"Curitiba 2030" sets priorities for the capital

The project, which provides opportunities for the capital to position itself among the most innovative cities in the world, was presented in detail for specialists at CICI2010

The topics Mobility and Transport, Environment and Biodiversity, Health and Welfare; Governance; City Network, City of Knowledge (education and innovation) and Coexistence in a Global City are priorities to be worked in Curitiba in the next 20 years. The themes in the final document of the project "Curitiba 2030" which was released on the first day of the International Conference on Innovative Cities (CICI2010) and presented in detail on Thursday (11), to experts who are participating in the event.

The project is the first result of the "Innovative Cities," which was released on the first day of CICI2010. "The purpose of Curitiba 2030 study is to indicate a path to place Curitiba in the level of one of the main innovative cities in the world," said the chairman of Fiep, Rodrigo da Rocha Loures.

Developed by Fiep System in partnership with the City Hall of the capital and the OPTI Foundation (Observatory Industrial Technology of Spain), the project was started in 2009 and included studies, researches, interviews and participatory meetings with more than 500 people, including municipal leaders, experts and the general population.

The actions to be taken hereafter, the strategy for involvement and community engagement, the definition of co-ordination of the process were topics that interested specialists as Marc Giget, of European Institute of Creative Strategies and Innovation, Marc Weiss, president of the Global Urban Development; Jonas Rabinovitch, Division of Public Administration and Development Management of the United Nations (UNDESA), and Ana Morato, director of OPTI. The mediation was made by Modesto Escobar, also from OPTI.

"The most important is to create a culture of innovation. In this respect Curitiba is well positioned," said Marc Weiss. "I want to indicate something important: that in the development of actions there is integration in the economic, social and environmental aspects" he said. For Jonas Rabinovich, it is essential to define how the project will be developed year after year until 2030, and how it will be incorporated into the life of the city and people and what the role of each involved sector will be. 

According to Marilia de Souza, of the Observatories Sesi / Senai, who participated in the project drafting, once there are activities to set the agenda for action, define the coordinating roles of each actor involved in the process. "There are a number of issues that are being addressed from now on", she said. The document will also be sent to candidates who will compete at this year's elections.

Marc Giget pointed out the cooperative aspect in the development of work and effective connection between the themes and targets. "It is a work based on real life and can be a tool for exchanging information with other cities and even to start a database of ideas for innovative new projects," he said.

Priority - Curitiba 2030 project is the pilot of the "Innovative Cities", which consists of short, medium and long-term set of actions that aim to create urban environment conducive to innovation and sustainable business. According to the chairman of Fiep System, Rodrigo da Rocha Loures, the program becomes a priority in the performance of the entity, from now on.

He explained that prospective studies carried out by Fiep System indicated the need to work with cities as environments that decisively influence the sustainable industrial development. Innovative Cities program seeks to answer this challenge.

"This program becomes a priority because it enables the convergence of the strategies outlined by Fiep System to contribute to the prosperity of the state," says Rocha Loures. "It is already in progress and the idea is that it will be a milestone in the state. We will seek the engagement of the whole society," he stated.

The program is set on two major fronts. One of them is "Cities in 2030", support for that in a horizon of 20 years, cities become conducive to new business and new relationships in a dynamic of sustainability. It is from this front that the project Curitiba 2030 is the first result.

The other aspect is the local development, which is already deployed in 50 locations in the State and seeks to stimulate, organize and empower the community to seek its own sustainable development. Development agents, trained by the System, operate in the localities to implement the methodology that allows residents to dream, define and participate in actions for local improvement and sustainability.