SPURS Newsletter 2022

Spring 2022 Issue 68 ProgramSPURS/HumphreyNewsletter

SPURS NEWSLETTER 2022 CONTENTSLetterfromtheDirectorSPURS/HumphreySeminarSeries2021-2022NewYorkProfessionalDevelopmentTripGrowingaPartnership:SPURSandtheAmericanPlanningAssociationNimfadeLeon’sRetirementandNewAssistantDirectorofSPURSReflectionsfrom2021-2022FellowsMyMITJourney:TheBest,TheSuper-Duper,TheSurreal,andtheFun Maira Acosta Fuentes Never Stop Trying Oyun-Erdene Altan-Ochir The Year of Gratitude Magdalena Ayerra Turning Point Sandra Patricia Camacho Otero Oh, the Places You’ll Go! Sharon Schlossberg Dinur Managing the Deepening of Professional Personality Oleksandr Dovbnia The Energy Transition Samir Ali Khther Learning to Positively Address the Climate Crisis Ana Carolina Martinez Quintero A Remarkable Year of Reflection, Academic and Professional Aspiration Mai Thi Nguyen What I Learned During My SPURS/ Humphrey Fellowship Marie Jeanne Saleh Reflections on My Ten Months as a SPURS Fellow Maressa Vieira The Future in the Present Muhammet Yuvshanov SPURS/Humphrey Commencement 2022 Alumni Updates282725242322212019181716151412109864 Special Program for Urban and Regional Studies Massachusetts Institute of Technology 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Room 9-435 Cambridge, MA 02139 (617) spurs-program@mit.eduspurs.mit.edu253-5915 Fellows participated in a riverbank clean-up with the Charles River Conservancy

SPURS NEWSLETTER 2022 TURNING POINTS 4 5LETTER fROm ThE DIREcTOR LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR

Now, nearly 45 years after the creation of the Humphrey Program, we are witnessing yet another turning point in the history of nations. As Russian troops brazenly invaded Ukraine, the United Nations seemed impotent to enforce diplomacy over war. More alarmingly, the relatively young democratic nation of Ukraine is struggling to preserve its political institutions in the face of attack from two neigh boring nations that are openly advocating for authoritarian approaches to governance: Russia and Belarus. This trend to ward authoritarianism is not limited to Europe, however. As Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt documented so clearly in their book How Democracies Die (Broadway Books, 2018), there is a rising tide, globally, of authoritarian governance and the idea that only such rule can foster economic development of the kind best exemplified by China. What could be a more appropriate time to reaffirm the core values of the Humphrey Program? Both the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, which provides the financial resources for the program, What could be a more appropriate time to reaffirm the core values of the Humphrey Program? and the Institute of International Education, which ad ministers it, should be lauded for sustaining the program even during the Covid pandemic. As the coordinator of the Humphrey Program at MIT, I sense the urgency of the task at hand and look forward to welcoming incoming Humphrey

Fellows from around the world—including Iran—to continue to nurture our conviction that, indeed, the world will be a more economically developed and safer place if democracy and diplomacy, not authoritarianism and war, animates the thinking of development professionals around the world.

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Fellows learned about the revitalization of Bryant Park during the New York professional development trip.

Democracy, diplomacy, and development—the troika of fundamental values that inspired the creation of the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program by President Carter in 1978—have acquired new urgency with the recent invasion of Ukraine by Russia. The causal con nection among the three goals may not be clear to some who grew up after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989; but in 1978, when the U.S. Congress created the Humphrey Program to host mid-ca reer professionals from developing countries, the three goals seemed noble to those who had witnessed the Cold War and were alarmed by the turn toward military rule in Latin Amer ica. They were further alarmed by the Iran hostage crisis and the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan, which both took place during the first year that the United States hosted Humphrey Fellows. That is why it is important to remind ourselves of the logic of the troika, how the three noble goals are interconnected, and why the Humphrey Program advo cated them in 1978. The logic behind the troika was first articulated after World War II as developing nations emerged from colonial rule. In his 1949 inaugural address, President Truman stated boldly that the United States supported the end of colonial ism and wanted a world where independent nations would trade freely with the United States and with each other. The Cold War added complications, however, as the West, led by the United States, supported democratic nations over communist regimes. Some nations, including Egypt, India, Ghana, and Indonesia, decided not to join either politi cal camp because they did not want to be caught in a fight

Bish Sanyal SPURS/HumphreyDirector, Program between the two new superpowers. It was around this time that political economists such as Walt Rostow, Joseph Schum peter, and Samuel P. Huntington articulated the logic of why development required democracy and vice versa. The creation of the United Nations added the third dimension: the preference for diplomacy over war. Still reeling from the devastation of World War II, the entire world agreed to create a forum for deliberation and diplomacy among all nations. The prosperity and peace that followed vindicated the logic of the troika, even though the communist nations, including China, remained suspicious of both Western-style democra cies and market-based economic development. By 1978, when the Humphrey Program was created, the world had changed. A global economic crisis was under way, fueled by sharply rising oil prices and the rising fiscal deficits of even prosperous nations such as the United States. That raised questions about the efficacy of the Keynesian eco nomic policies that had dominated development economics since World War ll. As I mentioned earlier, the collapse of democratic regimes in Latin America had also raised questions about the relationship between democracy and economic devel opment. The many proxy wars between the two superpowers that played out in devel oping nations were not showing any sign of slowing down; in fact, the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis remind ed everyone that the collapse of diplomacy is destabilizing.

This year, MIT’s Special Program for Urban and Regional Studies (SPURS)/Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program— along with the rest of MIT—resumed in-person activities after a year (2020–2021) of all online courses, seminars, and other meetings. We welcomed the opportunity to meet face-toface, even if masked until mid-March 2022, when a decline in Covid cases locally permitted us to unmask and share our full facialWeexpressions.launchedour yearlong SPURS/Humphrey seminar in September 2021, and soon three overarching themes emerged through our weekly Monday meetings: Diversity: We discussed various approaches to international development and North American planning, and how they might illuminate each other. Equity: We explored ways to understand and reduce inequal ities in access to opportunities. Reflection: We considered the habits of thought necessary to ameliorate complex problems that defy orthodox solutions.

Early in the fall semester, SPURS Director Bish Sanyal, Ford International Professor of Urban Development and Planning, framed an international planning perspective for the seminar by discussing the evolution of development planning theory and practice since the middle of the 20th century. This was complemented by an introduction to U.S. urban planning by Louise Elving, a lecturer in the Depart ment of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP), and followed by a talk on local Boston planning issues, institutions, and poli tics with Kairos Shen, an associate professor of the practice in the Center for Real Estate and former director of design for the City of Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA).

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SPURS NEWSLETTER 2022 6

SPURS/HUMPHREY SEMINAR SERIES 2021-2022 TURNING POINTS

Current planning challenges in Boston were further ex plained during a visit to the BPDA offices, where Fellows met with multiple staff members and the agency’s director. The Fellows learned about BPDA’s dual role in overseeing plan ning at multiple scales—from the entire city to specific neigh borhoods—and in approving development projects ranging from high-rise, mixed-use structures to small, multi-family properties.Control and equity in American community planning were the focus of talks by both Karilyn Crockett, assistant professor in DUSP, and Kenneth Reardon, professor of urban planning at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Crockett outlined the long but eventually successful fight to stop the destructive construction of a proposed national highway through Boston and Cambridge in the 1970s, while Reardon described how a group of public housing residents in Memphis, Tennessee, struggled to avoid being displaced by redevelopment. Seminars on other diverse topics led by multiple DUSP faculty members put a sharp focus on the difficult challenges that arise in multiple areas of planning.

