VICTORIA CHÁVEZ

CO- FOUNDER - PARTNER (NL-ECU)

Victoria is constantly driven by the idea that better cities are possible by citizen engagement and participatory planning, for her it is important to be involved in current social discussions seeking for citizen-centric approaches that focus on engagement and collaboration where research and technology are the enablers in reaching governmental, economic and societal goals. 

 She holds a Msc. in Socio Spatial Planning from the University of Groningen, The Netherlands and a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Cuenca-Ecuador. She co-founded Huasipichanga, an organisation focused on urban development with participatory and co-creation methodologies where she has developed urban concepts and strategies aligned to the principles of sustainability and child friendly cities in Latin America, Europe and Africa. 

Currently she is the Urban95 Officer within the Knowledge for Policy team in the Bernard van Leer Foundation. Providing advice and technical assistance to partners implementing projects at scale within Urban95 cities; with a particular focus on sustainable mobility, public space, neighbourhood planning, air quality, climate change, social justice and monitoring and evaluation, through early years lens.  

For the last 5 years, Victoria has been based in the Netherlands, experiencing the cultural and diverse city of Utrecht. Lately her time is also filled with reading AI books, sketching new places and watching dystopian movies. 

Contact: victoriachavez@huasipichanga.com