Velo-city 2018 article series featuring mini interviews on plenary speakers.

Next in line is Carolina Tohá, ex-Mayor of Santiago where she lead a series of urban and social reforms that earned the Municipality of Santiago numerous national and international awards and recognition. Ms. Tohá also held the post of Co-president of the High-level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport for the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Before that, she was the Minister Secretary of Government under the first administration of President Michelle Bachelet, a two term Congress Woman in the Chilean Congress, the Undersecretary of Government under President Ricardo Lagos and also the President of Party for Democracy.

As a student, she had an active role in the fight to recover Democracy for Chile and was a prominent student leader and activist during the NO campaign against the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

Presently, she presides over the Fundación Instituto Ciudad (City Institute Foundation), of which Carolina is the founding member, a recently formed civil society organization dedicated to the promotion of urban policies centred on people and emphasizing equality and sustainability.

A quick chat with Carolina Tohá:

• What does Access to Life mean to you?

On the subject of mobility, Access to Life for me means the possibility to carry out your activities in a safe, cheap and clean manner while assuring that your commuting experience is both enjoyable for you and others.

• What cycling lessons are you bringing to Rio?

That we need to promote cycling as a possibility for everyone in combination with other modes of transport, we don’t need to disqualify the people that have other preferences but rather invite them to try out intermodality.

• What are you looking forward to the most at Velo-city 2018?

I hope to find new experiences of public policies which confirm that it is possible to detain and reverse people’s dependency on cars.

• What do you think is the added value of a global interdisciplinary approach to cycling?

It helps to learn from the experiences of others and demostrate that development is not the same as private motorization.

• What will you visit by bike in Rio?

Obviously, I would like to cycle covering Rio’s beach front! I think that’s everybody’s dream.

Carolina Tohá will speak on the Closing Plenary: Governance on Day 4 of Velo-city 2018; Friday 15^th June 2018 at 16.40-17.40.

More on the Velo-city 2018 Programme here.

Registrations are now open! Register now here.

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