Graciela Ortúzar has been Mayor of Lampa, Chile, since 2004 – a rural community of more than 70,000 inhabitants, located southwest of the Santiago metropolitan region. Before becoming Mayor, she was the city’s Secretary of Planning, where she ensured that a fire station was built in Batuco, a locality in Lampa. During that time, she also required the repair of a wastewater system for various neighbourhoods, in addition to other large investment projects in urban improvement. Her expertise of more than two decades of public and private work in management and community planning led to several public-private partnerships in various Municipalities and Associations of Microentrepreneurs Urban and Rural Sector, which received excellent evaluations. Mayor Ortúzar was appointed a Making Cities Resilient Champion, based on her experience in community management after the February 2010 earthquake.
Campaign Activities-
20-23 March 2012, Santiago, Chile: Shared Lampa’s experience during the 6th Latin American Congress for Cities and Local Authorities in a session on “Disaster Risk Prevention and Public Safety.”. 20-23 March 2012, Santiago, Chile: Support the national launch of the Making Cities Resilient Campaign for Chile at the 6th Latin American Congress for Cities and Local Authorities. February 2011, Launch of the Making Cities Resilient Campaign in the regions of Bio-Bio, of Maule and of O'Higgins, Chile. November 2011, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Presentation at the expert meeting on population dynamics, urbanization processes and disaster risk reduction. November 2010, Lyon, France: Led by the Chairman of the Committee on Environment of the Chilean Association of Municipalities and Mayor Graciela Ortuzar, a delegation of Chilean mayors participated in the 24th Environmental Fair, Pollutec ; Chile was the guest of honor at the fair, which brought thousands of people from all sectors related to the environment, to share the latest information on technological innovations to improve the quality of the environment through better sewage treatment, solid waste management, energy efficiency and renewable energy. November 2010, Santiago, Chile: Represented the Chilean Association of Municipalities at a signing of the Clean Production Agreement by twelve members of El Círculo de Empresas Panamericana Norte to reduce by 6% both the generation of industrial solid waste and power consumption. October 2010, UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean: At a seminar on “The Future of Local Environmental Management,” presented Chile’s local environmental certification programme and outlined strategies for establishing networks and coordination between local environmental management programs, in preparation of the Rio+20 Sustainable Development Summit. October 2010, Temuco, Aracaunia, Chile: Spoke at workshop on “Capacity Building and Technical Professionals in Local Environmental Management,” attended by mayors, councilors and environmental management officials. September 2010, Santiago, Chile: Addressed the issue of reconstruction at a discussion convened by the Committee on Environment and UN-Habitat. September 2010, Santiago, Chile: Addressed the issue of reconstruction at a discussion convened by the Committee on Environment and UN-Habitat. August 2010, Santiago, Chile: Represented the Chilean Association of Municipalities in a panel discussion on climate change, Committee on Environment. July 2010, Santiago, Chile: Participated in a France-Chile Seminar on Decentralised Cooperation (French Embassy, French Mayors, Subdere, AChM, 21/07/2010).
- June 2010: Participated in a video Conference with Regional Chapters of the Chilean Association of Municipalities, on World Environment Day; gave a report on environmental damage in the wetlands of Batuco. January 2010, Olmué, Valparaíso, Chile: Ran workshops on “Energy, Environment and Tourism Development: A Challenge Standing Municipalities”; and “Productivity and Environment in the Community Management: Roles, Responsibilities and Experience”.