In the framework of the International Program for Urban and Regional Cooperation (IURC Latin America), funded by the European Union, a delegation of three officials from the Chilean city of Punta Arenas, carried out a three-day study visit in the city of Umeå, from May 27 to 30, 2022.
The presidents of the Sustainability (Nils Seye), Gender Equality (Charlotta Westerlund) and Construction (Mikael Berglund) committees, together with the head of the Planning Department Malin Lagervall, received the delegation on May 27 at a lunch formal welcome. During the session, it was highlighted how important international cooperation is for Umeå, especially on issues of sustainable development.
The delegation from Punta Arenas, made up of the Director of Urban Planning Angela Salazar, the Director of Mobility Marcel Bermudez and the urban planner Paulina Santis, highlighted the great interest it represents for Punta Arenas, learning about successful experiences on issues such as mobility sustainability, carbon neutrality, and gender equity strategies.
During the 3-day technical visit, professionals from both cities visited buildings and neighborhoods where sustainability strategies (environmental, social, and economic) have been implemented, learning about both technical solutions and tools to incorporate and engage citizens. They also visited various urban projects in which a vision of gender equity has been incorporated into their design, highlighting some public spaces and facilities for public transport.
Another of the focal points of the visit was sustainable mobility, which is reflected in visits to public transport terminals, infrastructures for shared bicycles, and cycle paths.
In addition, several meetings were held with representatives of different units of the Municipality of Umea, as well as the University of the city and other technical organizations related to the topics of the visit.
During the coming months, both teams will continue to hold technical sessions on different topics, in addition to preparing the visit of the professionals from Umea to Punta Arenas scheduled for November 2022.
The IURC programme constitutes the second phase of the International Urban Cooperation (IUC, 2016-2020) programme and aims to lead and develop a form of decentralized international urban and regional cooperation in the fields of sustainable urban development and regional innovation. The programme supports pairings between cities and regions in the European Union with their counterparts in six Latin American countries: Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, and Chile. In total, the IURC Latin America network of cities and regions consists of 24 cities and 20 regions.
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Author: Waldo Urquiza, IURC Latin America