Andrés Javier Peña Cabra and Diana McCormick are both experts in their field in Bogota, Colombia. In early 2017, they chose Ottawa as their new home, and Ecology Ottawa as their first Canadian family, improving Ottawa’s streets using examples from Bogota, the global inspiration for sustainable cities.
“When we landed, I knew I wanted to keep working in sustainable transportation. I have been working in this area in Colombia for the past six years, performing strategic transportation studies to increase walking, cycling and transit use, supporting the implementation of policies to decouple economic development from greenhouse gas emissions, developing preliminary designs of urban streets and collaborating with non-profits to promote active transportation. Through this experience I gained an appreciation of how important civil society and grassroots organizations (e.g. “Fundación Despacio,” “Cebras por la Vida” and “Ciclopaseo de los Miércoles”) are to improving the quality of life in our cities, as well as of how the way we move determines our individual and collective well-being. So when we heard about Ecology Ottawa’s Active City branch and tree give-away campaign, we couldn't help but reach out.”
