Foro de las Ciudades: innovation and urban sustainability

He is the current president of the Provincial Council of Valladolid, a position he has held since 2019. He will preside over his second term since June 2023. He has been mayor of Matapozuelos since 2007, where he began his political career, in addition to chairing the Popular Party of Valladolid.

Between 2015 and 2019, he was deputy delegate of the Area of Equal Opportunities and Social Services, and also served as third vice president of the Provincial Council of Valladolid from 2017 to 2019.

His academic background includes a degree as a Higher Technician in Furniture Design and Manufacture, an area in which he ran his family business before focusing entirely on politics.

As president of the Water, Environment and Circular Economy Policies Commission of the FEMP, he will work to promote actions to reduce CO2 emissions, improve energy efficiency, promote sustainable mobility and prevent waste generation, contributing to the fight against climate change. It will also promote the green municipality model and the preservation of urban biodiversity.

She studied Law and Economics at the Carlos III University of Madrid. She has worked as a lawyer specialising in administrative litigation. She has held various positions in different councils such as Childhood, Adolescence and Youth, and Finance, Contracting and Assets.

She was manager of the Association of Young Entrepreneurs of Cantabria until she became a councillor of the City Council in 2003. She was Councillor for Tourism and Institutional Relations from 2007 until she became Mayor in 2016, becoming the first woman to hold this position.

Elkin Velásquez is currently UN-Habitat´s Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean. He leads strategic initiatives related to the implementation and territorial and urban localization of the SDGs and the Paris Agreements. Elkin coordinates UN-Habitat programs in LAC on the implementation of the New Urban Agenda. He promotes alliances and coalitions in support to the development of regional public goods, and to increase innovative financing for sustainable urban development and SDGs in cities. He promotes community inclusion as a tool to reduce poverty and urban inequalities, and to accelerate an economic development that is better distributed in territorial terms.
Elkin has a solid background that includes degrees in Public Administration at the ENA (French National School of Public Administration), PhD in Geography, specializing in Planning and Territorial Policy, at the University of Grenoble (France) and Engineering at the School of Mines, National University of Colombia in Medellin.
Elkin's experience within UN-Habitat includes the leadership at global level of the Urban Governance Section, the Safer Cities program and the Regional and Metropolitan Planning Unit, as well as temporarily the Gender Unit. Elkin has extensive experience in supporting Intergovernmental bodies.
Throughout his career Elkin has advised and worked extensively with local and national governments in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa and Asia, in areas like design, implementation and communication on urban policy and strategies, SDGs, financing, urban governance, territorial and environmental planning, safety and urban risks.

UN-Habitat is the coordinating agency within the United Nations system for activities related to sustainable urbanization. Its mission is to promote the development of sustainable cities and human settlements "leaving no place behind". In collaboration with national governments, it is responsible for promoting and consolidating multilevel and multisectoral collaboration for the implementation of the New Urban Agenda, with the participation of local authorities, private stakeholders, non-governmental organizations and civil society. UN-Habitat contributes to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in cities, including Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 11, which is to "make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable". It is also the focal point for the monitoring, evaluation and implementation of the New Urban Agenda, adopted at the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) held in Quito, Ecuador, in 2016.

José Luis Martínez Almeida was born in Madrid in 1975 and, after studying Law at the Universidad Pontificia de Comillas (ICAI-ICADE), he joined the State Attorney Corps in 2001. He has been a councilor of the Madrid City Council since 2015 and spokesperson of the Municipal Group of the PP in the Plenary since 2017. After the municipal elections of May 2019, he was invested Mayor of Madrid and, four years later, he won the elections again -this time with an absolute majority- and to be appointed Mayor of the capital of Spain for a new mandate that will last until 2027.

José Vicente de los Mozos is currently CEO of Indra Sistemas since 2023, a position he combines with his responsibility at the helm of Spain's leading trade fair operator. He has previously served as President of Renault Spain and is Executive Vice President of Production and Logistics for the Renault Group worldwide.