potential to produce high quality distance education courses on topics of IDRC programs and (2) the importance of the topic as a development priority for the countries.

The Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (UPCH) (www.upch.edu.pe/faspa), one of the best universities in the field of health sciences in the region, indicated interest in a future project. They already have relations with Canadian universities, such as McGill and Montreal, and have collaborated with some IDRC programs.  UPCH has a department for distance education, and various journals and scientific archives available on line. The area with most potential for collaboration may be health and biodiversity. 

The Consorcio de Investigación Económica y Social del Perú (CIES) (www.consorcio.org) is an initiative supported by CIDA and IDRC for more than 12 years. CIES is interested to expand its visibility in Bolivia and Ecuador, produce a program of virtual courses on public policies, use CEBEM’s training platform, and participate in the creation of a Portal about Canada and Latin America.

The Instituto Peruano de Administración de Empresas (IPAE) (www.ipae.edu.pe), is an institution with a long tradition of training activities on business administration topics aimed at diverse private sector groups. IPAE could contribute to a future project on partnerships with its extensive network of contacts with the Peruvian private sector.

The Universidad Privada Boliviana (UPB) (www.upb.edu) is perhaps the most prestigious university in Bolivia. It specializes on engineering sciences, business administration, and law. Definite interest was expressed in pursuing experimentation with virtual distance education courses for professional updating, exchanges, and partnerships with Canadian universities. It was agreed to discuss a proposal for short-term courses on selected topics on mining, and to explore collaboration with potential Canadian mining university departments.

The Centro de Estudios Superiores Universitarios (CESU) of the Universidad Mayor de San Simon http://www.cesu.umss.edu.bo/), is devoted to research and training at the graduate level. Its area of local development studies has perhaps the most prestigious training program in the country. CEBEM has developed a series of virtual courses on community forestry with academic support from CESU. Another course on local development is delivered with additional support from the Centro Latinoamericano de Economía Humana (CLAEH).

2.9. Latin American Networks

Four networks will be initial entry points for diverse audiences in Latin America.  They have been selected because they are led by CEBEM or represent an important emerging networking initiative on local development: the Red Iberoamericana de Postgrados sobre Políticas y Estudios Territoriales (RIPPET) (see http://rippet.cebem.org/encuentro6/ppt/A13.ppt), Red de Investigación y Acción para el Desarrollo Local (RIADEL), Red de Desarrollo Sostenible y Medio Ambiente (REDESMA), and Red Internacional de Desarrollo Económico Local y Comunitario (RIDELC) could be potential beneficiaries and users of virtual courses and information about Canada-South partnerships.

2.10. Andean Private Sector Organizations

Regarding private sector stakeholders, associations with international experience and entrepreneurial groups with interest to participate in development activities were contacted. 

The Cámara de Comercio Canadá – Perú (CCCP) (www.canadaperu.org) was interested in the possibility to get access to virtual education courses as a way to further promote commercial relations.  In particular, there was interest to publish the Chamber’s magazine through a future Canada-Andes-Latin America Portal. This publication in combination with an alerting newsletter would be a very useful way to expand audience among the private sector in Peru, Canada and even other Andean countries.

The Asociación Peruana de Exportadores (ADEX) (www.adexperu.org.pe) has the largest connectivity network with the private sector in Peru, including large, medium and small enterprises, involved in export activities. ADEX may be a key entry point to expand an audience sensitive to academic-business type of relations. Initial collaboration with ADEX could be similar to collaboration with CCCP, i.e. on line publication of ADEX magazine in the Portal to be created and combination with an alerting newsletter.

EXPORTAR is a magazine published in Peru that reaches around 10,000 readers, most of them professionals and small to large entrepreneurs in the country. The magazine is of free circulation and is funded through standard commercial advertising. It was expressed also interest for the on line publication of this magazine, in the same way as it was proposed to CCCP and ADEX.

Fundación IDEA (http://www.fundacionidea.edu.bo/) is one the most important private institutions for training in Bolivia. It depends on the Confederación Nacional de Empresarios Privados of Bolivia. IDEA is interested in expanding its presence in Bolivia and to reach agreements with Canadian institutions with experience in citizenship development and training of leaders.

2.11. Conclusions

There is possibility to mobilized the very rich ‘capital’ of these stakeholders through recourse to diverse resources such as:

 - Materials produced by WBI, IADB, and IDRC as well as other agencies like CIDA.
 - WBI and IADB audiences of students and professors.
 - Existing institutional ‘entry points’ to Canadian university and NGOs audiences.
 - Interest indicated by external affairs government agencies in Canada and the South.
 - Existing ‘entry points’ to key government, academic and private sectors in the South (networks,
   associations, publishers).
 - Audiences of private sector publications.