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DUSP Professor Phil Thompson gave a guest lecture in the spring semester.

Fabio Duarte, principal research scientist at the MIT Sense able City Lab, described how new forms of technology—from individual smartphones to robotic boats—are used in cities to collect data on such behaviors as street usage to create accu rate maps of existing conditions in dense, unplanned favelas.

Professor Lawrence Vale discussed how both equitable access and climate resilience issues arise at the city scale during his presentation on the evolution of planning for new capital cit ies over 70 years; his talk ranged from the creation of Brasilia in the mid-20th century to current planning for new capital cities in Egypt and Indonesia. Early in the spring semester, the focus shifted to pro fessional and planning issues of immediate concern to the Fellows. The Fellows all gave presentations about significant questions, problems, or challenges that they had planned to address during their fellowship year and how their view of this concern had shifted during their time at MIT. This created an opportunity for members of the SPURS/Humphrey communi ty to learn more about one another and offer support to each other.The spring semester also featured two workshops on ne gotiations led by Lawrence Susskind, Ford Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning, drawing on his long experience managing complex negotiations in many parts of the world. Susskind has offered his expertise to many cohorts of SPURS/ Humphrey Fellows, and these are always invaluable experi ences, since negotiation is at the core of creating successful outcomes for a multitude of development problems.

The goal was to make SPURS/Humphrey a shared epis temic community of practitioners who share their profes sional experiences, both successes and unresolved difficul ties, so all can better shape their future work.

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SPURS NEWSLETTER 2022 TURNING POINTS 8 9NEW YORk PROfESSIONaL DEvELOPmENT TRIP

A Visit to New York City

World Town Planning Day discussions were extended a week later during an online meeting between SPURS/Hum phrey representatives and members of the APA International Division. One goal of this meeting was to identify APA mem bers to mentor Fellows at MIT—and a couple matches were made. Saleh connected with a transportation planner who works on public mass transit in Seattle. And Nguyen met with an American planner, Timothy Van Epp, who has worked extensively in Southeast Asia. Together, they outlined a plan to establish a longer-term collaboration between Vietnamese planners and the APA International Division, starting with video linkups between the two groups.

Other potential joint endeavors under consideration range from US planners contributing to planning education in Vietnam to creating a Vietnamese professional planners association which might link to APA. They met in April via Zoom with both other APA International members and plan ners in Vietnam in order to advance this agenda. The first joint activity will be a Zoom meeting between planners in the two countries to introduce them to one another and then to have one or two pairs of speakers from both countries to present issues of concern in both places. Poential issues include planning for urban sustainability and integrating preservation of historic communities into broader planning efforts.Tim Van Epp has also been meeting recently with Olek sandr Dovbnia,a SPURS Fellow who is an urban planner from Kharkiv, Ukraine. They are discussing ways which US planners may be able to provide information, expertise and support to Ukrainian planners when they are able to begin planning how to recover from the terrible destruction now happening in their cities

Additional APA and SPURS/Humphrey activities hap pened in the late spring of 2022. The head of the APA Inter national Division, Michael Kolber, was the featured speaker at one of the weekly SPURS/Humphrey seminars in late April. He explained both the work of this Division and his work as a senior urban planner in Trenton, NJ. His Trenton work was noteworthy because it happens in the context of a lower-in come, economically weak city, whereas the Fellows have spent this year in the context of Cambridge/Boston which are thriving economically at the risk

Two Fellows addressed APA members from across the country during APA’s annual national conference that was held late in April in San Diego. Sharon Dinur spoke more expansively about strategies to increase public participation in planning such as creating offices for planners in neighbor hood community centers where local residents can contact them close to their homes, regularly, without the constraints of organized public meetings. Ana Carolina de Chanis’s talk, titled “Planning confronted by politics: drafting sustainability,” out lined the multiple, intertwined challenges facing municipal government in addressing sustainability and climate change due to the complexities they face in social expectations, financial limitations, political aspirations plus technical un certainties.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TRIP

One great example of this new partnership was World Town Planning Day, November 8, 2021, which featured an international virtual conference sponsored by the APA International Division on the topic “Planning for Inter-gen erational Equity.” Five Fellows from diverse parts of the world presented:AnaCarolina Martinez Quintero, a facilitator from Pan ama for the Paris Agreement on climate change, described several ways Panama is working to give a voice to youth in na tional meetings on climate issues, including creating a Youth Academy on Climate Change.

Mai Nguyen, a sustainability design consultant and civil engineer, spoke about the growing number of green building initiatives in Vietnam.

Exploring New York City via public transportation.

The New York City professional trip has been a hallmark of MIT’s SPURS/ Humphrey program for many years. Tapping into the extended net work of MIT alumni serving as plan ners, designers, and policy makers at different levels in the most populous city in the United States, the trip offers Fellows a unique opportunity to meet with professionals, activists, and lead ers—all of whom generously share their experience addressing key urban chal lenges in New York City and beyond. This year’s trip, which took place March 10–12, had a packed schedule, featuring several meetings with plan ning practitioners and urban designers as well as site visits and a neighbor hood walking tour in a historical area of Manhattan. The trip also involved a series of collective reflection sessions and socializing events. Taking the train from Boston, the Fellows arrived in the city at around noon on a relatively cold Thursday. After grabbing a quick lunch, the group walked to the Century Association to meet with Andrew Manshel, a longtime urban practitioner and leader in both the public and private sectors as well as in community centers across New York City. Manshel talked with the Fellows about the history of the neighborhood and the successful revitalization of Bryant Park during the 1990s. Man shel—the former associate director and counsel at the Bryant Park Restoration Corporation and author of Learning from Bryant Park (Rutgers University Press, 2020)—then led the group on a walk through Bryant Park to explain in further detail how a series of ambi tious goals, business opportunities, and development challenges led to the completion of this much-acclaimed urbanFollowingproject. an engaging ques tion-and-answer session, the Fellows extended their visit to the adjacent New York Public Library and the sur rounding neighborhood, including Times Square. At a Peruvian restaurant, the group met and dined with Thierno Amadou Diallo ‘15, an urban analyst at the Community Development Unit of the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). Diallo, a DUSP alumnus, talked with the Fellows about a range of policy initiatives and programs launched by NYDFS to attain equality of access to financial resources and institutions in underserved New YorkFridaycommunities.wasequally busy, begin ning with a visit to Central Park and the Museum of Modern Art, a unique repository of design, architecture, and photography. The group then met at the Tenement Museum in Manhat tan’s Lower East Side for the museum’s newest neighborhood walking tour: “Reclaiming Black Spaces.” During the tour, Fellows learned how Black and African Americans shaped this part of the city as they struggled to make and maintain their homes, businesses, and communities.TheFellows also learned about and discussed what drew Black New York ers to Lower Manhattan and how their experiences were shaped by migration, racism, and resistance as they worked to build communities and create a shared sense of home. From the Tenement Museum, the group went to the 9/11 Memorial, a tribute of remembrance to those killed in the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, that sheds light on personal sto ries of loss, recovery, and hope. Fellows then spent some time with each other to socialize, reflect on their visit, and explore other parts of the city before returning to Boston.

SPURS and the American Planning Association SPURS and the American Planning Association (APA) launched a new partnership in spring 2021 that has expand ed through diverse joint activities during the 2021–2022 aca demic year. Two complementary goals fueled the endeavor: the first is to grow opportunities for SPURS/Humphrey Fel lows to meet and work with American planners; the second is to enable Fellows to share their knowledge and experience with planners in this country. Both were achieved.

