In many communities in Guatemala, migration has for years been one of the main options in the face of a lack of opportunities. However, in San Marcos and Palestina de Los Altos, a different vision is beginning to take shape: promoting conditions that enable people to thrive in their own territories.
The PERSPECTIVAS project, in coordination with the municipalities of both towns, drives actions aimed at strengthening social infrastructure for returned migrants, young people and host communities, championing community rootedness as a key factor in promoting local alternatives.
Beyond improving physical spaces, the initiative seeks to build environments that facilitate access to opportunities, foster local development and strengthen the possibility of building life projects on home ground.
The vision for these spaces is being designed in a participatory manner from the ground up, through community consultations, technical meetings and dialogue with local leaders, key stakeholders and authorities. This process made it possible to identify priority needs and jointly define the purpose of the centres as accessible spaces for training, career guidance and the creation of opportunities.
As a result, and following a technical evaluation, cooperation agreements were signed with the municipalities of San Marcos and Palestina de Los Altos to begin constructing these spaces dedicated to development and community rootedness.
The initiative is based on a co-responsibility model, in which the municipalities contribute 20% of the investment and the project the remaining 80%, thereby strengthening sustainability and local ownership in the near term.
These spaces are conceived as coordination hubs that bring together training, employability, entrepreneurship and support services, helping to broaden opportunities in the territory and strengthen local development.
Investing in community infrastructure that is designed in a participatory way and close to the people strengthens local ownership, the social fabric and the creation of opportunities, especially for vulnerable populations.
Along these lines, the project promotes a replicable model in which these spaces function as nodes connecting training, employment, entrepreneurship and support, bringing concrete solutions closer to communities.
In departments such as San Marcos and Quetzaltenango, where migration is part of the territorial dynamic, strengthening community rootedness is emerging as a key strategy for broadening local opportunities in a sustainable way.
Within this framework, PERSPECTIVAS promotes spaces that bring together technical training, career guidance, entrepreneurship support, psychosocial care and links to economic opportunities, facilitating a coordinated response from within the territory.
Beyond access to services, these spaces help create conditions for individual and collective development, reinforcing confidence in local capacities and building environments where people can envision their future.
In this way, the project promotes a people-centred approach to territorial development, where social infrastructure acts as an enabler of opportunities and a driver of sustainable community growth.
PERSPECTIVAS is a project funded by German Cooperation through the German Development Bank (KfW), implemented by the Secretariat for Central American Social Integration (SISCA) with the support of Swisscontact within the framework of the alliance between the Federal Republic of Germany and the SICA region.