3.    DISTANCE EDUCATION TRAINING COURSES: ASSESSMENT OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND

3.1. Consultation with Experts

A consultation was conducted with the purpose to confirm needs of professional updating on topics of territorial development, identify additional experts, identify the best graduate programs on the topic, and explore potential interest of experts to participate in future project activities. A qualitative sample of experts was made on the base of suggestions from directors of graduate programs members of RIPPET. The following questions were submitted to the sample:

 - Graduate programs on local territorial development are numerous in the region. In contrast, virtual courses
   for professional updating are scarce. Which are the key theoretical, methodological, and instrumental problems
   that require professional updating through virtual short-term courses? In what areas of professional expertise
   should those courses be focused on?

 - Who are other key experts in the region that should be also consulted?

 - What other graduate programs should be contacted in order to explore interest to participate in the production
   of courses, exchanges, and creation of information Canada-Andes-Latin America Portal?

 - Would you be interested to participate?

Results confirmed the idea that, despite the large number of graduate programs and diplomas existing in the region, professional updating was very scarce. There was consensus about the viability to meet this need through use of short-term virtual distance education courses.

It was indicated the importance to contextuate a future project initiative as an action-research project that contributes to knowledge about the ways in which international capacity-building partnerships may enhance the capacity of local development practitioners (from state and local officials to NGOs and community members) to foster healthy development. The action components of the project could lie in the courses, exchanges, portal, etc., that would be organized to increase practical knowledge recognizing that the North can learn from and with the South, as much as the reverse is also true.  It is possible to learn together about ways to increase the effectiveness of local development because despite the linguistic, cultural, economic, and political differences between and within Canada and the Andean region, localities do face challenges that have commonalities in their nature (e.g., how to manage competing interests, and all other how to's, as indicated below), in their provenance (e.g., globalization of trade and pollution), and in their impacts (on social capital, etc.).

More specific suggestions for topics included the following:

a. Theoretical topics:

 - Systems analysis applied to understanding local development: complexity, evolution, and diversification.
 - Knowledge systems and local society.
 - Construction of local social communication systems.
 - Prospective analysis and future scenarios: territorial development in a global world.
 - Power, decentralization, and local development.
 - Strategies and tools to deal with local actors and institutions.
 - New concepts about development and spatial territorial processes.
 - New policy orientations in territorial development.
 - Most recent strategies for promotion of local development.

b. Problem-oriented topics:

 - How to reduce community dependence on external subsidies and markets.
 - How to ensure the community economic development benefits the poorest / neediest members of
   the community.
 - How to ensure culture is not sacrificed to material growth, and perhaps, vice-versa.
 - How to manage conflict between competing local interests, and between competing localities.
 - How to find win-wins among the various communities in a region, and not have community economic
   development in one community impoverish its neighbours.
 - How to plan projects through processes that are simultaneously inclusive (of women, youth, the
   marginalized, etc.), efficient (in time and financial resources employed) and effective (in producing
   technically, financially, feasible projects that meet ‘all’ the community's goals, not just the economic  
   growth goal).
 - How to protect sensitive environmental areas without making things worse for marginalized people already
   living in or near them.
 - How to strengthen solidarity (social capital) through planning processes as well as through the products
   of such processes.
 - How to facilitate communication between highly technical experts such as engineers and socially oriented
   functionaries and   facilitators.
 - How to effectively incorporate local / traditional knowledge into local planning processes.

c. Methodological and instrumental topics:

 - Most recent trends in territorial management (planning, organization, execution, follow-up, and evaluation)
 - Methods for participatory territorial management.
 - Tools for strategizing.
 - Instruments for participatory planning.
 - Participatory budget.
 - Instruments for consensus building, and building public-private sector alliances.
 - Following-up and evaluation indicators.
 - Project preparation and negotiation.
 - Communication techniques and processes.
 - ICTs for teaching-learning processes.

Another opinion regarded the existence of a large amount of materials that could be used for preparation of a series of courses such as manuals in health, fishing, crime management, etc.  A future project could provide an outlet for disseminating the results of CIDA’s considerable investments over the decades in developing capacity-building materials. In the world as a whole – taking all agencies and all countries – there are probably a huge amount of local development manuals that have never been much used. The "gender-training" people have lots of materials, as do the coastal management types, the outcome mapping types, and other IDRC project recipients. The trick is to get them identified, adapted to, and applied in an educational format that can reach practitioners.

Regarding other experts to be approached, a number of names emerged as well as reiterations of names already selected. This was an indication of the goodness of the original sample.

