With the permanent aim of qualifying the territorialisation of global sustainability agendas for its associates, ICLEI South America is expanding its team with specialists with over 10 years of experience. The first Senior Fellow to join the ICLEI team is architect and urban planner Maria Caldas, who will work in the area of Sustainable Urban Development.

A graduate architect from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and Doctor of Architecture and Urbanism from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Maria Caldas developed her career in urban management and planning, working in medium and large municipalities. In Belo Horizonte, she served as Secretary of Urban Policy and Urban Planning. In the Federal Government, she held the position of Director of Social and Urban Infrastructure at the National Secretariat of the Growth Acceleration Programme (PAC) in the Ministry of Planning, Budget and Management; and she was part of the National Monitoring Committee for the "My House, My Life" Programme and the National Council of Cities.

With extensive experience in the areas of urban development, management, urban and metropolitan planning, and the formulation of urban policies and programmes, master plans, urban planning legislation, and housing, Maria Caldas is also the author of books such as “A Utopia da Reforma Urbana – Ação Governamental e Política Pública no Brasil” (“The Utopia of Urban Reform – Governmental Action and Public Policy in Brazil”). “I see ICLEI as a structured and prepared organisation to undertake a project that I have long dreamed of, which is to bring urban policy closer to environmental and climate policy and to be able to build public policy suitable for urban development,” stated Maria Caldas.

The Executive Secretary of ICLEI South America, Rodrigo Perpétuo, highlighted that the organisation “is building a qualitative roster of Senior Fellows, and in the coming weeks, other names will be announced who will contribute to other areas.”

Please find below the full interview with Maria Caldas:

Who is Maria Caldas?

I am an architect, a graduate of UFRJ and possess a doctorate in architecture and urbanism from UFMG. I have built my career almost entirely in the public sector, always working with urban development policies. I served as Secretary of Urban Policy and/or Planning in a medium-sized city and in Belo Horizonte, opportunities that allowed me to engage with practically all sectoral policies related to urban themes. In the Federal Government, I was Director of Social and Urban Infrastructure for PAC – the Growth Acceleration Programme, responsible for selecting, managing, and monitoring projects supported by Federal Government resources for Brazilian cities. Currently, in addition to being a Senior Fellow at ICLEI, I work as a Senior Consultant at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and as a consultant for the formulation of public policies for municipalities.

What are the main experiences acquired throughout your career that you believe will contribute to your work with ICLEI?

Firstly, I would highlight the knowledge I have acquired regarding urban dynamics, especially the process of city production, its causes and consequences, as well as the understanding that these dynamics, along with the public policies to guide them, must be conceived and formulated in an intersectoral and integrated manner. Everything is based on the territory, the use and the form of occupation that is established upon it. One cannot think about urban policy without considering environmental aspects and vice versa. Finally, I would also highlight my experience in formulating and implementing public policies.

How did you get to know ICLEI and what are your expectations regarding the partnership?

I first encountered ICLEI when I was Secretary of Urban Policy for Belo Horizonte, working with the Secretariat of the Environment. I see ICLEI as an opportunity and a viable way to put into practice this integrated and coordinated approach to issues related to sustainable urban development. ICLEI has become an important reference point for implementing global sustainability agreements and frameworks, and is successfully fulfilling its mission to mobilise local governments to tackle these challenges.

A brief summary of this opportunity would be that it's a chance to gain valuable experience and expand your horizons.

I would say it's a unique opportunity to promote closer ties between urban and environmental policy, particularly considering the urgency and gravity of the threats associated with the climate crisis.

Como é que vê o impacto da crise climática no planeamento urbano?

City planning urgently needs to incorporate the climate issue as one of its core principles and establish strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. These are urban planning strategies and instruments that address, for example, reducing the impact of mobility generated by the need for long commutes, emissions related to the use of renewable energy in buildings, and the production and disposal of waste. It is also fundamental to establish strategies for improving the adaptation and resilience of cities, with areas where the most vulnerable populations live, who certainly feel the climate impacts the most, being particularly central to the issue.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges for territories that decide to embark on the path of sustainable development?

I think one of the biggest challenges is mobilising stakeholders and raising awareness that every sector, public or private, every social organisation, every citizen has a role to play so that everyone, especially our children and grandchildren, can live in a safe and healthy environment. As never before, the situation demands that the collective interest prevails over private interests and that we move forward together without leaving anyone behind.

And what are the best opportunities?

I see the global mobilisation on the topic and the strengthening of discussions on the green economy as an opportunity, as we know that the productive sector needs to embrace changes in production methods so that we can balance growth with sustainability. COP27 pointed towards a strong expansion of the private sector in discussions on climate crisis strategies, as it is finally clear that its effects affect everyone and put the global economy at risk. It is also encouraging to note the commitment of young people to environmental preservation policies, the conscious adoption of new dietary practices, and to observe the growing interest in active and agile mobility over the ownership of motor vehicles.

An achievement.

Most recently, to have led a team that drafted the Master Plan for Belo Horizonte, approved in 2019, in perfect alignment with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, and which adopted instruments from the Statute of the City to promote a fairer and more egalitarian city and a diversity of innovations and urban planning instruments to ensure the city's environmental recovery and sustainability and increase its resilience.

A passion.

Formulate policies to include and protect vulnerable populations in the city.

A dream.

Allow me to turn to the poet:

A city without doors,

of houses without traps,

a land of laughter and glory

as there never was one.

This country is not mine

Not yet yours, poets.

But he will be one day

The country of every man.

Carlos Drummond de Andrade

ICLEI is…

An organisation prepared and structured to support local governments in driving towards sustainable development.