SPEAKER

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Lucía Corral is a marine biologist and social entrepreneur. She is founder of Urbaneria, a multidisciplinary platform that connects experts in infrastructure, water harvesting, art, mobility and socially responsible companies, to improve public spaces. She has worked in community empowerment projects, such as “Colectivo Balandra” that in 2007 managed to bring together more than 18,000 citizens, of all ages and social groups, to ask the authorities to protect Balandra, one of the most beautiful beaches in the world that serves as a public park for the city of La Paz. This social movement generated many achievements, such as the publication of a state law that allows municipal governments to protect key terrestrial habitats within their territory; the creation of the first municipal protected natural area in La Paz that protects the hydrological basins that surround the wetland from urban development; the inclusion of Balandra in the Ramsar List of wetlands of international importance; and a federal natural protected area. This experience convinced Lucia to live by the motto “if you want your city to change, you need to start changing it yourself.” It is a community responsibility to not only protect and preserve a city but make it flourish. From constructing public spaces to creating street art and green infrastructure, her project Urbaneria offers self-made solutions aimed at tackling urban issues.