Regarding other graduate programs, it was indicated that there are about a dozen university-level planning schools, and many dozens of other practice-oriented schools at Canadian universities, that could be interested in being participants in a future project as ‘partners’ because they are already doing international capacity-building.  In the case of Latin America, in addition to those identified preliminarily through RIPPET, others programs were suggested. On this base an exploration was undertaken whose results are discussed in section 3.5.

Finally, in relation to interest, seven out of ten experts in the initial consultation indicated interest to participate.

3.2. Latin American and Hispanic Studies Programs

A component of the potential supply of courses could be, no doubt, the Latin American Studies Programs and Hispanic Studies programs existing in Canada. Therefore, an exploration was conducted in order to obtain a more exact idea about the general potential existing at Canadian universities. The sources of data were:AUCC on-line database on institutional cooperation agreements and projects; Information about professors, courses, and project activities in the Andean region, available in the Internet sites of universities; and, Information on projects conducted in the Andean region available in CIDA on-line database.

A total of 35 universities were examined. This information should be taken only as indicative because data sources do not appear to be complete or updated. Canadian expertise in Latin America may be underestimated according to these data. However, some conclusions may be indicated:

 - There are Canadian universities with formal agreements with Andean universities. However,
   agreements are not a condition for conducting joint activities. It was observed that these activities
   take place with or without existence of this sort of agreements. Partnerships do not emerge
   necessarily as a result of formal agreements. 
 - Most projects by Canadian universities in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru were conducted until mid
   1990s. More recent projects  are few. However, it is known that Canadian researchers and
   cooperation volunteers continue visiting these countries.
 - Canadian international consulting companies and NGOs have conducted most recent projects,
   particularly those funded by CIDA. Canadian private sector activities would require a specific
   search. For example, it is know than in Peru Canadian mining and banking companies are expanding
   activities.
 - Information about topics of projects indicates that activities on distance education were very few.
   Emerging interests or topics with a potential for developing partnerships cannot be assessed on the
   base of the information presented.
 - Actually, it is quite difficult to asses what is going on in terms of Canadian activities and interests by
   academic and non- academic sectors in the Andean region, and particularly by the new generation
   of young researchers interested in Andean issues.

3.3. WBI, IADB, and IDRC Courses and Programs

Another component of the potential supply of courses are the large amount of training activities conducted by the WBI and the Inter American Institute for Social Development (INDES-) of IADB, and the stock of research results produced by IDRC research programs. Results of the review were the following:

a. Aspects such as number, location, format, and extension of training programs of the World Bank Institute were
   examined. There is a large number of courses conducted in Latin America. City Management and Urban
   Development, and Governance topics, with a focus on municipal issues, have received large attention by WBI.
   All virtual WBI training programs are much longer than 1-6 weeks. Short courses are given only through local
   seminars following a classroom format.

b. Training programs of INDES were also reviewed and a preliminary consultation with responsible persons was made
   regarding the production of short-term virtual courses.
 
c. Review of IDRC research programs on Ecohealth; Governance, Equity and Health; Forestry; and, Rural Poverty
   and the Environment indicated these programs have a rich stock of research results amenable to a feasible
   development of courses with partner graduate programs in Peru, Bolivia, Uruguay and Chile. Knowledge Systems
   Program and the Institute for Connectivity in the Americas were also examined. Some activities to be included
   in a future project proposal could be supported, or receive substantive advice from the Institute. Discussions
   with IDRC representatives at the Regional Office in Montevideo indicated that there is a positive interest in a
   future project that includes virtual training activities and creation of a Canada-Andes-Latin America Portal. In
   particular, Ecohealth program and the Pan American research initiative present a number of clear opportunities.

3.4. Canadian Universities and Research CentersCentres

The potential offer of courses from Canadian universities and research centres was explored in a preliminary way. Ten experts in topics related to local development were consulted. Their selection was made on a rolling base that started with experts on local development topics. Results are indicated below: Two experts made specific proposals, four indicated interest, two declined due to lack of time, and two did not respond. Although the degree of interest was varied, there are as indications of a potential interest for delivering demonstration courses under a partnership modality.

3.5. Latin American Programs

As in the Canadian side, a similar exploration of potential for delivering courses was made in the Andean region and Latin America. Data on graduate programs on territorial development follows:

Number of Programs by Area of Study   

Urban Management / Development Management  20   
Local and Regional Development    38   
Territorial Management and Development   19   
Total       77 
 
Number of Programs by Country   

Argentina  21, El Salvador 1, Bolivia 2, Guatemala 1, Brazil 5, México 8, Chile 11, Panamá 1, Colombia 10, Perú 5, Costa Rica 1, Uruguay 2, Cuba 3, Venezuela 2, Ecuador 4     

Total      77 

Additionally, a request asking for specific indication of interest to participate in the production of virtual courses was circulated to RIPPET members. Twelve experts from nine programs were consulted. This exploration was complemented with a consultation made to the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in relation to production of virtual courses in health topics, the Universidad Privada Boliviana in relation to mining issues, and the Centro Latinoamericano de Economía Humana (CLAEH). Professors from two programs presented specific proposals for courses and all professors from the other programs indicated interest to participate.

