Õ¬ÄÐÊÓƵ

PhD students Verónica Ramírez Montenegro (UCLÌýInstitute of the Americas)Ìýand Vanessa Galeano Duque (UCLÌýDevelopment Planning Unit) have been awardedÌýone of the 2018-2019 Grand Challenges Doctoral Small Grants, in the area of Justice and Equality.

In their project ‘Inclusive city planning: Social impacts of economic urban infrastructure in Colombia’, the doctoral students join their research interests to investigate the relationship between public investment in economic infrastructure and political inclusion (through participatory and popular empowerment processes);Ìýsocial inclusion (considering the population's access to basic services and facilities, such as hospitals and school), and economic inclusion (by reflecting on the possibilities of change in economic status in neighbourhoods exposed to different investments in social and economic infrastructure). The project will be developed in Colombia focusing in two case studies: Medellín and Buenaventura.

Besides contributing to the students’ doctoral thesis, the project will sponsor the dialogue between academia, civil society, the ColombianÌýgovernment and the private sector about participatory and inclusive city planning, and public investment in economic vs social infrastructure in urban areas. To fulfil this purpose, the project will close with a colloquium about these topics in Medellín, Colombia.

ÌýFor further information feel free to contact Vanessa (vanessa.galeano.16@ucl.ac.uk) and Verónica (veronica.ramirez-montenegro.14@ucl.ac.uk)

Ìý