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GROWING A PARTNERSHIP

Marie Jeanne Saleh, an architect and transportation planner from Chad, described several projects to engage youth in planning and community improvement projects such as solar panel installation and the building of small roads to improve local access.

Sharon Dinur, deputy director of Jerusalem’s City Planning Department, discussed the challenges of engaging public participation from all sectors of Jerusalem, particular ly youth—who comprise 35 percent of the city’s residents.

Sandra Camacho Otero, an advisor on prospective disaster risk management, outlined key features of resil ient infrastructure. She drew on her work in Latin America to emphasize that “resilient infrastructure” doesn’t mean infrastructure that never fails in a disaster. Rather, it means infrastructure that can maintain a minimum level of service and be restored quickly, especially when accompanied by financial planning protection such as insurance.

There will be a lot of traveling the first few years. For one, I have to go home to the Philippines. My best friend from Australia is meeting me there, and then we’ll go to either Korea or Japan and then I’ll go with her to Melbourne. I have a plan in place already. I hope to travel while I still can and enjoy my grandchildren. That’s the first thing I want to do: reconnect with my family and perhaps visit former Fellows in their home countries!

SPURSDIRECTORASSISTANTJOINSGOLDBERGSELMAHASOF

The biggest benefit for me was meeting new Fellows each year and seeing the world through their eyes. I was able to travel without having to physically travel. The Fellows talk with you about their personal and professional lives. I feel as if I’m in their living room learning about their family and what they’re going through. Having lived in the Philippines, I know the adjustment required [to move to the United States], and I think I could empathize more with the Fellows. In the new job description for my replacement, I included a specific skill that requires the applicant to have international experience or have immi grated from another country, because without that, you can never understand or appreciate the kind of adjustment one has to go through when you first come to this country. I think that having gone through the experience immigrating to this country, I understand how it is. I have made a lot of good friends who are former Fellows through the years. So, when you ask me why I didn’t move to a different job, it’s precisely for this reason. When you’re en joying yourself, it doesn’t feel like it’s work. Plus, this depart ment is great, and the school is a great place to work.

The SPURS team, DUSP and MIT colleagues, and the entire SPURS community congratulate Nimfa de Leon on her retirement in December 2021 after 36 years of service to the program, most recently as assistant director. Before leaving MIT, de Leon was profiled by Maria Iacobo from the School of Architecture and Planning. An excerpt from that article follows (edited for clarity since publication).

The people. The Fellows. The staff. My daily work routine. I used to take a daily walk around the campus. Since Covid I haven’t gone back to my normal routine. But, before—es pecially in the summer—I would walk with my coworker, Sandy Welford. I am always in awe of the Charles River. This is because when I was back home in the Philippines watching movies, they always show MIT and the Charles River. So, it’s still just a great sight for me. During lunch I used to sit on one of the benches overlooking the Charles River and say to myself, “I can’t believe I’m here! I can’t believe I’m here!”

When I started as an administrative assistant, there were only two staff and the director. With changes in SPURS director ships, my responsibilities evolved, and I was given more work such as managing admissions, budgeting, fundraising, and managing the day-to-day activities of the Fellows. Bish Sany al, the present SPURS director, also had trust in me and gave me more autonomy and job responsibilities.

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Why didn’t you at some point say, “I think I’d like to try something else at MIT?” What is it about SPURS that kept you there?

Selmah Goldberg joined SPURS in 2021 as assistant director. Her career in international education and development includes managing an international fellowship on sustainable urban development at MIT and working as the program manager of the MIT Governance Lab. Goldberg holds degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and from Middlebury College.

Recently, one of my colleagues was showing the new Fellows around campus for their first time, and he said that some of them were almost in tears. Their dreams were to come to MIT and now, some were in tears because they can’t believe they’re finally here! I can relate to that. I think if you’re from here you may take this experience for granted. What’s next?

SPURS NEWSLETTER 2022 TURNING POINTS 10 11NImfa DE LEON S RETIREmENT NIMFA DE LEON’S RETIREMENTHowhasyourroleevolvedovertheyears?

You’re retiring at the end of the year. What will you miss the most?

SPURS NEWSLETTER 2022 TURNING POINTS 12 13REfLEcTIONS fROm fELLOWS FELLOWSFROMREFLECTIONS2021–2022 In 2021–2022 SPURS welcomed twelve Humphrey Fellows from Argentina, Brazil, Chad, Honduras, Iraq, Israel, Mexico, Mongolia, Panama, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Vietnam.

NEVER TRYINGSTOPOyun-Erdene

THE BEST: I have met such talented and lovely people, all my SPURS peers: Maressa, Marie Jeanne, Mai, Laly, San druzshki, Oyun, Alek, Anix, Sharon, Samir, and Mohamed. All of you are in my heart! I will never forget you.

The moment I put on skates and stood on the ice rink in full protective gear with a stick in hand gave me a gut feeling that this was what I was really looking for. Progressing from learning hickey as a total beginner to playing in matches was definitely the highlight of my program. It brought me tons of joy and happiness, along with many new friends, and helped me to get through challenging days when I felt out of my comfort zone. The motto of MIT, “Mens et Manus” (Mind and Hand) stands for hands-on experience and education. Practical experiences such as laboratory sessions, problem sets, and independent projects make MIT special. The SPURS program enabled me to explore and audit a wide range of courses related to my professional interests. I attended several en ergy-related courses, including the Applications of Energy in Global Development course led by D-Lab. My team in the course sought to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable energy systems for Cameroonian broiler chick farmers, for which we designed and built a thermally insulat ed box of plywood and XPS foam and tested sodium sulfate decahydrate Phase Changing Material (PCM) along with an alternative, tetradecanol. Our results confirmed the design’s ability to provide a comfortable and healthy temperature for chicks. Exploring courses, labs, events, workshops, and conferences were fascinating experiences that enhanced my area knowledge and guided me to set further boundaries to keep exploring. I did my professional affiliations with two different kinds of organizations. I collaborated with the MIT New Engineer ing Education Transfer (NEET) course team on the project “Molten nitrate salt development for thermal energy stor age in Ulaanbaatar,” my hometown and the capital city of Mongolia. We set out to find an effective, affordable heating solution for homes in the ger district of Ulaanbaatar and the project test result was rewarding. After that, I completed my second affiliation at the solar engi neering company Zapotec Energy Inc., where I focused on solar PV system en gineering design drawing and maintenance. I did several site visits at successfully implemented solar PV system projects around Massachusetts and learned as much as I could about their engineering practice and experiences. It was my first exposure to an American work environment and helped me to expand my professional perspective on global issues with American peers and other research students. I proudly say that my SPURS/Humphrey journey was the turning point of my life. Through the program, I enriched both my academic and professional knowledge and con tinuously challenged boundaries to make a greater positive impact in the future. Through the program, I enriched both my academic and professional knowledge and continuously challenged boundaries to make a greater positive impact in the future.

All the places visited, the international network created, the cities explored - Medford, New York, Washington DC, Davis, and Sacramento - were a good start for urban plan ning and housing analysis comparison in the future. My final thought is a message to the 2021-2022 class and also all past and future Fellows: “Together we can build a sus tainable and equitable planet, respectful of all kinds of life, taking into account the necessities of the entire population, especially those who have been left behind as a result of the system and/or wrong decisions. Do not forget to include in your projects natural ma terials to combat climate change, to create resilient and long-lasting projects, and to attain low-cost housing that gives hope of ownership to those who can not otherwise afford it. Make sure to include users in the decision-making process. Be kind to everyone. Be happy. And, for sure say “no more animal abuse.”

