News 2020

An inspiring webinar was organized by GIMLA and Cities Alliance on promising approaches to slum upgrading in Asia. Over 100 people attended the event that included a general introduction, followed by 3 case study presentations. Mr. Ajay Suri, the Regional Adviser for Asia of Cities Alliance provided a broader picture of the challenge of slum upgrading in Asia, which was followed by a presentation of James Samuel, from Habitat for Humanity, on slum upgrading in Bangladesh. Ibu Virgi Bappenas, the Director of Housing and Settlements for the Ministry of National Development Planning, Government of Indonesia outlined current slum upgrading programs in the country, and Minh Chau, the Regional partner in South East Asia for ACHR added a view from Thailand and the ACCA initiative in Asia.

We are particularly thankful to Celine D'Cruz, a founder member of SDI and Visiting Researcher at ICCCAD Bangladesh, who skillfully moderated the first part of the event. Anaclaudia Rossbach (Cities Alliance) and Anthony Boanada-Fuchs (GIMLA) moderated the round table debate with more than 30 experts who organically debated the additional challenges of slum upgrading during and after COVID 19.

The webinar was part of the World Urban Campaign and supported by many important knowledge stakeholders including the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), Slum Dwellers International (SDI), The World Bank, UN-Habitat, Reall, Centre for Urban and Regional Excellence (CURE), Habitat for Humanity International, GIZ India, IHS Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies, and Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. The recording of the webinar is available on GIMLA´s YouTube channel.

Do you want to make a difference in society while simultaneously learning from one of the most innovative megacities in the world? The HSG has launched a new exchange program for Bachelor Students in Latin America: the Latam Term. The first edition of the term is taking place in Spring 2021 and we invite you to apply to the second term starting in Spring 2022. Curious and want to know more? Consult the respective information on the website and join us on December 14, 12-13h00, register here.

Our institute has now more than 100 followers on LinkedIn. We see this as indirect feedback for our outreach activities and thank you all for your continued engagement and support.

GIMLA is co-organizing a second Urban Thinkers Campus event on December 11. Based on the same network of supporting institutions of the former webinar, which included the Worldbank, UN-Habitat, and the Centre for Social Innovation in St.Gallen, experts and the interested public are invited to learn from promising initiatives in Asia and debate the current challenges in slum upgrading linked to COVID 19 and the post-pandemic recovery.

As a direct spin-off of the Latam Compact on Smart City and Urban Innovation, held as a virtual study trip to Santiago de Chile in Spring 2020, GIMLA staff were invited to share their views on the cross-sectoral collaboration as well as the results from desktop research on smart city solutions for (i) community engagement and (ii) in context of low-connectivity. During the Latam Compact, term papers were elaborated based on co-developed questions, of which three were related to the work of the IADB, the Municipality of Temuco, and the Activadores Barriales, an interesting digital initiative to foster community activities in times of COVID 19. GIMLA is looking forward to further develop this partnership and is particularly grateful to Tamara Egger from the Cities IADB Lab.

After debating on successful projects in Latin America, a webinar has been organized by GIMLA and cities Alliance to debate promising initiatives of city-wide slum upgrading in Sub Saharan Africa. The webinar is part of the Urban Thinkers Campus (UTC) initiative of the World Urban Campaign and supported by 20 institutions including UN-Habitat, World Bank Group, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH India, IHS Rotterdam, and the International Institute for Environment and Development among others (for a full list see image down below).

We are particularly grateful to all speakers, moderators, the panel of experts, and everyone who attended the event. Vera Bukachi, Research Director, Kounkuey Design Initiative moderated the first part of the event while Prof. Marie Huchzermeyer from the School of Architecture and Planning at Wits University gave an introductory speech on the challenges of slum upgrading. Three cases were presented. 1) KISIP by Kenya Sheila W. Kamunyori, a Senior Urban Specialist at World Bank Group, 2) eThekwini in South Africa jointly by Faizal Seedat, Senior Manager of Human Settlements at eThekwini Municipality and Mark Misselhorn, CEO at Project Preparation Trust, and 3) projects in Freetown by Joseph Macarthy, Executive director, Sierra Leone Urban Research Centre. As closure and transition to the round table debate David Morema, National Coordinator of NUSP, Department of Human Settlements South Africa summarized by presentations.

