Carlos Cadena

Carlos Cadena is a professor and researcher from Medellín, Colombia. He obtained his doctorate from Maastricht University (Netherlands) in 2014. He is an environmental and urban expert, with a particular focus on the urban transformation of Medellín. He has won numerous international awards. He is currently

a member of the Scientific Committee for Climate Emergency in the Department of Antioquia and a professor at EAFIT University, assigned to the School of Finance, Economics and Government. Carlos Cadena was Medellín's Secretary of Mobility, consultant for IDB and UN-Habitat, researcher for Oxford Academic Initiatives and the United Nations University and founder of various civil society organizations on the themes of climate, air quality, mobility and environmental education, including the collective La Ciudad Verde, the Low Carbon City Foundation and the arts center Humanese.co.

The project

Title: Climate Governance co-production in Medellin, Colombia and Grenoble, France

"My project focuses on climate governance, a concept that encompasses the mechanisms and processes related to collective climate action. This governance aims to guide social systems toward preventing or mitigating the risks of climate change, or adapting to its impacts (Jagers and Stripple, 2003). These processes are considered multisectoral, multilevel, and polycentric (Rüdiger et al., 2019), while being simultaneously global and local. They involve the interaction of various forms of authority and actors (Cadman, 2013), highlighting the importance of recognizing the diversity of institutional arrangements needed to address the climate crisis (Dorsch and Flachsland, 2017). This is particularly relevant in urban contexts, given the central role of cities in the global effort to combat climate change (IPCC, 2022). The objective of this project is to analyze the successes and failures in the implementation of climate governance models in two specific contexts, comparing and contrasting the recent experiences of Grenoble and Medellín. Through this comparative analysis, we aim to derive lessons for other comparable urban areas, exploring co-produced governance solutions to tackle the challenges posed by climate change."

Host institution : PACTE (Laboratoire de Sciences Sociales), Université Grenoble Alpes

Selective Bibliography

Articles, chapters and contributions to collective volumes (selection)

• Salehi et. al. In: ICLEI. Local Governments for Sustainability. Policy Brief - Digitalization: A Game Changer for Local Governments & Communities Enhancing Capacities to Deploy Transformative Solutions. Presented at COP28. Bonn, 2023
• Ospina-Sierra, E; Cadena-Gaitan, C; Florez-Munoz, M; Castellanos-Ramelli, P Índice de movilidad con base en la capacidad de soporte: Una herramienta aliada de la sostenibilidad urbana (2023). Editorial EAFIT. Medellin. DOI: 10.17230/9789587208764lr0
• Cadena-Gaitan, C. Medellín, Colombia: from social challenges to urban innovations (2023). In Colville-Andersen, M (editor) . 45 Urban Ideas for Ukraine - and every other city in the world"  CANActions. Kyiv
• Cadena-Gaitán, C, Álvarez-Vanegas, A, Flórez-Muñoz, M (2021). Rapid Deployment of Transport Infrastructure and Urban Social Injustice: The Case of Medellín, Colombia. En: Global Reflections on COVID-19 and Urban Inequalities. Volume 4: Policy and Planning Edited by Pierre Filion, Brian Doucet and Rianne van Melik. Bristol University Press. ISBN: 978-1529219043.
• Cadena-Gaitán, C  & Ospina-Sierra, E (2019). Perspectivas de la movilidad urbana en Colombia, 2018-2050. En: Gehring & Pérez (Eds.) Colombia en su ruta, recorriendo el camino hacia 2050, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung 2019. pp. 181-202.