3.6. The Potential Demand

The assessment of potential demand for courses aimed at professional updating was indirect because there are not available data about explicit or open demands. Available diagnoses about the situation of human resources at the higher education level in Bolivia and Peru, and priorities indicated by policy documents were examined.

3.6.1. Peru

The development strategy in Peru gives special attention to local development, which have been translated into legal provisions in order to facilitate local governments and municipalities to promote, attract, and implement private investments. National plans for promotion of exports have targeted as priority sectors: agro-industry, fisheries and aquaculture, mining, textiles and clothing, forestry, tourism, and infrastructure - telecommunications, airports, seaports, energy, and sanitation works. However, a major bottleneck will not be availability of funds but qualified human capital.

A diagnosis of human capital in Peru indicates that qualified human resources are scarce. There are no more than 1,000 Peruvian researches with doctoral degree and 40% of them work outside the country. Professionals and technicians in natural and exact sciences, and engineering and technology are 119,407 with university title, and 117,003 with non-university title. These two groups represent no more than 24% of total human resources with higher education in the country. Peruvian universities have 541 master degree programs and 55 doctoral degree programs, of which 32.3 and 16.4 percent correspond to science and technology specialties. Few of these programs have international competitive quality. Only 10 percent of graduate students are able to complete thesis.

Problems identified for taking advantage of international cooperation in science and technology – and by extension of opportunities that globalization, free trade, and integration might open to the country – are include  (a) lack of no complete and systematic information about sources of cooperation, (b) lack of sufficient cooperation between public and private stakeholders in order to reach international sources, and (c) weak capacity in the national side in terms of funds and qualified specialists as to be able to take advantage of international cooperation and be active interlocutors.

The National Council of Science and Technology (CONCYTEC) has began a program to improve quality in graduate programs in selected natural and exact sciences fields (camelids, aquaculture, materials, medicinal plants, mathematics, and hydric water resources). Currently Peru has active agreements for improving graduate training with France, Spain, China, Mexico and Brazil. However, there is no major activity with Canada despite Peru is one of the few priority countries in Latin America for receiving international Canadian aid.

In relation to connectivity, Peru is a country with very extended facilities to access the Internet. In urban centers the Internet cafes are abundant. Actually, access to Internet at relative low cost and good communication quality is not a problem in the country.

3.6.2. Bolivia

In the case of Bolivia, local development has been a priority since enactment of Popular Participation and Decentralization provisions in the period 1993-2000.  After 2000 local development issues have received more attention through development of participatory budgets prepared for all 327 municipalities in Bolivia and the organization of the National Dialogue. In relation to national development priorities, the current administration is focused in on gas and mineral exports and development of PYMES sector. The creation of special marketing, financing and banking services for these sectorthis sectors is under consideration.

To meet its development priorities Bolivia has serious human resource constraints.  The country has 52 universities, of which 11 are public and account for 80% of the student population. Of the 14,000 professors, 40% were working in public universities. In 2002, there were approximately 4,700 graduates and 300,000 undergraduates studying in the country. Approximately 1,650 individuals worked in the S&T sector, few of them with a doctoral or master’s degree. and another 1,200 had other professional qualifications To date, there is no PhD program in the country. Mexican, Spanish and Cuban universities offer courses leading to PhDs they accord. In this context professional updating and upgrading courses are of particular importance.  However there are few opportunities, most of them reduced to standard M.A. programs and diplomas. These options are too demanding in terms of time and money as to be attractive to professionals working full time. The Universidad Privada Boliviana has attempted short-term courses but reliance on the traditional classroom format has prevented to obtain clear success.

Bolivia has prepared and S&T National Plan to face this situation, which has a program for training, specialization and mobility of professionals. Unfortunately, this Plan has been very difficult to implement because of political interruptions and lack of resources, as it requires some 30 million USD to be put in motion.
 
Regarding connectivity, Bolivia is rapidly updating its Internet access particularly in urban areas. There are more than 15 server providers. However, the supply of virtual education courses is very limited. 

3.7. Conclusions

The potential for the supply of well-targeted courses of high quality and relevance for professional updating on diverse topics related to territorial development exists and it is very significant.

