Voces tejedoras de paz.

Abstract

Voces Tejedoras de Paz (Voices Weaving Peace) is a multimedia product developed within the framework of the Specialization in Multimedia Management and Digital Communication at Santo Tomás University, which aims to document and disseminate academic materials, experiences, and results obtained in the knowledge-building processes led by Santo Tomás University for journalists from peace radio stations. This project takes the form of a digital platform that seeks to establish itself as a space for meeting, learning, and collective peacebuilding in Colombia, articulating communication, creativity, and collaboration between journalists, academics, and communities. The initiative arises in response to the need to systematize and make visible the training and communication experiences developed since 2019 by the Santo Tomás University. Although peace radio stations represent a unique experience worldwide, their academic monitoring has been limited, focusing mainly on compliance indicators. Therefore, this project proposes a unified documentary review that collects lessons learned, narratives, and perceptions from journalists and related communities, contributing to the generation of knowledge and the social appropriation of the peacebuilding process through communication. The research underpinning this development has a documentary approach and descriptive scope, aimed at characterizing the pedagogical, communicative, and social processes of peace radio stations. Using a phased methodology, the project addressed the diagnosis of the target audience, the collection and analysis of academic materials, the UX/UI design of the platform, and the construction of audio, visual, and interactive content. The result is a narrative and immersive microsite, structured in modules that allow users to explore the training process and the experiences of journalists, access academic materials, listen to podcasts, explore a documentary gallery, and participate in collaborative spaces such as “Deja tu retazo” (Leave your piece) and “En sintonía con Mary” (In tune with Mary). The figure of Mary, a narrative character and virtual companion, symbolizes the voice of the journalists who weave memory and peace from the territories. With an estimated investment of $300,000,000, Voces Tejedoras de Paz is projected as an academic and communicative reference tool that, beyond being a repository, is configured as a living, dynamic, and participatory memory platform. In line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 16 and 17), this project contributes to the construction of more just, peaceful, and collaborative societies by promoting the right to communication and strengthening local capacities. Finally, the platform sets an academic and multimedia precedent for the documentation of peace processes, allowing for its continuous updating and territorial expansion. In this sense, it is hoped that Voces Tejedoras de Paz will become a replicable model for training, communication for peace, and the systematization of experiences in Latin America.