Construction of the New Cartagena Naval Base in Tierrabomba: Environmental Governance and Citizen Participation

Abstract

The construction of a new navy base on the island of Tierrabomba, on the bay of Cartagena, has created social tensions between the community and the institutions responsible for the project. This is due to the low participation perceived by the community in planning the objectives of the project and its fears about the social, environmental and cultural changes that it will undergo as a result of the new facilities. The purpose of this paper is to develop a proposal for the interaction between institutions and community to facilitate the participation of the latter in the planning and execution of the project, under the conceptual foundations of environmental governance and community perceptions. Our premise is that any plan to promote sustainable human development in a community must do so through governance and community inclusion, generating agreements through a dialogue between those involved.