In relation to the substantive content of potential demonstration courses, some topics located clearly within the limits of standard local territorial development issues such as those indicated in section 3.1.2. However, other opportunities for courses also emerged, of more sectoral or disciplinary nature such as ecology and health, mining, non-timber resources, or multicultural issues. To meet the potential demand for updating of professionals working at the local level, will require taking into account that these professionals will continue to work within a sectoral or disciplinary framework. Therefore, the challenge to dealt with the variety of academic, disciplinary, and sectoral interests identified through the consultation process and field visits, is to design courses that will include a ‘local territorial development’ perspective. A typology of courses to be delivered that responds to concepts above follows:

 Courses with general content about local development: theory and practice
 Courses with specific entry points (not mutually exclusive):

 - Human Development. Example: multicultural issues, social services
 - Productive Development. Example: mining, tourism, PYMES’s marketing
 - Social and Institutional Development. Example: information networks
 - Environmental Sustainable Development. Example: ecology and health

Regarding the production of demonstration courses some conclusions may be indicated:
 
- There was concurrence with the idea that graduate programs are abundant but professional updating is scarce
  or non- existing.
- Specific strategic topics for courses may be identified as well as materials, experts, and academic and
  non-academic programs to feed them with standards of very high quality and relevance.
- IDRC-funded research  may be one of the key sources of Canadian knowledge – along with other Canadian
  academic and cooperation programs – for production of demonstration courses.
- There is no open or explicit or formal demand for professional updating courses, perhaps because there is
  no place to formulate it. However, all consultations made and diagnoses and policies reviewed indicate that
  there is a need and a gap to  fill, especially because of the questionable quality and relevance of many
  graduate programs existing in the countries.
- The capacity to get access to Internet and to virtual education courses exists in Bolivia and Peru, at least
  for the case of professionals sectors.

4. CANADA-ANDES PORTAL: FORMAT AND COMPONENTS

4.1. Exploration of Websites

An exploration of 130 websites was conducted previous to design of a prototype for a Canada-Andes-Latin America Portal. The websites were classified according to the following categories: observatories, project’s websites, portals, and institutional websites.

The analysis of the selected websites produced the following findings:

- Regarding websites of projects, an element present in all websites is a brief description of the project
  objectives, institution, participants and collaborators.
- It is not common to find in the websites sections with information about the ‘context’, that is, general
  data about the social, political, and economic situation of the region. Exceptions are portals that work
  explicitly in context analysis applied to the region or that have the region as object of study.
- Most websites present sections about events generally named as ‘events’, ‘agenda’, or ‘news’. In this
  regard, a general deficiency is that this information, although useful for having a general view about what
  happened in the region, has limited practical usefulness.
- Common in all websites is a section on publications. Few websites, however, have services for searching
  materials in the same materials uploaded in the server. There is not a virtual library that may give a general
  view about Canadian or Latin American sources of knowledge that may stimulate cooperation.
- It is normal in Canadian and Latin American websites related to higher education the existence of a guide
  about courses, instructions about how to apply, and calls for application to scholarships. Not much material
  was found aimed at North American or European students interested in Latin America.
- Some websites include employment opportunity sections for Canadian or Latin American academics,
  professionals or students interested in a practical experience (internships or scholarship programs).
- Only 14 of the  examined websites have discussion forums opened to visitors, which is a limitation to
  interaction with new participants and potential collaborators.
- A very small proportion of websites (5 out of 130) has a platform of distance education for delivery of updating
  and specialization programs or courses. Some of them are ‘bridges’ to programs with origin outside the region,
  particularly Spain.

4.2. Conclusions

- Information is usually organized according to institutional objectives or program areas, not by regional
  relevance.
- It is very difficult to find a portal that facilitates a general vision about Canada or Latin America with information
  about specific areas and a complete repository.
- A portal that systematizes and organizes links for searching by country and topic is absent.
- The general trend is to fill the initial page with excessive information, which makes exploration difficult.
- Another trend is to enclose information in frames aimed at maintaining a clear visual division of the information,
  but which takes ‘room’ out of the website making reading difficult.
- Most websites that work with distance education services have for-profit objectives. This is a limitation for the
  emerging of open learning communities.

