ALEJANDRA DEVECCHI is an urbanist with a professional background in urban environmental planning, housing policy-making and development studies. As partner in a private consulting organization, Ambiente Urbano Planejamento e Projetos, she has been leading several projects in the area of urban policy-making, planning and management. This appointment has enabled her to tackle daily urban and environmental problems concerned with poverty and look for new forms of managing resources and building knowledge.
Her work experience involves relevant appointments in public and private institutions of Brazil, having been involved in the field of urban and environmental planning and policy-making since 1986. She is currently associate director and fellow consultant advising local gorvernments in urban planning, policy-making and governmental programmes management.
In 1994, she was awarded a Master's Degree from the Faculty of Economics / University College of London (DPU-UCL). The final dissertation, entitled 'Rethinking Urban Productivity' received a mark of distinction by the Board of Examiners. As an account of the consequences of development paradigms on the urban sphere,it became the consolidation of some years of practice and reflections on development.
She has also completed postgraduate training in Urban Settlements Planning and Environmental Planning in well-known institutions in The Netherlands (IHS) and Spain. Since 1999, as a LEAD fellow (Leaership on Environment and Devlopment Programme), she belongs to a global network of individuals and non-governmental organizations, committed to sustainable development.
Her previous professional experience in local administrations, like the Housing Agency of the city of Sao Paulo, provided her with a comprehensive understanding on governance aspects. However her field experience is restricted to Brazil, the years spent studying in Rotterdam and London gave the opportunity to acknowledge, discuss and assess development experiences from all over the world and accumulate a valuable and up-to-date set of documentation about the subject.
Prior experience living and studying abroad (Argentina, Spain, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom), gave her the capability and adaptability to foreign cultures and the possibility to develop solid written and verbal communication skills in Spanish, Portuguese and English.
Academically, she is planning to rejoin the Ph.D. program with the project about the role of cities under the Neo-liberal Development Paradigm (a comparative case study of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo).
She is used to working independently while operating in an interdisciplinary team, capable to work under pressure and dealing sensitively with various partner organizations.
Her future ambitions are related to building up an international professional career in development policies within International Aid Organizations. Having been born in Argentine and a Brazilian citizen since November by option, she has made a clear commitment to work hard towards the reduction of poverty in the world.