The round table debate with 50 experts aimed at stimulating an open exchange of ideas on ongoing adjustments to the programs within the larger challenge of the unfolding pandemic as well as the question of how to make slum upgrading a priority in the post-COVID recovery process. The debate received an introductory speech by Kerstin Sommer, Human Settlements Officer Land, Housing and Shelter Section and Programme Manager of the Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme; UN-Habitat and was moderated by Anacláudia Rossbach, Regional Manager of Cities Alliance for Latin America and the Caribbean and Anthony Boanada-Fuchs, Academic Project Manager at GIMLA, University of St.Gallen.

The recording is accessible online for the webinar and the roundtable. A summary blog has been published as well on the project website.

Ongoing research linked to a collaborative project with three academic networks and Cities Alliance was presented at the international seminar "Policy transfer, diffusion and translation in territorial governance and spatial planning in the Global South" organized by the TU Delft and the Polytechnical University of Torino. The presented paper "Learning Locally for a Global Knowledge on Urban Solutions – Contribution of Academia to improve Policy Transferability" outlined and analyzed the cross-sectoral collaborations in identifying good practices in the provision of public goods and services with solid academic evidence.

GIMLA staff was invited to give a lecture to bachelor students at the University of Fribourg. Embedded in the course architecture and real estate, the lecture covered an overview of different roles of real estate developers in urban development. Despite their centrality in official and behind-the-scenes decision-making, real estate developers remain understudied. GIMLA is currently in the process of editing a book on this topic.

Join us to learn more about HSG Latam Term.

Online info session via Zoom
22 September 2020
14h15 – 15h15 [Switzerland]

Two Bachelor and two master theses were handed in with the supervision of GIMLA staff. The topics were either co-developed with institutional partners or directly informed by ongoing research of the institute. One bachelor thesis investigated the role of public goods and services and was linked to an ongoing collaboration project. A master thesis reviewed the international experience of urban improvement districts and results will be shared with the Inter-American Development Bank.

In the next interview of the Latin American Dialogues Series on Migration, Ayrton de Souza, Prof. Lucilene Cury, and Marina da Silveira from the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program on the Integration in Latin America (PROLAM-USP) discuss the Haitian and Venezuelan migratory waves to Brazil from a contemporary and comparative perspective.

* This video was recorded before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Smartly, an organization focusing on social entrepreneurship and the implementation of SDGs is co-organizing a virtual event in Ecuador on"Vibrant and Inclusive Urban Life". The two-day event is co-organized by the UNESCO Chairs of the Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja (UTPL), and the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS) Erasmus University Rotterdam as well as co-sponsored by GIMLA. The freely accessible webinar includes eight panels and covers topic of urban legislation, multi-level governance, resilience, fashion, and agriculture. The panel organized by GIMLA has the preliminary title "Local opportunities during and post COVID-19".

The unfolding COVID-19 pandemic and its geography within city regions have brought attention to the socio-economic cracks of current urbanization patterns. Poor neighborhoods and dense informal settlements are disproportionally at risk of becoming contamination vectors. With the health crisis, the fundamentals of cities are again back on the discussion tables: What cities do we want? How best to achieve them?

An Online Seminar on Slum Upgrading Practices in Latin America was co-organized by Anaclaudia Rossbach, Cities Alliance, and Anthony Boanada-Fuchs, GIMLA as well as the World Bank Group as part of a Working Package 1 outreach embedded in the collaboration project between N-AERUS, REDEUS-LAC, AURI, and Cities Alliance. In this 2-hour event, research in progress was presented during the online seminar as well as the good slum upgrading experiences from Belo Horizonte, Brazil and Buenos Aires, Argentina. The round table debate invited for an open dialogue on the question of how to speed up scientific research to incorporate practical knowledge from practitioners and cross-border knowledge sharing?