4.3. A prototype for a Canada-Andes-Latin America Portal

4.3.1. General characteristics

Findings and conclusions from exploration of websites in Canada and Latin America indicate that a niche for a Canada-Andes-Latin America Portal exists. Such a Portal should have the following elements:

a. General objective: provision of information about Canadian sources of knowledge that may be relevant for
   development of the Andes and Latin America, including academic, professional non-academic, and private
   sector sources.

b. Specific objectives:

- Information about current or future activities to be conducted by Canadian academic, government, professional,
  or entrepreneurial institutions and similar organizations in the region and the Andes in particular.
- Information about current and future activities of Latin American networks and graduate programs, research
  centres, and private sector business groups or associations that may be of interest to Canadian audiences.
- Information on opportunities for on-line courses and professional exchanges for both Canadians and Latin
  Americans.
- Information on Canadian sources of knowledge available on line.

c. Target audiences in Canada and Latin America: academics, researchers, professionals, entrepreneurs,
   operators of cooperation programs, and government officials.

4.3.2. Technical Characteristics

a. The Portal should have an introductory page with a description of the information areas in Spanish, English  
   and French. Pages in the interior should have all descriptors in those languages; however, materials should
   be in original language in order to avoid publication delays and costs due to translation.
 
b. The Portal should cover topics that will be the focus for demonstration courses and exchanges. A recommended
   structure  follows:

- General activity fields: general information, cooperation programs, collaboration and exchanges, projects,
  and publications and resources.
- Professional training: training activities for professional updating, on-line training opportunities, discussions
  forums, and exchange opportunities.
- Target audiences: students, academics and researchers, professionals and technicians, entrepreneurs and
  investors.
- Topics of substantive concentration. For example local development planning, health and the environment,
  commerce, etc.
- Guides of procedures for associating with Canadian institutions, how to find partners, Canadians looking for
  opportunities in Latin America, etc.

c. The section on training activities should include a bridge towards the demonstration courses.

d. The section on target audiences should direct to pages that present the information included in the Portal
   re-arranged to fit interests of each target audience. A similar procedure is recommended for the section on
   topics of substantive concentration.

e. It is recommended to circulate an ‘alerting newsletter’ in order to announce timely information that is published
   in the Portal.

4.4. Sustainability

The Portal will need to be subsidized initially with donor grants, as CEBEM does not have enough institutional resources. During this initial operation, other support modalities may be explored:

- Association with Canadian institutions that may contribute funding.
- Cost recovery through sale of documents and access to data banks.
- Commercial advertising and / or collection on the base of the flow of visits to published commercial links.

5. CANADA-ANDES EXCHANGES

5.1. Exploration of Canadian Professional Organizations.

An assessment of the viability of self-financed and self-sustaining exchanges supported by a community-based infrastructure, for professionals, businesspersons, academics, and policy makers interested in professional updating, market explorations, or technology transfer, was conducted.  The focus was on non-academic organizations and  non-academic training.
  
The exploration was motivated by the increasing importance globally of lifelong learning and of occupational qualifications that are portable. Training which meets recognized standards is increasingly important. With global production and marketing standards, global concerns for health, social justice and ecological responsibility, and with high levels of international labour mobility, reciprocal recognition of training standards and credentialing of prior learning can be vital determinants of success – both for individuals and for enterprises and organizations involved in territorial development. But in areas where trade and collaboration is historically low, as is the Canada-Andes relationship, institutional collaboration and reciprocal collaboration requires stimulation. 

After various consultations, including CIDA officials active in the region, regarding the range of possible occupations and professions which could be included under the rubric of “local territorial development” it was decided to contact a small sample of organizations which:

- Enjoyed a high level of credibility in Canada.
- Had substantial resources.
- Had substantial experience in providing training and/or had resources to offer in relation to local territorial
  development.
- As a group would not fall into a narrow specialization, but would reflect a broad variety of occupations or
  training interests.

It should be noted that every organization contacted reported that they had no involvement in the Andean region.  After thorough discussions and exploration all organizations indicated an interest to look further into collaboration with Andean partners. The organizations contacted were:

a. The Certified General Accountants’ Association of Canada. (CGAAC).
b. Le Centre Administration, Commerce et Secrétariat (CACS).
c. CANMET Energy Technology Centre (CETC).
d. International Centre for Prevention of Crime (ICPC).
e. Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW).
f. Equiterre.
g. National Press Club.

It can be concluded that there exists a potential for Canadian professions and related institutions to become involved given the diversity of their interests and the positive nature of their responses, despite that each organization approached the question of exchanges with the Andean region cautiously. Several training programs and courses were identified that could be offered through the CEBEM platform, or could be developed and offered in partnership with counterpart organizations. Some programs are ready to go. Others would need translation and adaptation. Some would need to be specifically developed. 

