International Directory
Meet our international sponsors
Individuals committed to our work, actively collaborating and promoting the exchange of knowledge in all the world.







Marina has a degree in anthropology from the University of Buenos Aires, with a master’s degree in agricultural economics and rural development from the University of Göttingen, Germany. She has more than 20 years of professional experience working with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), coordinating the design and implementation of projects in sustainable management of ecosystems, ecosystem services, biodiversity and climate, in different countries, especially in Latin America. Currently, she coordinates the development of projects for the Green Climate Fund within GIZ, participates in the development of the IPBES report on multiple values of nature (2018-2021) and contributes to the IPBES task force for the use of report results in policy instruments.

He has a law degree from the Universidad Autónoma Gabriel René Moreno and a specialty in Constitutional Law and Administration from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; he has held public positions in the Ministries of National Defense, Foreign Affairs, Human Development, Sustainable Development and Environment and in the Bolivian Embassy in Costa Rica. He teaches diploma and master’s degree courses at NUR University, Universidad de la Cordillera, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, Universidad Simón Bolívar – CEDURE, Universidad de las Américas in Quito, Universidad Salesiana de Cuenca, Universidad Javeriana de Bogotá, among others. He currently chairs the Center for Participation and Sustainable Human Development (CEPAD), where he has directed experiences and practical systematizations of citizen participation, decentralization and autonomies, and worked on methodologies for Local Economic Development, formation of Local Development Commissions (CODEL), training of Local Development Agents, formation and strengthening of Municipal Commonwealths, and implementation of programs of the knowledge and information society applied to development.

Ramiro Fernández has worked at Fundación AVINA for 16 years. He led a strategy to accompany young leaders and the expansion of AVINA in Argentina. Since 2001 he has been based in Patagonia where he accompanied the development of civil society and private sector leaders in Chile and Argentina until 2009, being part of profound processes of social transformation, consolidating the quality of democracy and the development of regional platforms for the sustainability of Patagonia. Since 2010 he specialized in energy and climate change. In 2014/2015 he participated as a member of the COP20 Presidency delegation as Climate Action advisor encouraging Peru’s leadership in the Paris Agreement. He is currently responsible for AVINA Foundation’s climate change strategy in Latin America.

Biologist and social entrepreneur of Ashoka (www.ashoka.org). President of the company PERIFERIA, Territorios Vivos (www.periferia.pe) and co-director of the Sustainable Cities Platform “MiCiudad” with WWF Peru (www.miciudad.pe). Anna has more than 25 years of experience in development projects and environmental management and urban sustainability consultancies in the NGO, public and private sectors. She has held management positions in the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima, the Lima Parks Service (SERPAR), the Lima Regional Government Program, GEA Group and the Faculty of Environmental Sciences of the Scientific University of the South.

Adolfo Taylhardat holds a Master’s degree in Business Management from London Business School and a commercial engineering degree in Business Management with a specialization in Finance (Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium). He has a long professional career working with institutions such as Danone (France), Natura (Brazil), Laboratorios Behrens (Venezuela); and has served as an advisor to the World Bank, IFC and Inter-American Development Bank in investment strategy. He is currently a member of boards of directors and committees of companies and non-profit organizations such as Fundación Futuro Latinoamericano, Diario El Tiempo, Avior Airlines, among others.

Master of Philosophy in Environment and Development, awarded by the University of Cambridge, UK (1994 – 1995). He was project manager at the Center for Environmental Research and Planning (CIPMA) from 1999 to 2002. In 2003 he founded the RIDES (Resources and Research for Sustainable Development) Research Center, where he served as executive director from 2004 to mid-2008. He has conducted research, teaching and consulting on issues of citizen participation, conflict management, environment and sustainability, and facilitation of change processes. He is particularly interested in the design and implementation of participatory processes that accompany complex decisions on issues related to sustainability. He was the Process Leader of the MAPS Chile climate change mitigation project. He is currently working as an independent consultant in his area of expertise.