In continuation of the Forum on Regional Governance-Lessons Learnt from Integrated Regional Development Experiences in Colombia, held in Bogotá in May 2008, a second forum on the theme was held in Medellín, Colombia. While the first forum was centered on the discussion of the Bogotá-Cundinamarca regional experience, this second forum was focused on the experience of the region constituted by the City of Medellín, the State of Antioquia, and the Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Aburrá. The initiative is developed under the leadership of the "Tripartite Commission" an initiative created to support and promote collaborative action between the entities for poverty reduction, and to address social, economic, environmental problems that cannot be efficiently addressed individually by the territorial entities.

The event was initiated with the signature of an agreement by the Mayor of Medellín, the Governor of Antioquia and the Director of the Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Aburra who took office in January 2008, which ratified their political will to work in collaboration to promote the integrated development of their region, in continuation of the programme initiated in 2004, supported by UNCRD-LAC. In this opportunity, the coordinator of UNCRD-LAC was invited to witness the confirmation of the agreement, and to lead the forum's discussions.

The first part of the forum allowed the exchange of experiences between the three regions: the Medellín-Antioquia Region, the Bogotá-Cundinamarca Region, and the Metropolitan Region of the Colombian Caribbean Coast. The presentation of the experiences was followed by comments from a panel of four recognized Colombian experts. Emphasis was made on the institutional frameworks supporting the initiatives and in regional governance challenges. Discussions highlighted the need for capacity development in the variety of regional stakeholders to work in collaboration in the themes of territorial management, reduction of regional disparities and social inclusion. Several factors influencing institutional capacity were emphasized such as: (i) the flexibility of the political, legal, and normative environment to encourage innovation and joint investments in a territory; (ii) managerial approaches and strategic leadership to build trust in governments and citizens; (iii) fiscal capacity to finance programmes and projects; (iv) organizational and technical capacities and the use of information systems for development planning; (v) the efficacy of institutional arrangements.