The event was streamed via Zoom and Facebook and had 150 participants on both platforms. The organizers are particularly grateful for the contribution of Judy Baker and Catherine Lynch (The World Bank Group), Júnia Naves Nogueira (Urbel Belo Horizonte), and Diego Fernández (City of Buenos Aires). More information about the event can be found on the project website.

Dr. Anthony Boanada-Fuchs, program manager at GIMLA, has been officially invited to contribute to Chapter 3 of the UNEP report "The Weight of Cities in Latin America and the Caribbean". The chapter outlines key interventions for reducing energy and material consumption. The first draft is due in September 2020.

HSG students who would like to write your thesis on a highly relevant topic and deliver results that will contribute to a new knowledge database, as well as policy reflection paper, should contact us. Do you have a keen interest in Small Island Development States or water issues and want to learn more about the role of public and private actors in contributing to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 6 (clean water and sanitation for all people)? GIMLA-HSG is currently engaged in a multiple-stakeholder consultancy for an international organization (Cities Alliance) in order to provide academic evidence on the positive and lasting impact of public goods and services (such as water-related infrastructure) in cities. Your master thesis (exceptionally qualified bachelor students might be considered as well) would systematize and analyze good practices around the world and thus directly contribute to policy-relevant knowledge products. Ideal thesis hand-in at the November deadline.

CLURB, a highly-interesting start-up, which contributed to our Latam Compact 2020 Spring Semester: Smart Cities and Urban Innovation – a Virtual Fieldtrip to Santiago de Chile, is currently looking for an Intern at their Berlin office. The job offer is a great opportunity to be involved in the roll-out of a disaster risk management tool in Cap Verde, Ecuador, and Brazil. We encourage particularly HSG students to apply! The deadline is July 15.⁠ ⁠ For more information consult the ToR and potential candidates do not hesitate to reach out to us or CLURB per email or via their website.

In light of the mobility restriction of the unfolding pandemic but also the position of the University of St.Gallen to keep as much as possible its current course offer, GIMLA translated its study trip to Santiago de Chile into a virtual format. This was only possible due to great local contacts. A special thank you goes to all institutional partners: The IADB, the city of Temuco, Santiago SE, Start-up Chile, Centro de Innovacion, Cuidadania Inteligente, Citytech, ClUrb, and Climatenza. These partners not only contributed with valuable insights in the form of lectures or interviews but also do-develop specific assignments students could elaborate as part of their term papers. A total of 25 students successfully completed the course. GIMLA hopes to organize another edition with physical displacement.

As underlined by the current pandemic, cities play a vital role in advancing human development and answer to pressing challenges like poverty, inequality, and unsustainability. The Working Group on Inclusive and Sustainable Urban Developments (WISE) are launching the development of a best practice database in the provision of public goods and public services. Connected to an ongoing collaboration project between three academic networks and Cities Alliance, this database should cast a light on promising innovation in the field of housing and land, slum upgrading, basic, civic, and digital infrastructure, public space, mobility, and education, skill-building, and work programs. The initial aim is to collect basic information on 50 projects by the end of October 2020. 

The academic paper "Chinese-driven frontier expansion in the Amazon: four axes of pressure caused by the growing demand for soy trade" is the result of research carried out under GIMLA with the participation of Prof.Dr. Vanessa Boanada Fuchs, research assistant Alessandra Swoboda (Master in International Affairs) and HSG student Jean Claude Lampert (Bachelor in Business Administration). The paper tests the hypothesis of displacement deforestation and identifies four regions in the Amazon where pressures caused by the expansion soy crops have coincided with increased deforested areas between 2007 and 2017 regardless of the international voluntary agreement on a soy moratorium. The results of the research also suggest a connection between infrastructure availability and the future development of those frontiers. Local socio-economic implications for other productive activities and ways of life remain to be further investigated through socio-ethnographic methods on site. The full article can be accessed via this website.