5.2. Exploration of Interests from Counterparts in Bolivia and Peru

A field trip was organized in order to explore the interests of Andean institutions for being counterparts to some of the nine Canadians institutions initially selected for exchange purposes. The following institutions were visited:

 
INSTITUTIONS SELECTED IN CANADA & POTENTIAL COUNTERPARTS IN THE ANDES   

- Certified General Accountants’ Association of Canada (CGAAC) & - Colegio de Contadores Públicos
  de Lima   
- Centre Administration, Commerce et Secrétariat (CACS) & Universidad Femenina del Sagrado Corazón.
  Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación. Adult Education.
- CANMET Energy Technology Centre (CETC) & Concejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONCYTEC
  – Perú) / Concejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT – Bolivia)
- International Centre for Prevention of Crime (ICPC) & Instituto de Defensa Legal (IDL)
- Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW) & Universidad Nacional de San Marcos – Escuela de
  Trabajo Social / Colegio Nacional de Trabajadoras Sociales de Bolivia 

In the field of accounting, the Junta de Decanos de Colegios de Contadores Públicos del Perú and the Colegio de Contadores Públicos de Lima (CCPL) were approached (www.ccpl.org.pe / www.jdccpp.org). CCPL may be an ideal partner for participation in virtual distance education courses, and exchanges with similar organizations in Canada. On the other hand, JDCCPP covers all the country, which would facilitate to obtain a very significant impact if partnerships could be established. Interest was indicated to established contact with Canadian counterparts. 

The Faculty of Education Sciences at the Universidad Femenina del Sagrado Corazón was visited in order to enquire about the best way to approach institutions working on adult education in Peru. Regarding adult education, existing courses are scattered and no systematic. Some priority topics for adult education courses are health habits and practices, training on entrepreneurial skills, training on how ton take advantage of opportunities to be opened by the Free Trade Agreement with the USA, improvement of export agricultural products, conflict resolution in mining areas, and citizenship development. It was suggested to contact the Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Capacitación de Telecomunicaciones (INTELC) www.inictel.gob.pe, and the Direction of Adult Education of the Ministry of Education. It was commented that distance education does not count with good credibility despite massive efforts for its expansion.

The case of CONCYTEC in Peru has been commented in section 2.7. This institution is one of the best options to discuss partnerships for exchanges with Canadian institutions. They not only already know quite well Canadian cooperation possibilities but also may have some resources to contribute to a self-sustainable program. The case of CONACYT in Bolivia is precarious and it is difficult to imagine attempting an experimental exchange program with them. A better strategy would be to start with CONCYTEC and to involve CONACYT later on.

The Instituto de Defensa Civil (IDL) (www.idl.org.pe) is discussing development of new topics related to citizenship development. IDL uses virtual media means to communicate with its audiences but it has not developed virtual distance education courses in a systematic way. The possibility was discussed to develop some virtual courses on topics of human rights, as there are materials produced by Canadian universities that may serve for this type of courses. IDL could be an excellent partner for Canada-Andes training and exchange activities on topics related to citizenship development and safe community programs.

Regarding social work, in general terms the situation appears to be quite weak in institutional terms, particularly in Peru. At a meeting with the coordinator of the Escuela de Trabajo Social of the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (http://sociales.unmsm.edu.pe/), there was expression of interest in professional updating of social workers. However, the current division in the profession between two competing associations makes difficult to find a reliable interlocutor.  This is really unfortunate because there are several universities that give training in social work. The Association of Social Workers in Bolivia works on a shoestring. They are a union with 1,600 members in nine departments and work with the poor in health, education, etc. They have some training courses in management but these are short due to lack of funds. They are developing a semi-distance diploma course of 250 hours on community health, family health, child health and geriatric health. The Social Workers’ association has teachers for the courses and would love them to go to Canada to gain some Canadian experience.

5.3. Feasibility of an Exchange Program

The exploration in Canada and the field trip to Bolivia and Peru indicate that an exchange program aimed at partnerships is feasible. The experiment could be organized with CANMET and CONCYTEC, with the later addition of CONACYT, and the Certified General Accountants’ Association of Canada (CGAAC) and the Colegio de Contadores Públicos de Lima, later on inviting the similar Bolivian association.

6. A STRATEGY FOR ON-LINE COST RECOVERY

A small study was conducted in order to identify and assess modalities for on-line cost recovery corresponding to delivery of courses; sale of publications and documents; and access to data basis. The study was focused on the Bolivian financial system – eleven institutions were examined – and some key international financial services. The recommendations mentioned below are based on a cost-benefit analysis for the potential sender person and the receiving institution.

6.1. Receipt of Payments from Foreign Countries

The financial Bolivian system, made up of banks and financial funds, counts on the support of varied financial agencies in the exterior in order to receive payments on line. However this service is not recommended because of operational costs for the sender person and receiving institution. Current technology permits to make payments on line in real time by using bank accounts, credit cards, and other payments systems. However, this option is not available at the short term because the Bolivian banking system does not count with the technology to support it.

