Bridging Research and Practice to Influence National Policy: Afro-Colombians Territorial Rights, from Stagnation to Implementation

This article discusses strategies to bridge research and practice in knowledge co-production in order to influence public policy implementation. It analyses a long-lasting alliance between the Afro-Colombian movement, academia and international organisations, triggering the Government's commitment to nationwide formalisation of collective territories. By combining collaborative and cartographic research, with historical and legal analysis through purposeful political advocacy, the Allies demonstrated the vulnerability of 271 untitled community lands within a socio-territorial conflict context, emerging from competition and control over land and natural resources. This strategic alliance brought Law 70/1993 from stagnation to implementation.