55 In this landscape, Colombia has committed to reducing its GHG emissions by 51% by 2030 (Government of Colombia, 2021). Although the country contributes only 0.57% of global emissions, World Bank estimates indicate that the transition to a low-carbon economy will represent a cost of approximately USD 92 billion by 2050 (World Bank Group, 2023). In parallel, projections indicate a 20% drop in national coal production, linked to a potential loss of 10% in export revenues and 6% in government revenues (World Bank, 2024). Within this architecture, the department of El Cesar concentrates 53.8% of national coal production (National Mining Agency [ANM], 2023). Regional economic dependence is significant: royalties derived from this mineral accounted for 35% of the department's total fiscal revenues in the last decade (Herrera et al., 2019). This productive model coexists with critical social indicators, where food insecurity affects 36.7% of the department's population, highlighting the fragility of social protection networks (Furnaro & Yanguas-Parra, 2022). In this scenario, the decline in extractive activity is identified as a determining factor for the socioeconomic stability of the territory. The current state of the transition in the territory is marked by the abrupt cessation of operations by the Prodeco Group in 2021, derived from the resignation of its mining titles. This event resulted in the loss of 4,500 direct jobs and affected approximately 15,000 people linked to the service chain indirectly (DANE, 2024; Cardona, 2024). Likewise, the withdrawal left the execution of environmental liabilities and forestry compensation plans in the Serranía del Perijá in a follow-up phase, highlighting the technical and social challenges that arise from an accelerated exit of thermal coal mining operators. This experience highlights the risks of an unplanned exit and underscores the need to implement a governance model that anticipates these transformations, preventing the transition from becoming an irreversible social crisis. OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE: Responding to this need, the central objective of this paper is to propose a territorial governance model to manage the critical challenges associated with the progressive phasing out of thermal coal mining in contexts of high economic dependence. It seeks to demonstrate that the transition should not be limited to the technical dismantling of the extractive operation but requires a knowledge management strategy based on data. This strategy is fundamental so that affected territories can plan their economic diversification and mitigate social impacts before the definitive cessation of mining activity fully materializes. In this sense, the scope of this study focuses on the implementation of the Observatories of Territorial Transformations (OTT) in the department of El Cesar. The paper analyzes how this knowledge management platform enables territorial governance through a modular and iterative methodology. The scope ranges from the rigorous collection of evidence to its social appropriation, demonstrating how the strategic use of information empowers local actors to lead the planning of their own development.
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