IV ENCOUNTER ON SUSTAINABLE CITIES
CITIES WERE AT THE CENTRE OF THE DEBATE
IDOM participated in the 2017 Summer Course of the International Menéndez Pelayo University (UIMP) on “The Management of Environmental Assets and their impact on the Resilience of Cities”. Within the framework of these summer courses, the Minister of Public Works of the Government of Spain, Iñigo de la Serna inaugurated the IV encounter on the Sustainability of Cities, which dealt with the management and conservation of physical and environmental assets and their impact on the resilience of urban centres.
As experts on Urban Planning, focusing on Sustainable Development, María Álvarez and Daniel Rubio were invited by the Menéndez Pelayo University and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to participate with two presentations. The forum analyzed the progress of Lantin America in meeting the Millennium Development Goals and the challenges facing the region in the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals .
Marta Álvarez´s presentation focused on the need to rethink the urban infrastructure model incorporating criteria of urban planning, resilience to climate change and citizen participation (See slides and video).
For his part, Daniel Rubio made a presentation on the book De Ciudades Emergentes a Ciudades Sostenibles (From Emerging Cities to Sustainable Cities) (see presentation and video). This is a recent publication by the Inter-American Development Bank in which IDOM collaborated extensively. The book analyzes 18 emerging cities in Latin American and the Caribbean, and the challenge of making them sustainable and resilient (available for download here).
In addition, following on from the environmental studies developed by IDOM, within the Program of Emerging and Competitive Cities, the challenge of the management of Bays and Waterways was also addressed. Ramiro López Ghio (IDB) presented the case of the Cienaga de la Virgen in Cartagena de Indias (Colombia).
September 26, 2017
Participation of several politicians and scientists
The course counted on the presence of, among others:
Rogelio Frigerio, Minister of Internal Affairs, Public Works and Housing of the Republic of Argentina
José María Lassalle, Secretary of State for the Information Society and the Digital Agenda. Government of Spain
Gema Igual, Mayor of Santander
Elis J. Juan, General Coordinator of the Emerging and Sustainable Cities Initiative (ICES)
Federico Basañes, Manager of the Knowledge and Learning Division of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
César Nombela, Rector of the UIMP
PHOTO / IMAGE
Elis J. Juan, General Coordinator of the Emerging and Sustainable Cities Initiative (ICES), María Álvarez and Daniel Rubio, IDOM.