Popular consultations and democracy vis-à-vis environmental peace

Popular consultations are a mechanism activated by municipalities in order to influence decisions regarding what happens in the territories, the relationships between communities, the environment, and development models. In recent years and vis-à-vis the transformation of the political scenario, the constitutional court has generated great contradictions regarding the jurisprudence it had previously issued. As such, we must set out questions regarding the meaning of this transformation in a country where nature has served as war booty, and where –supposedly- there is a willingness to advance towards a phase of post-conflict.

Bearing this background in mind, the present study proposes to explore the effects of the transformation of popular consultations in relation to territorial and environmental peace, as well as alternatives for participation sought by communities regarding the institutional blockade of consultations. The study aims to define environmental peace and its relationship with democratisation/participation, as well to analyse the effects of the modifications made to the public policy on popular consultations in the territories where they were blocked. Finally, it aims to identify possible alternatives to the binding participation in decisions on the territories, vis-à-vis the changes in the public policy on participation in environmental topics.

The primary material for this analysis will be constituted by the experiences of the different groups and communities that implemented popular consultations under institutional regulations and autonomous consultations, as well as the experiences of those who activated the mechanism but were not able to implement it due to the barriers placed by the state at different scales.