”Motivated to work with the challenges and opportunities of cities" is how Rodrigo Perpétuo described his appointment as the new executive secretary of ICLEI's South America Regional Secretariat. A native of Minas Gerais, aged 41, Perpétuo holds a Master's degree in International Relations from the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais (PUC-MG) and a degree in Economics from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). He has specialisations in business management from Fundação Dom Cabral and in Decentralised Cooperation from the Open University of Catalonia. Throughout his professional career, he has gained experience in the private sector, working with business management, technology, and international education, in academia, as a professor of International Relations, and in the public sector.

Began their experience in public management at the invitation of the Belo Horizonte City Council, a member city of ICLEI, in 2005, to establish and head an unprecedented International Relations Secretariat. They remained there for just over a decade, during which time they worked to consolidate and expand the international relations work that had already been carried out in the municipality in a decentralised manner.

In his role as Head of the Municipal Secretariat, Perpétuo faced challenges such as serving as the executive secretary for Mercocities, a network that works towards the participation of South American cities in regional integration processes, chairing the National Forum of Municipal Secretaries and Managers of International Relations (Fonari) from 2011 to 2013, and participating in other thematic networks and global associations, such as the International Association of Educating Cities and the Ibero-American Centre for Urban Strategic Development. “I had the opportunity to develop projects that align with the contemporary logic of city networks, and convergent and complementary international flows, operating at a regional level,” explained the executive secretary of ICLEI for South America. In 2015, he was invited to head the Secretariat of International Relations of the State of Minas Gerais, where he coordinated the implementation of innovative initiatives, such as the “Regionalised Internationalisation Programme.”.

During her work at the Belo Horizonte City Hall, she became acquainted with ICLEI when the city had the opportunity to host the organisation's World Congress in 2012. It was the first edition held in South America and one of the largest in terms of participation. “We had broad participation, not only from members of the region – and also from other continents – but we had open sessions for universities, foundations, and organised civil society. It was an edition that marked the organisation's history also for having been the largest,” she said, reflecting on her experience in coordinating and organising the event. “I have a history of closeness and success with ICLEI that motivates me even more as I take on this role.”.

He begins his activities this month and says he is excited by the great opportunities presented to the cities and local governments in the region, which this year will host one of the most important meetings linked to the urban agenda and sustainable development, Habitat III. “The challenge is to bring across the experience I've had from the perspective of municipal and state governments, and to understand the difficulties of the members, the difficulties of those who work on the other side implementing policies, and from there, facilitate the role of ICLEI, as an organisation whose main objective is to ensure that local governments can become increasingly committed to sustainability and climate change policies, and to strengthen the environmental component of local public management in Brazil and South America.”

Here's the conversation with Rodrigo Perpétuo:

ICLEI SAMS: How will your background in public management help you in your role at ICLEI, one of the world's largest associations of cities for sustainable development?

Rodrigo Perpétuo: The effort I will necessarily bring to the walk with ICLEI is one of closeness with the cities and regional governments of our continent. This interaction teaches us as an organisation, and also teaches us to see what the needs are of our Member or partner who requires ICLEI to help them on the ground. On the other hand, we will also seek closeness with the international system. ICLEI, as an organisation whose objective is to gather global trends and international agreements within the international system and translate them into the language of a mayor or a governor, also needs to be close to these agendas. It already does so through the World Secretariat, but our South American branch will also face the challenge of interacting very closely with the international organisations that set the agenda for the international system from a sustainable development perspective.

ICLEI SAMS: In your opinion, what are the main challenges faced by cities in implementing sustainable development-oriented management? How do you see this specifically for Brazil and for countries in South America?

RP: A major challenge is the heterogeneity of our Members and partners, from local governments in our region, both from Brazil and South America. We have large cities, such as São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Bogotá, Buenos Aires, but we also have very small cities. Even though the themes are the same – such as solid waste, climate change – the way these challenges manifest in cities of different sizes and in countries with particular characteristics is very distinct. So, one challenge is to be able to make a reading that can be general, complete in terms of the characteristics of the profile of that thematic component of our agenda, but at the same time be capable of providing individualised, particularised attention to the local needs, which are very distinct for a type of city inserted within the profile of a given country. This is a challenge, but one that ICLEI, due to its trajectory and all that it represents and has accumulated, is fully capable of overcoming.

In more general terms, I think the difficulty for cities is always in being able to interpret what an international agreement is, which dictates a particular course of action, and transforming that into a localised programme or public policy suitable for their specific characteristics and needs. Cities, especially smaller ones, have technical difficulties, and I think ICLEI has played a role in assisting them from this perspective. On the other hand, larger cities have technical capacity but always face the challenge of financing their policies on the scale at which they need to be implemented, and here I think ICLEI can also be a partner, not only in improving good projects that are already in the process of implementation but also in helping these larger cities finance, seek partners for, and scale up their projects. In terms of more urgent agendas, I would say that solid waste is one that truly bothers Brazil and South America, and with which ICLEI already has a connection and projects with various members and national governments, such as the Brazilian Government itself, and I think we can make a contribution in the next cycle of mayors, especially in Brazil, and in our region as a whole. I feel there is a perception from local authorities, mayors and governors, regarding their ability to commit and develop policies that will influence the dynamics of tackling climate change. ICLEI has also been carrying out work to raise awareness and forge agreements with mayors, and in addition to continuing with this agenda, which is very important, ICLEI can provide technical contributions so that these mayors not only commit but can also implement programmes that contribute to emission reductions.

ICLEI SAMS: Do you believe there is an openness and adherence from cities to this agenda?

RP: The adherence or commitment of cities to the sustainable development agenda really happens, but it can happen in a more intense and qualified way and I think that is the purpose of ICLEI. So, our challenge is really to offer our member local governments a possibility of differentiation compared to those local governments that are committed and also have their policies, but do not directly participate in our network. We will never be a network that closes itself off. We will dialogue with everyone, but those who are within our association will certainly be able, at the end of a period, to have differentiated policies and initiatives and programmes that stand out and deliver results for the population of these governments and inspire others to follow the same path. That is what I hope for.

ICLEI SAMS: What will be your priorities leading ICLEI for South America, considering its context of diversity and vast territorial expanse?

RP: We have important international agendas ahead of us. We have Habitat III, which will take place in our region, in Quito. Therefore, we will have a leading role in relation to this agenda, and especially regarding the engagement of our members with this agenda and with the initiatives that ICLEI will coordinate, lead and foster, and which are related to the event. Especially because there will be developments that will influence the entire urban agenda over the next 20 to 30 years. COP 22 is also coming up. COP 21 was a great success, but local governments are still wondering how to take advantage of the moment with more resources allocated to policies for tackling and adapting to climate change. I believe our role is to translate for local governments in our region the opportunities that the international system will increasingly offer on this agenda. And also, to follow up on what is already being implemented, on the ongoing projects, maintaining constant dialogue with Members and partners and a closeness that allows us to learn as much as possible from our network, which is already consolidated.