Date:	16 - 18 July 2003

In order to discuss the lessons learned and the activities undertaken during Phase 1 of its research project on Human Security and Regional Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, the LAC Office organized a Forum and Expert Workshop on 16-18 July 2003. Around eighty participants, from Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Guatemala, and Peru took part in the 16 July Forum, during which the research report book was disseminated among central, regional, and local government officials, academicians, and international experts in human security and distance learning.

The Expert Workshop discussed the specific contents and activities of a distance learning programme based on the output of the action research; and defined the necessary inputs, commitments, and arrangements for the programme's implementation. The workshop agreed in principle on the implementation of Phase 2 of the project through an education/training programme oriented to attaining tangible goals of human security, within the modality of e-learning and face-to-face training. For this purpose, the ten participants, representing governmental and development institutions from the Regions of Bogota-Cundinamarca in Colombia, Metropolitan Santiago and Bio-Bio in Chile, Cordoba and Buenos Aires in Argentina, and from Guatemala, agreed on collaboration in the organization and implementation of the programme during the next three years. The main contents of the agreements were as follows.

• The University Blas Pascal of Cordoba will support UNCRD in the organization and execution of the e-learning component in the four regions where actual training events will take place, in coordination with the thematic boards created by the institutions of each region. The programme's content will be the cases analysed in Phase 1 of the project and the research findings, plus other cases added during Phase 2.
• The programme should be oriented to train managers and trainers on regional and urban development in order achieve a multiplier effect.
• The regional institutions will be responsible of supporting and funding training and technical assistance projects in their regions. These institutions will be an integral part of the programme that will operate as a Latin American Network of "learning communities" and horizontal cooperation, via Internet and face-to-face workshops.
• The duration of the training courses should be approximately three months of e-learning, with face-to-face workshops at the beginning and conclusions of the courses. The courses will be self-financed through tuition fees that will be partially funded by the regional institutions associated with UNCRD-LAC.
• The regional institutions of Chile and Argentina associated with the programme suggested considering the option of making an agreement with Chilean universities interested in supporting and funding the initial stage of the programme, including the implementation of a Pilot Module.