Planning for development in the 60 years of ILPES

In the twenty-first century, the Latin American and Caribbean region strives to accelerate its development. At the turn of the millennium, Latin American and Caribbean governments and societies aspired to a different kind of development, no longer focused almost exclusively on economic growth, but encompassing the spectrum of sustainable development, valuing the environment, and based on economic and social rights. Since the turn of the millennium, planning has once again become a priority on national agendas. In line with a rapidly evolving region, a more modern and participatory planning was sought; one that considered the long run and the construction of a country vision, with the aim of achieving greater equality in societies, with the central themes of coordination between levels and sectors of government, public-private articulation, and the monitoring and evaluation of the efficiency and effectiveness of public management. In this context, modern planning also incorporates the spatial dimension, the recognition of development disparities within countries and the need to reduce these gaps, which sometimes exceed the average gaps at the national level.

ILPES accompanied national and subnational governments during this period to strengthen their management systems and make them more efficient, to strengthen the capacities of their corps, to review government strategies, to generate country vision and reduce territorial disparities and rebuild planning, budgeting, evaluation, and public investment systems. In this way, ILPES contributed to improving economic and social planning and public management by generating spaces for horizontal cooperation and networks for the exchange of experiences among its member countries.

During this period, ILPES provided training courses on specialized subjects through short courses that were not usually covered in the programmes of academic centres in Latin America and the Caribbean, derived from ECLAC research as a whole and from the systematization of knowledge from the countries and from the institution itself. The courses combined theory with practice and their teaching methodology was that of "learning by doing", combined with the transmission of knowledge and the development of competencies and capacities.

During this period, the number of courses offered by the Institute increased and a gradual process of testing and implementing distance education courses began. By the end of the period, ILPES was offering between 7 and 8 e-learning courses per year.

The participants in the training programmes were mainly from the public sector, although the courses also involved teaching staff from universities or academic centres in Latin America and the Caribbean as well as people from the private sector and civil society institutions.