THE SURREAL: I have no words to express my gratitude to all the professors whose classes I attended and included me in real-life projects. As a practitioner, I have the strong necessity to be active and proactive, and feel more comfort able with courses that involve fieldwork. I have participated in stunning projects like: Envisioning Medford: Strategies to address local affordable housing needs; the Louisiana Lift House Homecoming Visit Assessment; the Infill Development Project for Public Housing in Medford (my professional affil iation); D-Lab class activity to assemble a spectrophotometer, a device used for testing water quality; the MIT Flooding and Water Quality Project; and Plan for The Reconstruction of Guanaja Island. My learnings from all of these projects have been priceless, with topics ranging across: U.S. public housing programs; financial models for affordable housing; techni cal and risk analysis and assessment for housing; mixed-in come housing; urban massing; Medford’s zoning regulations and transportation system’s first approach; environmental analysis; parking lot issues; water quality standards; water, architecture, and public health; women and water; infill development analysis; land use; regional and local planning; and climate change.

AltanOchir

Keep knocking, eventually the door will be open. After applying to the Humphrey Fellowship three times, my appli cation was finally successful in 2020. Being a SPURS Fellow in 2021-2022 has been an eye-opening experience. At the beginning of the year, I was constantly asking myself, “Why am I here?” and found that other fellows were wondering this too. It took me a while to realize that we are here because we all have worked hard in our fields so we all deserve to be here. To stop doubting myself was my biggest takeaway from MIT, along with many others. I believe that physical activity improves academic performance and effective learning. Therefore, as soon as I arrived, I looked for an activity that could keep me refreshed physically and mentally. It all started at MIT’s Henry G. Stein brenner stadium, where I was moved by the spirit of Amer ican sports. Experiencing the crowd cheering “Go Beavers, go!” at the stadium made me want to be a Beaver too! That excitement was followed by a number of tryouts for different MIT clubs, including soccer, basketball, tennis, cheerleading, frisbee, hip hop dancing, and even singing. However, I didn’t find the right fit until I joined the women’s ice hockey club.

THE SUPER-DUPER: I had the honor to meet Bish Sany al, SPURS Director, who is our mentor, inspiration, critic, motivational person, and during the “Reflecting on Practice” seminar, I considered him “the voice of our conscience.“ He constantly refers to joining efforts to achieve a better world. Nimfa de Leon guided us in the process of getting ready to come to the U.S. and settle in Boston; Babak Manouchehrifar made all the MIT protocols easier for us; Selmah Goldberg supported me in the process of awaiting my SSN; Debbie Levey always shared activities in the Boston area, Patti Foley took care that our dietary restrictions were followed; and Lousie Elving prepared our lectures.

THE FUN: I especially appreciate the solid understanding I have gained through the curriculum developed by SPURS in collaboration with DUSP, which references the current model that shapes international development, economics, and the social fabric which favors only a small portion of the population. I am now more than aware of those concepts and their link with early colonialism. The well-planned lectures are a magnificent way to question ourselves in many ways: Am I supporting the colonialist system through my actions, thoughts, habits, job, practices, etc.? Thanks, SPURS & DUSP. I will be always grateful to MIT SIGUS, particularly Prof. R. Goethert for conferring me such a unique opportunity to visit Houma, Louisiana during spring break. It was wonderful to serve all these families, not just as a technical team but also as a kind of psychological support. It was my pleasure to be a listener and the learnings will always be with me. Special thanks to Prof. Jeffrey Levine as well for the chance to actively participate in his 11.360 class which connected with the agency that later opened its doors to me for my professional affiliation. Jeff, if you read this one day, I took all your advice and my writing is better now (I hope).

The Best, The Super-Duper, The Surreal, and The Fun Maira Acosta Fuentes As I sit in MIT’s Student Center, contemplating the beauti ful Kresge auditorium, it is still hard to believe how far I have come. I feel so grateful to the cosmos to give me such an invaluable opportunity. I grew up in a small rural village in Honduras, raised by my grandparents. My mom (grand ma) always said to me: “You must go farther than us in your education. You must never be afraid to try all that you see unreachable and most important, you must never let anyone say that you are not a capable woman. You can do everything you want to do. Just work for it.” However, despite the psy chological support she gave me, there are always things that are hard to believe. Looking back, I would have never said I would be here now. However, life has surprised me in many ways. Imagine learning about what I love (housing, public health, and sus tainable development) and doing what I love (contributing to local public housing projects) and having fun while doing it at the top higher ed institution in the world? It’s unbelievable. My dream to have high-level academic education came true!

SPURS NEWSLETTER 2022 TURNING POINTS 14 15REfLEcTIONS fROm fELLOWS MY MIT JOURNEY

Argentina hurts. While a hundred years ago Argentina had one of the ten strongest economies in the world, the last official report indicated that nearly 40% of the populationeighteen million people and more than 60% of children - live below the poverty line, with the vast majority of vulnerable people in urban areas. This decline has been accelerated in the last fifteen years taking into account that the poverty line, in 2005, was 25%. Adding to this is recurrent economic crisis: annual inflation of 50%, devaluation, recession, and unem ployment.Inthe U.S., where people freak out with an annual inflation rate of 8-9%, I want to laugh. This massive, diverse, complex, powerful country gave me the possibility to grow and face big challenges. The Humphrey Fellowship honored me to attend the world’s most extraordinary university: MIT, a mind-blowing experience in every sense, where first and foremost I am learning how to become a better leader. I’m leaving this campus a totally transformed person. However, I now understand that there is a big contrast and an open wound that still hurts in the U.S. too. The land of opportunity for some was also the land of genocide and slavery for many. I learned and experienced that the racial wealth gap is still a shameful reality, that racism is an everyday battle that we must fight, that the public health system is almost non-existent, and drug addiction and mental health issues must be a priority to tackle now. Above all, like many of the Fellows, I’m a believer. De spite the fact that we are living in the darkest times in many decades in the Western Hemisphere, with the threat of mas sive war, I believe in change. I believe in policymakers like us, who don’t give up, who want to make this planet a better place for everyone. We are people who have values, who will fight for PEACE now more than ever, for FREEDOM, for jus tice, for human rights, for a better environment, for sustain able and inclusive cities, for a better healthcare system, for equal access to education and culture. As the year comes to a close, I want to especially thank the SPURS team for their support: Bish, Nimfa, Selmah, Patti, Louise, Babak, and Debbie. Finally, to my beloved cohort from whom I learned so much and will always remember: Alex, Ana, Mai, Maira, Maressa, Marie Jeanne, Muhammet, Oyun, Samir, Sandra, and Sharon. ¡Muchas gracias y hasta siempre!

POINTTURNINGSandra

Despite the fact that we are living in the darkest times in many decades in the Western Hemisphere, with the threat of massive war, I believe in change. I believe in policymakers like us, who don’t give up, who want to make this planet a better place for everyone.

I am grateful for the opportunity offered by the Ful bright- Garcia Robles Scholarship, the U.S. Department of State, the Humphrey Program and the SPURS team. I hope the SPURS program runs for many more years with new energy.We never stop learning, and for those interested in international development, learning is an ongoing process. I cannot think of a better institution to have had a fellowship. MIT is definitely the cherry on top of the cake.