«A place where knowledge is created» As a leading business university, we set global standards for research and teaching by promoting integrative thought, responsible action and an entrepreneurial spirit of innovation in business and society. The Law School of the University of St.Gallen — School of Management, Economics, Law, Social Sciences and International Affairs — is inviting applications for the Lemann Chair of International Economic Law and Law & Economics (full-time, open-rank)

Starting date: 1 February 2021 or by agreement.

To be considered for this position, applicants must have a proven academic track record and an entrepreneurial mindset. The successful candidate should be able to pursue research and teach classes in international economic law, financial markets and corporate law as well as law & economics, with a special focus on the relations between Europe and Brazil. We expect the successful candidate to have knowledge of German and Portuguese, familiarity with Swiss or Brazilian economic law and the willingness to become acquainted with the other legal system. If you are an experienced researcher in the field of Brazilian law, you will find the perfect environment in which to immerse yourself also in Swiss law or to deepen your knowledge in one of the two legal systems. Applicants should have a proof of practical experience, the ability to teach courses in English, excellent teaching evaluations and the ability to connect teaching and research to the social and economic sciences.

The Law School offers you cooperation in a committed and interdisciplinary environment as well as the opportunity to take over the academic programme management of the Law & Economics programme. In addition, you will also teach courses in Brazil within the framework of inter-university cooperation. The University of St.Gallen is an equal opportunity employer and committed to diversity. We explicitly welcome applications from female scholars. For further information please contact Prof. Dr. Benjamin Schindler, Dean of the Law School (berufungen@unisg.ch). APPLY  Applications should include a covering letter and the usual supporting documents (CV, list of publications, teaching evaluations, description of present and future research profile on a single A4 sheet).

They should be submitted online to the President of the University of St.Gallen, Prof. Dr. Bernhard Ehrenzeller.

Closing date for applications: 7 June 2020

In the spring semester, a total of four bachelor and three master theses (Master of Business Innovation, Master of Accounting and Finance, Master in International Affairs) supervised by GIMLA staff have been submitted. The topics ranged from ecological challenges in metropolitan cities, last mile mobility solutions, affordable housing to the impacts of Chinese investments in the Amazon. GIMLA is thankful to the students Jacqueline Senfft, Rosanna Wepfer, Marc Huber, Jean Claude Lampert, Caleb Künzle, Thomas Kaeslin, and Fabienne Zumbühl for their trust and dedication.

In times of remote work, many organizations around the world have realized they were not prepared for this transition which will have lasting impacts on the ways we do business and manage our teams.

For the interested public, GIMLA is organizing an online free course with Prof. Dr. Martin J. Eppler from the University of St.Gallen. In this webinar taking place on May 5, participants can receive valuable insights into the theoretical and practical content on how to generate ideas and solve problems in a team, online and offline. This short course is a great opportunity to learn from the University of St.Gallen experts, a leading Business Institution in Europe, who have also had to quickly react to the adaptations required by the new COVID 19 pandemic. For more information and free registration visit the event page.

About the lecturer: Prof. Dr. Martin J. Eppler is a professor of communications management and institute director at the University of St. Gallen and the author of 18 books and over 200 scientific articles on creativity, innovation, and communication in management.

In October 2020, a virtual conference is organized by the TU Delft and the Politechnico di Torino on the topic of "Policy transfer, diffusion and translation in territorial governance and spatial planning in the Global South." The abstract of Anthony Boanada-Fuchs "Learning Locally for a Global Knowledge on Urban “Solutions” – Contribution of Academia to improve Policy Transferability" has been accepted. The proposed long paper shall highlight GIMLA research in progress on the role of academia in advancing insights on good practices in urban development projects. 

