From protesting to proposing: the evolution of community organizations’ involvement in co-managing disaster risk management in Comuna 8, Medellín, Colombia

Co-production in urban shaping can future-proof emergent neighbourhoods against disasters and help them adapt to climate change. But to be effective, co-production processes need to understand and work with the complexities on the ground, drawing on a “dialogue of knowledges” among civil society, the state and academia. This paper reflects on 10 years of work in Comuna 8, Medellín, where disaster risk management (DRM) has become a key driver of community mobilization. It traces the evolution of a uniquely continuous sequence of participatory action-research projects around DRM in self-built neighbourhoods involving all these actors, linking community activism, scientific knowledge and policymaking. It highlights the diversity and capacities of community organizations and other actors that support them and how their interactions with state actors have evolved. It also demonstrates the emergence of an integrated approach to DRM and climate change adaptation from a bottom-up understanding of the complexities of place.