Ayerra Being part of the SPURS program is and will be one of the big honors of my life. Having a year to learn, reflect, work, be inspired by, exchange ideas and insights with colleagues from different parts of the world, and to immerse myself in US culture, is a privilege that I remind myself of every day. One of the virtues that I have been practicing the most since I arrived is gratitude, especially after the very limited and unusual experience of the last cohort of SPURS Fellows. Even though there is still uncertainty, being able to be in the SPURS office, take classes in person, hold meetings, attend events, and travel is a blessing — things that, three years ago, one took for granted are now worthy of appreciation. A key aspect of SPURS is its diversity: Fellows coming from different so-called developing countries with varied expertise and backgrounds. I believe in diversity as a strength and that nothing but good can come from it. Our cohort attests to this: how diverse we are, how powerful that is, how strong it makes us, and beautiful in a way, too. I’m a policymaker from Argentina, known for our foot ball, tango, and beef. Every possible landscape you can imag ine is there, from tropical areas in the northeast to freezing weather in Patagonia. Argentina’s many achievements that bring great pride include multiple Nobel Prize recipients, pioneering medical achievements, the first satellites built in Latin America, and many writers, artists, and promoters of our culture. Recent progressive human rights achievements include being one of the first countries to enact equal mar riage, gender identity law, and reproductive rights. These achievements mark the sharp contrast between the enormous potential and the stark reality of my home country. Greatness seems to be but a beautiful memory, while the current truth seems to indicate the tragedy of unstoppable decline, that leads to loss of hope and anguish.

Being able to pause in my career and reflect on my professional path and responsibilities is a privilege. I would have loved this experience before the COVID 19 pandemic, but our experience was very unique. Reflecting on practice is a new motto for me.

Otero What a ride this has been! I cannot stop thinking how fast time passes and how amazing this experience has been. MIT has given me a new perspective on urban planning and de sign, but also on education, innovation and problem solving. I am very fortunate to have shared these past months with a very diverse group of eleven other Fellows who com plemented each other with our knowledge and our views. I am thankful for all of them and for all the learning we shared. We all came with a lot of experience that has now been shaped by this institution. I am also very lucky and beyond grateful to have a wonderful and supportive partner who came along on this adventure, and loving parents which are my constant support and encouragement. We are the cohort of uncertainty, not knowing whether we would have an in-person, hybrid or virtual fellowship, but we were fortunate to be on campus. One of the first experiences of innovation I had at MIT was the Atlas app, which tracked attesta tion, testing, and vac cination very well. We transitioned through the Delta variant and the Omicron variant, when we had to attest daily and test weekly, to not wearing masks anymore and testing optionally. While continuing to cope with Covid, we were astonished and saddened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and stood with our peer Fellow from that country. In between all the adjustments to adapt to a new city and way of living, we also adapted to the pandemic condi tions and to learning new topics that will shape our future steps. We shared interesting seminars, a retreat at Endicott House, the Global Leadership Forum in D.C, a visit to the BPDA, meeting the Harvard GSD Loeb Fellows, a meaning ful Thanksgiving, a Christmas break, courses during the IAP term, trips to NYC and Portland, professional development activities, and professional affiliations. We welcomed Selmah, the new SPURS Assistant Director, after Nimfa’s 36 years. We are the cohort of the new normal. Being able to pause in my career and reflect on my pro fessional path and responsibilities is a privilege. I would have loved this experience before the COVID 19 pandemic, but our experience was very unique. Reflecting on practice is a new motto for me. The SPURS and Humphrey Fellowship have been a very rewarding experience both professionally and personally. My goal was to gain experience, network and build new rela tionships, gain new education and training, and improve my skills in the U.S. context. I believe I achieved them all. The flexibility of the program allowed me to explore lecture, labs, spaces, events, meetings, and webinars in multiple depart ments and Schools, not only DUSP but also Civil and Envi ronmental Engineering and the Slon School of Management. However, I learned the most from listening to people at MIT: staff, students, visiting professors, researchers, directors, and more. I even had a conversation with President Reif. I am continually amazed at the insightful discussions happening here.An important part of my fellowship was my profession al affiliation with the World Bank, a relationship I hope to maintain in the future. A visit to Hawaii, brought productive meetings with DUSP alumni at the National Disaster Pre paredness Training Center of the University of Hawaii and a chance to learn a lot about the history, culture and traditions of the Aloha State. I also learned about new topics and expanded my inter ests in real estate, entrepreneurship, block chain, and system design. This experience will definitely be a readjustment of my life and a fresh new start.

Patricia Camacho

SPURS NEWSLETTER 2022 TURNING POINTS 16 17REfLEcTIONS fROm fELLOWS THE YEAR GRATITUDEOFMagdalena

Dinur The day I found out I was selected for the Humphrey Pro gram and that I would be going to MIT was one of my happi est moments. After the call, I was shivering a bit when I went back to my job at the planning committee. Could It be that in the middle of a global pandemic, this might have happened? I almost didn’t let myself be happy about it; I was afraid that Covid might lead to cancellation. I’m not religious, but I prayed for my dream to come true. Even after being selected, I could never have imagined the changes that this year would bring to my life. Before I came to MIT, I wrote down three goals: 1) Learn something new and share with others what you already know. 2) Say yes! Nobody regrets yes in life. 3) Write about it. The program is so intense, I almost didn’t have time to process the experience until the middle of the year. I took classes recommended by other Fellows or students even if I had no idea what they were about, and I wrote down my thoughts and observations. I also had a professional affiliation with the Boston Planning and Development Authority, which felt so famil iar because planners and architects of big cities face many common conflicts and must share their experience. It was fascinating to get to know Boston from the planning table. Another excellent way to get to know Boston is by bike. I biked almost everywhere, even in the cold weather, so that by February I heard from the Blue Bikes app that I had won a medal for winter biking. I sent the reflections I wrote about Boston to a publisher in Israel, and they asked for more, so I wrote more. I got a lot of responses to the articles I wrote, so I sent new stories to short story competitions and to friends, colleagues, professors, and to anyone who showed an inter est. I feel that I have something to say and that I must give it a try.I gave lectures at MIT and Harvard on urban planning and city renewal cities, was invited to speak at ETH Zurich on urban renewal and gentrification, and was selected to give a presentation on public participation in planning at the American andsalemstudentsPlanningISantionalAssociation’sPlanningnaconferenceinDiego.RecentlyspoketoClassicInstituteaboutJeruasacasestudyorganizedalecture focused on “French suburbs as a war zone.” I also helped to arrange a visit with Andy Manshell, who led the renewal project for Bryant Park in New York City. If someone had told me a few months ago that I would do all of that, I would have thought they were joking. In January I tried a drawing class during the Independent Activities Period, which turned out to be great. Although the winter was super cold and depressing with Covid hitting strong, my class forced me to travel throughout the city and discover it by drawing. I loved it. During all of this, I came to know my friends the SPURS Fellows, their stories, and their fields of work, and I was inspired by them. I hosted everyone at my house a few times, including for the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, where we had great fun eating doughnuts, lighting candles, and singing songs.Through it all, I can’t overemphasize the powerful support of my family, which came with me away from their friends, work, house, and cats. My kids and husband are an inspiration to me.

A city master plan is the principal strategic urban planning document, designed to justify the city’s long-term planning and

fortunately,documentation.toning,levelrelevantthisstrategy.developmentInUkraine,isparticularlyatthelocalofurbanplananditiscrucialmaintainrobustUnmodern

The kids learned a new language—it wasn’t easy, but they did it well. My daughter had straight A’s in high school (I suspect she studies more than I do). My husband arranged wonderful trips around New England: we hiked together, built a snowman, went ice-skating in Boston Common, and enjoyed every new discovery. I don’t know what the future holds for me, but I know two things: I will never forget the time I had at MIT, and what I did here has already affected the rest of my life. I want to thank the wonderful SPURS team for helping me to achieve all my goals, always being caring, available, helpful, wise, and full of good advice and good intentions. I will never forget you. I don’t know what the future holds for me, but I know two things: I will never forget the time I had at MIT, and what I did here has already affected the rest of my life.