Paypal is a system used to make payments in Bolivia. Institutions that use this system are mainly export enterprises that make payments over US 60,000 monthly. Under this circumstance the system is beneficial. Considering its advantages for on line payments, this option is recommendable at the medium to long term.

The financial Bolivian system accepts payments of personal money orders through diverse systems. One of them is Western Union in Bolivia with agencies across Bolivia. Perhaps this is the most recommendable option for sending and receiving payments given that its costs are lower than those of other systems.

6.2. Receipt of Payments from Inside Bolivia

The Bolivian financial systems count on several systems to conduct payments on line. However, this system is available to clients of some banks only or to corporations. Therefore, this modality is not considered as an option.  It is recommendable the use of payments through deposits in an account at Banco Mercantil, Banco de Crédito or Banco Nacional. Operational costs are almost none for the user, but the institution has to pay for maintenance cost of an account and taxes.  More recommendable is the use of accounts at Banco Los Andes, Procredit or Bancosol because their costs of maintenance are none. In the case of users in the interior, the most recommendable system is money orders through services like PRODEM or Western Union Bolivia. Operational cost is 3 percent per remittance in the last case.

6.3. Conclusion

The analysis conducted actually does not indicate there is an easy way to make payments on line from abroad to the South. The situation in other countries of the region is not much different than in Bolivia. One option, not mentioned, is to create a subsidiary centre of CEBEM in the North. This might be possible to be done if the appropriate legal agreements are established between a resident person or institution in the North – therefore with a capacity to open the subsidiary company and corresponding bank account – and CEBEM. This option will be further explored in the near future.  

7. CONCLUSIONS

7.1. General Comments

The results of this pilot project indicate that it is possible to produce more than one feasible proposal for undertaking innovative Canada-South partnerships on the base of training, information, and exchanges activities. There are enough resources and, specially, there is a will to do it by part of several institutions and experts in Canada and the South, particularly in Bolivia and Peru. From a more substantive perspective, during the project development two emphases emerged regarding possible project orientations, the first one being preferred by the Advocate Institute, and the second by CEBEM.

7.2. AI’s Approach: Emphasis on a Partnership Exchange Program

It would be useful to organize a form of ‘educational + institutional mission’   – a group of Canadian professionals, representing some of the organizations identified – to undertake a short-term visit and a preparatory course produced in partnership. The course would focus on Andean culture, society and economy, the opportunities that may be explored specifically, and how to put together institutional resources (It would require some basic preparatory work in language). The mission could include professionals from diverse disciplines working in the selected institution(s). This type of team would ensure to have focus without losing a multidisciplinary approach. During the trip, the professionals would have an opportunity to meet with counterpart professionals in the Andean region, to share information on work challenges, training issues, and discuss collaboration on the base of a well identified agenda. These participants would receive accreditation from their own professions for the educational value of their experience. They would prepare a report on their return, and in so doing would suggest how partnerships specific to their area of interest may be experimented. They would also on return, help to prepare their organizations to receive a similar visit from the Andean counterparts.

For the first such events, a subsidy will be necessary. Subsequent events could be more self-supporting. It could be that the return visits from the Andean region would require continuing subsidies, but once established, funding contributions from organizations and institutions could not be too difficult. These exchanges could be organized once a year. These exchanges should also lead to other kinds of collaboration and spin-off partnerships. CEBEM is in a good position to be part of, and possibly coordinate the course, and help in identifying other organizations or institutions to be involved. AI will prepare a proposal as soon as current negotiations are completed with the institutions identified in the exploration.

7.3. CEBEM’s Approach: Emphasis ona Partnership Training and Information Program

In this case the guiding ideas are the following:

- An approach to partnerships based on the innovation and building of knowledge systems aimed at mutual
  learning – and with a strong reliance on a constructivist approach for distance education and knowledge
  dissemination.
- The use of the stock of knowledge, graduate programs, courses, and research programs existing in
  Canada and Latin America that deal with specific topics relevant to local territorial development.
- An emphasis on the gathering, sharing and dissemination of information about academic and non academic,
  private and public resources available in Canada and the countries, as there is a critical mutual lack of enough
  knowledge about existing knowledge sources and the local realities.
- Search of self-sustainable partnerships to be pursued through a combination of (a) short term virtual courses
  for professional upgrading provided by experts from both sides (including the training of professors and tutors if
  they are not familiar with the methodology), and (b) a Portal on the Internet for information, promotion, and
  dissemination purposes. Exchanges could be included but in a very limited number.

On the base of results obtained through the pilot project and the guiding ideas mentioned above, CEBEM has prepared a proposal to be submitted to consideration of IDRC and other donor agencies.