The cultural development of the province is an important component in promoting the diversity, heritage, values ​​and well-being of the region through healthy cultural habits. In a country with many neglected needs, the culture and arts sector is one of the hardest hit and forgotten.

There are priorities such as: reduction of unemployment, underemployment, implementation of social security, implementation of real decentralization, improvement of networking in cultural management processes, promotion of continuous training, completion of events and isolated projects, promotion of qualitative research (behavior, identity of ethnic groups), implementation of cultural activities in rural areas and maintain cultural infrastructure, among others. This is where the provincial cultural plan becomes important. From my administration in the House of Culture, the core of Guayas, we started with “Guayas en Movimiento”, a pilot program that will enable the development of cultural policies that deal with identified needs and establish a framework of support for culture and the arts, in alliance with the Prefecture.

It is important to emphasize that this program is based on conducted research and this enables its phased implementation. In the initial phase, a situational diagnosis was carried out through a work methodology that enabled us to create an index of cultural management and cartography of the province with the identification of the cultural needs of the community, including areas for improving cultural accessibility, art education and promotion of local culture.

Strategic planning is also proposed, which includes defining the goals of provincial cultural development, such as the promotion of artistic creativity and the promotion of cultural inclusion with promotion lines in favor of local artists and managers. This program consists of four projects that will empower citizens through art and culture, improving their quality of life through healthy cultural practices that eradicate machismo, inequality and violence, while strengthening cultural rights. , will enable the development of soft skills in children and young people with sustainable processes of artistic improvement and prevention of addiction and violence.

In addition, community participation will take a leading role, as will the organization of cultural events that celebrate the cultural diversity of the province. Its projection includes the decentralization of cultural processes, such as evaluation and monitoring with performance indicators to assess the progress and impact of initiatives, such as strengthening non-formal arts education that will promote understanding and appreciation of local culture. Periodic evaluations will be conducted to adapt and improve the plan.

I believe that this program will help in the development of strategies to prevent and alleviate the problem of violence in our province.at a time when we need more art and culture and less weapons. (OR)