SPURS NEWSLETTER 2022 TURNING POINTS 18 19REfLEcTIONS fROm fELLOWS OH, THE PLACES YOU’LL GO!Sharon Schlossberg

city master plans typically have no links to the marketplace of city development activity or to sustainability initiatives related to the city environment. All of the above is a consequence of a rigid model that has to be changed. Citizen engagement is key to shifting the urban environment; therefore, it is crucial to find an instru ment to shift power from city authorities to the community. Although modern Ukrainian legislation implies democrat ic-based values (e.g., broad public participation and other direct democracy approaches), the implementation of some legislative provisions is biased toward autocracy. In joining SPURS, I sought to: 1) understand deeply the dirigiste mod el’s objectives and ways to shift it to a more liberal urban planning; 2) investigate how to pursue sustainable urban planning through community engagement; 3) learn ways to interact with broad and diverse community groups to reach feasible and sustainable consensus; 4) discover how to con vince decision makers to follow the road of sustainability. I encountered another critical global issue during the first part of the fellowship. The climate challenge, which has had a moderate influence on Ukraine so far, is not on Ukrainian cities’ political and technical agendas; however, we are responsible for mitigating this impact. Considering climate change issues has expanded my interests, and I de signed my program to explore these topics through classes, professional connections, professional development, and my professional affiliation. Some classes I took aligned with my professional goals. These included Urban Citizens, which examines dimensions of citizenship in modern societies and challenges for demo cratic practices in future cities; Negotiation and Dispute Res olution in the Public Sector, to address questions of compre hensive and democratic public sector decision-making; GIS, since knowing about geographic information systems is an in-demand skill for urban planning; and English Academic Writing, since writing remains one of my main challenges. Others were more experimental courses. These included International Development, which focuses attention on the importance of historical analysis in planning in developing countries through the impact of colonialism and imperial ism on political culture, institutional legacies, and economic prospects; and Engineering Project Management, which examines the nature of engineering and teamwork, the relationship of insights to project management methods, and phenomena that occur in leading diverse teams of teams for the design, development, and implementation of com plex systems. Much of the knowledge I gained came from the SPURS seminars, which resemble sophisticated stained glass—a collage of beautiful discussions and insights. The seminars gave me a broad understanding of the U.S. plan ning model’s economic, cultural, and political prerequisites. Professional development activities filled the gaps I could not meet with MIT and Harvard courses, including attending an online workshop on climate change organized by the Uni versity of California, Davis. To build on my interest in climate change, initially I intended to do a professional affiliation in a city government agency responsible for urban planning to learn about their experience with climate change mitigation and adaptation. I therefore applied to the Boston Planning and Development Agency, and while that did not work out, an opportunity opened in the Independent Evaluation Group of the World Bank, where I have been working on the evaluation of large-scale projects. This gives me a broad vision of the life-cycle process, including projects on climate change.The whole fellowship resembles a jigsaw puzzle with out borders: at the start, you think the picture is clear, but Much of the knowledge I gained came from the SPURS seminars, which resemble sophisticated stained glass—a collage of beautiful discussions and insights.

GAINING DEPTHPROFESSIONALNEWOleksandrDovbnia

What happens when a city has both an appropriate budget and the political will for development, but still faces un known constraints that keep it from being more successful?

Gas might be one of the best energy sources to be used in this transitional period—before we can depend on clean and renewable sources of energy such as wind and solar—be cause natural gas generates much less carbon and methane than coal or heavy crude oil. Moreover, during this period demand for energy may peak due to production of supple mental wind and solar, and there will be a change from fossil fuel equipment to equipment that operates with renewable energy sources. Therefore, energy companies must try their best to produce as much gas as possible to decrease the use of crude oil and coal Over the past 30 years, the price of supplemental solar and wind has dropped dramatically, a significant indicator of potential success. Aside from requiring a large area and con tinuous sunlight and wind, renewable energy sources have additional technical challenges that have not been solved yet, namely energy storage. Research institutions must invest enormous resources to address such challenges.

Global warming, climate change, and environmental im pacts are the most significant challenges to our world. The universal temperature is increasing dramatically, resulting in the highest rates of wildfires, floods, hurricanes, spe cies extinction, and many other natural disasters in recent decades. Data indicate that temperatures are increasing very quickly, and the consequences will be significant and danger ous. Energy use is one of the main elements contributing to increasing temperatures.

the further you go, the broader it appears. Every workshop, reading, seminar, or Zoom meeting adds one piece, but also extends the puzzle and makes it more complex. The most intricate part of the jigsaw puzzle is still unseen.

SPURS NEWSLETTER 2022 TURNING POINTS 20 21REfLEcTIONS fROm fELLOWS

Through participating in several achievedprocessveryexecutedisglobalIseminars,courses,energy-relatedconferences,andworkshops,cametorealizethattheenergytransitionnotaprocesstobeovernight;itisacomplexandexpensivethatcanbeoverdecades. CLIMATEADDRESSPOSITIVELYTOTHECRISISAnaCarolinaMartinezQuintero

It’s also important to remember that carbon is not just produced by burning fossil fuel. For in stance, the majority of building materials contain carbon. At MIT, I took several classes in decarbonizationpossible.materialsconservethanverticallymaterialscarbon-intensivetoengineeringstructuraltolearndesignwithlessandtobuild(ratherhorizontally)tolandandasmuchasInconclusion,isanoverwhelming and interconnected process. For instance, the climate crisis cannot be solved if the United States transforms entirely to renewable energy while most countries in other parts of the world still burn fossil fuel. We are sharing one land and one atmosphere, and we all are responsible for this serious problem. We must all work to create a sustainable world. Nations must support nations; developed countries should help de veloping countries to reduce the pace of global temperature rise.

