Antioquia, November 19, 2021. GGGI took part in BioExpo 2021, the essential Green Business fair in Latin America. The activities included the certification of 57 Antioquia municipalities in Green Growth, meetings with the Acting Governor of Antioquia, the Antioquia Municipal Management and certain mayors, and a conference on forest economy. These were held in the framework of our work with the Government of Antioquia in the Green Growth program with Norway, and the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2020 to strengthen institutional capacities and promote sustainable and socially inclusive productive systems in the Department.

The Expo began with the Green Growth certification of 57 municipalities of Antioquia, whose local government teams were trained on the subject and completed the virtual course developed by the National Planning Department (DNP) and GGGI thanks to the UK PACT program. The certificates were presented by the Secretary of Environment and Sustainability of Antioquia, Carlos Ignacio Uribe, the Manager of Municipalities, Juan Manuel Giraldo, the Secretary of Citizen Participation and Culture, Katherine Velásquez, and Pablo Martínez, GGGI’s Country Representative.

The Green Growth course provides the tools and knowledge to implement green growth projects in municipalities and understand and contribute to the Climate Emergency Declaration of Antioquia. The target audience of the course are mayors, secretaries, and officials responsible for issues related to the environment and agriculture of local administrations.

To enroll in the 100% virtual and free course, click here. (Only available in Spanish)

On Day 1 of the Expo, GGGI’s Country Representative had the opportunity to talk with the Acting Governor of Antioquia, Luis Fernando Suárez, about GGGI’s work in the Department. To end the day, a meeting was held with the Municipalities Management of Antioquia, the mayor of the municipality of Támesis, the mayor of the municipality of Liborina and GGGI, where they discussed technical assistance opportunities that the Institute can provide for nature tourism and sustainable productive projects in their municipalities.

On the second day of the Expo, GGGI and CR Pablo Martínez led the academic agenda, presenting our program in Colombia and the tools to promote Forest Economy in the country from the perspective of international cooperation. Pablo spoke on the national level interventions in forest economy and sustainable livestock supported by our program with Norway and the focus in Antioquia on issues of Zero Deforestation Agreements, technical assistance for Sustainable Forest Management, and Legal Timber Trade.

Finally, Pablo participated in the Forest Economy and Green Growth panel together with the director of CORPOURABÁ, Vanessa Paredes Zúñiga; the general director of the Amazon Institute for Scientific Research SINCHI, Luz Marina Mantilla Cárdenas; and the director-general of the Pacific Environmental Research Institute, William Kingler, who moderated the discussion. There, they discussed how to turn forest economy into an essential issue for the national economy, the differences between natural forests and forest plantations, the creation of differential policies to change the living conditions of the populations that live in territories that are rich in natural resources, and the actions carried out by each institution to make the forest economy a relevant, socially conscious and environmentally sustainable

Find here the full conference and panel, starting at minute 33:56. (Only available in Spanish)