In "Latin America together against COVID 19", GIMLA wants to share encouraging initiatives and compassionate responses in the region. This series aims at providing bottom-up and more personal views on technologic innovation, political and economic responses, and acts of solidarity. Regular posts are made on our social media channel including Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

Although the physical office of GIMLA remains closed until further notice, the team remains reachable for any queries you might have. The best way is to send us an email to our personal or institutes email. We can then offer alternative communication channels including phone, skype, zoom, etc.

We all have to contribute to containing the spread of the Covid19, if not for ourselves, for the sake of those who are the most vulnerable such as people with pre-existing illnesses and who are immunosuppressed. Slowing down the spread is a responsibility of the young and healthy to ease the impact on our public and private health systems so that care can be provided in a timely and satisfying fashion to all others who need it most. In light of these facts, and also taking into consideration the measures simultaneously adopted by the University of St.Gallen and by the Government of São Paulo (Brazil) on March 13, GIMLA is operating under new remote working conditions effective immediately. We remain available via electronic communication and do our best to answer any queries in the shortest possible time.

The director of GIMLA participated in a special training about Female Leadership promoted by the Swiss-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and led by the consultant Virginia Haag. The course brought together several team leaders from Swiss companies operating in Brazil and dealt with the development of competencies to promote change.

What a vibrant and stimulating way of celebrating Women's Day!

The third Latam Dialogue focuses on the issue of migration within Latin America and the role of Latin American emigration into the world. In the first interview, Yvette Sánchez and Claudia Franciska Brühwiler comment on the growing Latino influence on U.S. society and politics, reactions to it, and the way forward. The videos of the series will be uploaded on a weekly basis.

In a joint effort, GIMLA is organizing a paper session for the upcoming RC 21 conference in Antwerp. Taking place between July 6 - 8, the panel no. 55 "Cities of Apps?" invites for critical reflections on the question who ultimatley benefits from smart cities projects? GIMLA is particularly interested in contributions that highlight the political economy of smart city projects. Abstracts via the online portal are welcomed until the submission deadline of March 15.

Are you a Master Student at the University of St.Gallen and looking for an immersive experience during this Spring break? Do you want to learn more about smart cities and urban innovation by visiting transformative projects in the top-ranked smart city of Latin America? Consider applying for the Latam Compact Chile organised by the St.Gallen Institute of Management in Latin America.

For more information visit the dedicated page or consult the Factsheet. Contact us before February 10 to apply! The course takes place in Santiago de Chile between March 29 and April 03.

In the scope of an inter-institutional cooperation between the St.Gallen Institute of Management in Latin America, HEKS/EPER, and local university researchers in Brazil at Uni-Montes (MG) and UFBA, we invite interested Bachelor and Master students to develop their thesis on the role of carbon markets in the conservation of the environment and maintenance of local forms of life and community livelihoods.

Three inter-connected research topics are currently available for thesis orientation at GIMLA-HSG:

1. Socio-economic mapping of relevant activities around a river basin

This survey identifies all stakeholders with direct and indirect interests in the management of a river basin from an interstate and inter-sector perspective. The student would have to carry out fieldwork in Brazil and contact a wide range of actors with ease, working in collaboration with partner universities, communities, environmental reserve managers, and agriculture producers in the region. Prior knowledge of the Portuguese language is required.

2. Case study on the resilience of the environment and water resources after the removal of a monoculture (eucalyptus)

This study aligns community-based reports based on traditional knowledge with hydrographic and rainfall data and satellite imagery. The student may decide to conduct fieldwork in Brazil and/or analyze fieldwork data collected by project partners from the distance. Prior knowledge of the Portuguese language is required.

3. Carbon markets and the carbon sink capacity of the Cerrado vegetation compared to other non-native crops.

This study addresses the legal and financial incentive structures offered by the carbon credit framework in favor of competing attitudes and activities connected to environmental governance (restoring native forest vs. expanding non-native plantations). This is a desktop study combined with expert semi-structured interviews. Prior knowledge of Portuguese is a plus.

Interested students should contact us for more information. Ideal starting date between Feb/March 2020.