THE TRANSITIONENERGYSamirAliKhther

Record wildfires in the western United States, melting ice caps at the poles, sinking island states in the Pacific, mass coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef, changing rain patterns in the Amazon—climate change is everywhere. Although it is difficult to question the certainty of climate warming, humanity’s response to the rising crisis is rather mixed, to say the least. Climate change is what academics catalog as a “wicked problem”: It has myriad effects that occur at different places, moments, and degrees of severity. Its complexity, uncer tainty, and the related ethical concerns exceed the capacity of any one field to provide potential solutions. In addition, biased media sources have broadcast doubt and fears about the magnitude of current climate change, fostering a lack of understanding that hampers society’s ability to make deci sions and undertake the actions needed to save the planet and humanity itself. As a mid-career professional working on climate-related issues, I find the imperative to comprehend and act upon issues to be overwhelming, yet I remain committed to peo ple’s well-being. Every nation faces the urgency to radically transform its development pathways to low-carbon econo mies, work that compels substantive changes in underlying individual behaviors and social structures. However, neither green jobs, resilient strategy, energy transition, nor green recovery can achieve such transformation if there is no clear and up-to-date understanding of the realities. How can we help our countries’—and the world’s—trans formation? Positive impacts start with a genuine acknowl edgment of the world around us and a well-defined under standing of the situation we want to change. For my part, I like to think that my development as a professional has been responsive to the need to reimagine our human-nature re lationships and to foster policies and initiatives that enhance public prosperity in a world with increasingly fragile envi ronments.Opportunities to question ourselves professionally are rare, but they do exist. In 2021, the Humphrey Fellowship gave me a window of opportunity to challenge my under standing of the climate crisis and the promising public re sponses to achieve sustainable development. I undertook my journey as a SPURS Fellow with high expectations of under standing the world’s challenges and strategies to address the climate crisis from a U.S. vantage point, and I have not been disappointed.TheUnited States is a unique case of climate leadership. Recently, U.S. climate diplomacy has been mostly recognized for the federal government’s participation—both its with drawal from and reinstatement of the Paris Agreement—as well as the unreserved support of some U.S. state govern ments for climate action. Additionally, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act seemed to gently nod toward a strategy to tackle climate change, advance environmental justice, and invest in communities. Amid the significance of this moment, I found my fellowship path as way to sort through assorted approaches to climate policy-making.changeThecenterof this meaningful learning experience has been the chance to learn in a space open to novelty and guided by creativity, diver sity, innovation, and collaboration. DUSP’s academic and prag matic approach to climate is what our SPURS advisors would describe as “action able knowledge” and “technological en gagement.” If those in leadership positions can realize sustainable planning and design practices, they— and we—can make effective and fair decisions to transform the way societies progress. Throughout the SPURS seminars and DUSP classes, one of the finest skills I have cultivated as a planner is a practice to reflect upon my actions so that I can make wiser future decisions. In 2021, the Humphrey Fellowship gave me a window of opportunity to challenge my understanding of the climate crisis and the promising public responses to achieve sustainable development. I undertook my journey as a SPURS Fellow with high expectations of understanding the world’s challenges and strategies to address the climate crisis from a U.S. vantage point, and I have not been disappointed.

Coal, crude oil, and natural gas have the highest rate of carbon emissions and must be substituted with better, clean er alternative sources of energy to prevent global tempera tures from increasing further. The 2015 Paris Agreement aimed to find a way to mitigate carbon emissions, where countries pledged to cooperate in easing the climate ca tastrophe by decreasing the use of fossil fuels to the mini mum amount possible within the next 15 to 20 years. During my fellowship, I have focused most on the energy transition for two reasons: 1) I have worked for an oil and gas company for the past 10 years; and 2) 97 percent of Iraq’s revenue depends on oil. Energy transition means stopping production of fossil fuels and replacing them with renew able energy such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric power. I was fearful of what the future of my country and my career would hold if the use of fossil fuels were limited. Through participating in several energy-related courses, conferences, seminars, and workshops, I came to realize that the global energy transition is not a process to be executed overnight; it is a very complex and expensive process that can be achieved over decades. Given that oil became the world’s dominant source of energy in the 1960s, and even now many countries still use coal to produce power despite the carbon it releases, it’s clear that the energy transition requires at least 100 years to be carried out.

LEARNING

As the Spanish saying goes, at MIT “hay de todo como en botica”—it’s like a drugstore that has it all. In other words, there is a great variety of people and things; it does not lack anything. MIT’s offerings on climate-related matters are abundant, diverse, and appealing. Fostered by the Institute’s Climate Action Plan for the Decade, since 2015 the number of classes, initiatives, and events in climate, sustainability, and the environment have been increasing to serve the growing interest in climate change as a complex matter encompass ing a variety of fields in science, art, and politics. Personally, I shyly enrolled myself in a public mediation class and in a leadership in STEM [science, technology, engineering, and math] workshop, far from my comfort zone, and those expe riences deeply moved my concerns regarding the enhance ment of public efforts on complex issues with the support of an informed society.

better, greener, more accessible, and more friendly. Witness ing sustainability in practice here is inspiring and motivating. MIT and Boston are unlimited sources of inspiration to stay nimble in a green career and thrive. On a personal level, I experienced American Thanks giving, which was on my bucket list. On a long road trip to multiple U.S. cities, traveling through four states in one day was an exciting adventure, but it was not only about personal pleasure; the trip also gave me a chance to observe the diver sity in the culture, urban design, and history of this country. Still, if given the choice, I would still pick Boston as my favor ite place. Enjoying the New England seasons is a privilege, and sunset on the Charles River can’t be more perfect. It’s rare for a city skyline to feel as close as it does in Boston and Cambridge. I fell in love with these places. I am honored to be the first SPURS Fellow from Vietnam and humbly proud to contribute my small part to the cultur al diversity of SPURS. I am deeply grateful to SPURS and its staff, as well as to the Humphrey Fellowship, for allowing me to fulfill my personal and professional aspirations.

The seminars, with topics on international development and North American urban planning, have significantly enriched

As an architect, urban planner, and a specialist in sustain able transportation, I have five years of experience working mostly in France, Ghana, Senegal, and Chad. During my last job in Chad, my work centered on formulating poli cies and regulations for the suburbs around Chad’s cap ital, N’Djamena. I managed road marking operations for N’Djamena’s peripheral areas, in collaboration with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation, to integrate urban and regional planning projects. I also worked with international investment institutions on building real estate projects and was responsible for organizing seminars on top ics related to urban planning and public transportation. I often faced doubts and confusion as a planner, and I asked myself often if I was leading the right planning process. How could we improve commutes for people who live far from the city district of N’Djamena, since the informal public transportation in the city is not reliable? How could we help solve the problems of floods in N’Djamena’s peripheral areas? It was hard to answer these questions, but we were doing our best to Thehelp.day I was informed I had been selected for the Humphrey Fellowship at MIT, my life took another turn. I was more than amazed and happy, because MIT had been my dream university for years. The chance to be at MIT and in SPURS is one of the biggest opportunities I’ve had in my life, and I am very grateful. The fellowship came at the right moment, as I had been looking for opportunities to pursue a PhD at an American university; this was just what I was looking for. my perspective and enhanced my critical thinking skills regarding urban economics and social well-being. Moreover, I learned to translate my interest in cities into exploring the dynamic interrelationship between humans and cities, as well as to see informal settlements, the poor, the homeless, and other vulnerable groups more clearly. Unexpectedly, I gained a lot of insights about the city at night, how a physi cal place changes its function and meaning in the context of time differences. Studying at DUSP is not only about academ ic and professional advancement. I have also found ways of seeking joy, connecting the dots, getting out of my comfort zone, reorganizing my thoughts, and reflecting on both per sonal and professional levels. My professional affiliation at the Boston Planning Devel opment Agency significantly reinforced my experience and learning progress. Working and studying complement one another in an effective way, a unique value of the Humphrey Program. Contributing to the zero net carbon and climate re siliency targets of the city is intrinsically rewarding. I learned that to achieve zero net carbon/decarbonization and climate resilience goals re quires enforcement from the toeveryoneines.tom-uptop-downisindustry,innovationasgovernment(local)aswellaspirationandfromsothereabalanceofbothandbotapproachIfeelthisspiritBoston,whereistryingmakeprojects

I also perceived something interesting in the develop ment mindset I found in the Northeast: a true interest in in tegrating society as a whole in policy making. Climate change and sustainability are phenomena that pervade all areas, which is why it is increasingly important to integrate as many visions as possible.

Studying at DUSP is not only about academic and professional advancement. I have also found ways of seeking joy, connecting the dots, getting out of my comfort zone, reorganizing my thoughts, and reflecting on both personal and professional levels.

FELLOWSHIPHUMPHREYMYDURINGLEARNEDSPURS/MarieJeanneSaleh

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I have been evolving too. SPURS has given me the privi lege to pursue desires I always had but didn’t have the guts to go after before. The search for a conceptual framework that equally values design and economics brought me to SPURS.

