| Searching for Sustainable Solutions | ||
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ppp | Job
Title: General Manager Organization: Graduate: Home
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| What do you enjoy about your job? What aspects of your job are the most exciting or interesting? | ||
| My
job is about connecting and supporting positive
initiatives called model forests (MF). A MF is a
process where adversaries have turned into
collaborators. Often from a conflict around the
use of a natural resource (water, mines, oil or
forests), an agreement on the sustainable use of
the resources by diverse actors becomes a MF. To
support these initiatives, and to bring to
international dialogue positive examples based
on participatory governance, is as exciting as
it is urgent, in a moment of history where
polarized visions are prevalent and bad news
abounds. Every new day I am inspired by MFs. |
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| Why did you choose to pursue an MPA/MPP degree? | ||
| I
was already a lawyer. I knew that I wanted to
focus my life on sustainable solutions to social
and environmental challenges. An MPP would allow
me to handle diverse tools that enable a
constructive and rigorous dialogue on these
solutions. It would also provide elements to
evaluate options from various perspectives, and
allow me to participate in a multidisciplinary
approach to these options, which is
indispensable in my field. |
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| How did you select your graduate school? | ||
| I
selected Duke based on: 1. Flexibility. It
allowed me to take classes in the School of
Environment, of Business and Law School. 2.
Methodology. I already new that case-study based
learning was especially suiting to my
personality. 3. Size. Coming from a small
country, I new I would feel more comfortable in
a smaller school. 4. Links to my region. I was
aware that Duke had ties with the Organization
of Tropical Studies. 5. Environment. Coming from
the tropics, I new that a rough winter would be
less enjoyable. I was also aware of the green
Research Triangle area, and I knew that being
close to nature would suit me well. 6.
Financing. I was able to secure partial
financing, and a research-assistant position
that enabled my MPP. That and the good will of
my advisor, was key in my choice. |
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| How do you feel your MPA/MPP is helping you to make a difference? | ||
| During
my post as an environmental specialist for the
World Bank, I faced resistance from the Honduran
water authorities to increase water fees. We
carried out a study of the willingness to pay in
the poorest areas, and provided the water
authority with hard information documenting that
the urban poor, not connected to the water
service, were paying for lesser quality water,
many times more than the richer consumers
connected to the service. During my post as
program officer for the environment at the
United Nations Development Program, I was faced
with opposition by the organized melon producers
resisting the signature of a methyl bromide
phase out project (an ozone depleting
substance); by the environment community
pointing their finger at them; and by polarized
visions between the Ministries of Agriculture
and Environment. In a meeting with the
country’s President, I was able to analyze
economic information from the point of view of
the producers, and to project the country’s
commitments and rate of consumption in the
international context. This provided elements
for all the parts to reach an agreement on the
schedule of compliance, and enabled the
commitment of the country with the Montreal
Protocol. |
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| How would you characterize your personality? | ||
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Team worker * Good under pressure *
Compassionate * Creative * Persistent *
Committed * Flexible * Curious * Diplomatic *
Driven * |
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| Contact Olga Corrales with questions regarding her graduate experience: | ||
| Email Olga | ||