About Us
Welcome to the German Colombian Peace Institute – CAPAZ
Centre of Excellence in Research and Teaching
The German Colombian Peace Institute – CAPAZ, a Centre of Excellence in Research and Teaching, is a cooperation platform operating in Germany and Colombia and financed by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), with funds provided by the German Federal Foreign Office. The Institute stimulates the exchange of experiences and knowledge on peacebuilding through the creation of networks between universities, research centres, civil society organisations, and governmental entities that act in the territorial arena. CAPAZ supports research, teaching, and advisory activities that create new approaches to understanding peace and conflict, transmit knowledge to society, and provide responses to the multiple challenges of a society in transition.
Brochure (English) / Folleto institucional (Español) / Broschüre (Deutsch)
Vision
“Instituto CAPAZ is a cooperation platform involving Colombia and Germany, promoting the exchange of knowledge and experience in topics related to peace building, through the formation of networks between universities, research centres, civil society organisations and governmental entities, whose actions focus on the territorial area. The consolidation of such networks allows interdisciplinary academic analysis, reflection, and debate on the lessons of the past and the challenges of sustainable peace building. CAPAZ promotes research activities, teaching and consultancy, allowing new approaches to understanding peace and conflict, which transmit knowledge to society and set out answers to the multiple challenges inherent to a society in transition”.
CAPAZ Members
According to the Governance Statutes, CAPAZ has three types of membership: founding members, associate members and project partners.
The Founding Members include those German and Colombian universities and research centres that signed the necessary cooperation agreements for the creation of Instituto CAPAZ, according to the call opened by DAAD in 2016.
The Associate Members are other universities and research institutions from Colombia and Germany that demonstrate their research capacity on issues of peace and conflict. They may propose new projects and activities, present candidates to project partners and, through the vote of their representatives on the Governing Board make decisions regarding the scientific programme, among others.
The Project Partners are universities, research centres, government institutions, civil society and other types of organisations that work together with the founding and associate members to carry out a time-limited project that contributes to Instituto CAPAZ goals.
Founding Members
Justus Liebig University – Coordinator of the German consortium and legal representative before DAAD (Gießen – Germany)
Universidad Nacional de Colombia – Coordinator of the Colombian consortium (Bogota – Colombia)
Georg-August-Universität (Göttingen – Germany)
Universidad Externado de Colombia (Bogota – Colombia)
Freie Universität Berlin (Berlin – Germany)
Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Bogota – Colombia)
Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (Frankfurt – Germany)
Universidad de los Andes (Bogota – Colombia)
Albert Ludwigs Universität (Freiburg – Germany)
Universidad del Rosario (Bogota – Colombia)
Associate Members
Universidad de Antioquia (Medellín – Antioquia)
Universidad de Caldas (Manizales – Caldas)
Universidad del Cauca (Popayán – Cauca)
Universidad de Ibagué (Ibagué – Tolima)
Universidad Industrial de Santander (Bucaramanga – Santander)
Universidad de Medellín (Medellín – Antioquia)
Universidad del Norte (Barranquilla – Atlántico)
Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana (Medellín – Antioquia)
Universität Erfurt (Erfurt – Thüringen)
Katholische Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt (Eichstätt – Bayern)
Universidad del Atlántico (Barranquilla – Colombia)
Universidad Autónoma de Bucaramanga (Bucaramanga – Colombia)
Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main (Frankfurt – Germany)
Phillips Universität-Marburg (Marburg – Germany)
Universität Leipzig (Leipzig – Germany)
CAPAZ in Colombian Territories
Objectives
Connections between research, teaching, and consultancy
We are unique in connecting research, teaching, and consultancy in the context of the peace process and the changing situation of the post-conflict period in Colombia.
Contributions from the experiences of Colombia and Germany
Our contribution is based on the knowledge we have on Colombia, with an emphasis on the experiences and challenges in the regions most severely affected by the armed conflict. This work will be enriched by the lessons learnt from Germany and framed within a broad international debate.
Networking
As a platform for the identification and exchange of skills, we support knowledge transfer, training, and academic cooperation within networks involving people and institutions.
Projection based on interdisciplinary academic work
Founded within an interdisciplinary context, we seek to contribute to the supply of academic structures and the projection of knowledge with practical effects. This includes the participation of academics, actors from civil society organisations, State institutions, and other relevant entities.
Focusing on Colombia’s regions
We make every effort to enable access to training activities, study, and research for existing academic communities and for those that are more isolated, especially in Colombian regions which have been devastated by the armed conflict. The CAPAZ Institute therefore promotes better knowledge distribution and the multiplication and development of capacities.