My time at SPURS has been a fruitful year for me, profes sionally as well as personally. It has served as a pivot point to leverage my career development. I came to MIT determined to focus on the economics and financial aspects of sustain ability investment. My goal was to learn how to use economic benefits as a tool to support sustainable development and vice versa. However, from the first week I was overwhelmed by the huge amount of resources MIT offers. MIT is much better than it has been depicted in Hollywood movies, and I couldn’t be happier. I have enjoyed going to classes and meeting amazing, passionate people.

I have a special personal connection with Boston: It was the city I first visited in the United States in 2017 when I attended the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC’s) biggest event of the year. In 2022, here I am again, engaged with USGBC but in a different position: I now have the honor to represent the Boston Planning and Development Agency. I have seen this city evolve and take a step forward from green building to setting zero net carbon targets. The City of Bos ton’s leadership on sustainability is admirable.

To foster equitable development, the three E’s—educa tion, empowerment, and engagement—are the preamble to any effective policies or actions we intend to undertake to tackle the climate crisis. City visits and professional affili ations have allowed me to comprehend the critical role of local and regional leaders (public, private, and social) in raising climate awareness and advancing grassroots actions to generate systemic changes in the current development model.Finally, after two years of social distancing due to the Covid-19 pandemic, being able to have this professional experience in a foreign realm has been not only exceptional but also a privilege. This journey has shown me how, through continuous learning and knowledge-sharing, we can con tribute to the transformative development of the world by integrating fairness, equity, and sustainability principles into our daily practices. Additionally, unbiased learning and teaching is a critical means for combating climate change by securing public participation, informed decisions, and inno vativeUntilsolutions.now,my work on climate policy making has con tributed to the development of my country by encouraging initiatives for alternate development—especially for those most vulnerable to changes in their surroundings. Today, I add the duty to advocate for climate awareness and educa tion to facilitate the understanding and support of public policies, as I believe knowledge is a privileged instrument for human betterment. As a soon-to-be SPURS/Humphrey alumna, I’m finding my way to help build climate literacy to generate positive changes in my home territory.

WHAT I

ASPIRATIONPROFESSIONALACADEMICREFLECTIONYEARREMARKABLEOFANDANDMaiThiNguyen

REFLECTIONS ON MY 10 MONTHS AS A FELLOWSPURSMaressa de Lacerda Vieira

Thanks to Patti Foley for arranging everything, ensuring the best meals and a comfortable environment for everyone. Debbie Levey keeps us updated on events and opened her house to us with a warm Christmas or Thanksgiving. Our assistant directors, first Nimfa de Leon and then Selmah Goldberg, made the connection between us and all the institutions involved in the program, ensuring we fulfilled all requirements. I think I exchange emails every week with these leaders, and I wonder how they manage to support all Fellows with so much kindness and keep activities up to date. Much of the program’s success is thanks to them.

It is interesting how the SPURS Fellows in normal con ditions would have little chance to meet—each one is from a distant place in the world—but here we were, learning together, sharing some similar challenges, and all working toward the same goal of a better world. At first our relation ship was a little messed up, each one with a particular accent and way of relating socially, different points of view and cultural experiences. An innocent joke by one wasn’t always well accepted by another, but it is the icing on the cake that the program guides us to enhance our empathy and hu manize international relations. I learned so much with my Fellow friends, and having them and the support network we created will make the challenges ahead much easier to face. At the end of the journey, any program with them was going to beThererewarding.isalot of work to be done, and after this life-changing experience I’m feeling much stronger and more capable of contributing to shaping a sustainable, plu ral, equitable society. Thank you, SPURS. Thank you, Hum phrey Program.

On my first day at MIT, I immediately plunged into the source of its knowledge. I started to spend as much time as possible within its walls. There are many exciting things, and it was challenging to manage the desire to do everything; one year is too little time here.

I’m very grateful to the SPURS team for organizing everything to make our stay as enriching as possible. Professor [Bish] Sanyal is probably one of the most brilliant people I’ve met, with the talent to ask the right questions: ones that make you rethink and that broaden your point of view. [Lecturer Louise] Elving is incredible. She takes your hand, guides you with the best advice, and is fundamental to achieving your goals. Babak Manouchehrifar had the capability to create a bond with us from the beginning, because he was one of us.

I think the dream of any person who hopes to become a first-class engineer is somehow connected with MIT. My path to MIT was not short and fast; on the contrary, I had dreamed of becoming at least a small part of MIT for a long time before I got the chance to come here. We can literally say everything that happens at MIT is forming the future, because this is where the most advanced scientific achievement happens. MIT Libraries deserve special mention for demonstrating a new concept of the modern library and supporting the Insti tute’s research with innovative and traditional solutions. Stu dents, faculty, and researchers can connect to a wide range of resources from classrooms, dorms, or mobile sites. Each of MIT’s libraries has state-of-the-art rooms ideal for teamwork and virtual meetings as well as quiet, isolated study rooms for self-study, all available 24/7.

THE FUTURE IN THE PRESENTMuhammetYuvshanov

There is still so much to say about the people I met, cities I visited, conferences I attended, museums, bars, concerts, li braries, and parks that I visited. However, I would like to end on the SPURS staff and Fellows—our family in this journey.

I have worked for a municipality in Brazil on water man agement, specifically cleaning up urban rivers and revitaliz ing their springs. This is a complex task still far from being achieved even by rich countries like the United States. It took $500 million and two decades for the Charles River to earn an “A” grade from the Environmental Protection Agency, still a distant hope for rivers like the Ohio, Mississippi, or Holston. Undoing damage is always more difficult than preventing it. Working for the City of Chelsea in my first professional affiliation, I realized that the local sewage infrastructure built in the late 19th or early 20th century, a model very common in American cities, has failed to protect rivers and other bodies of water. When water levels are low, all of the liquid in the system—both sewage and rainwater—flows easily to be cleaned at a treatment facility. When a major rainstorm hit, however, these systems back up. That’s one reason why the City of Chelsea is now building a whole new system only for sewage. This is no secret: Cities must stop pumping sewage into rivers, and that’s exactly what I’ve put my effort in Brazil. All this change only happens with community activism, and that was the focus of my second professional affiliation, with the Charles River Conservancy, an nongovernmental organi zation with 20 years of experience. Learning how it develops educational practices for river protection with the communi ty has been an enriching experience.

SPURS NEWSLETTER 2022 TURNING POINTS 24 25REfLEcTIONS fROm fELLOWS I am now two months away from going back to my previous job. To be honest, I am anxious about facing that familiar setting after a gap of 10 months. The curtains to a new world have been opened, and now the landscape outside has other colors and meanings. I reached Logan Airport, all by myself, early in the morn ing, with two big suitcases, after my longest trip ever. I had a shallow idea of the Humphrey Program, created by a U.S. senator to enhance the leadership of international profes sionals who collaborate to address local and global challenges and foster change for our collective good. In the beginning, it was not easy. I struggled to com municate with everyone around me in another language, to complete the MIT access system requirements, to stay up-todate with the Institute of International Education platform, to respond to the 20 emails that arrived in my inbox every day, keep up with my readings, and even do basic things like find a place to live, get vegetarian food, and learn how to turn on the Gradually,shower.what seemed to be overload suddenly turned into one of the most incredible experiences of my life—and one that went by way too fast. The first glimpse was discov ering Cambridge and the Charles River. Living in Cambridge is like living in an American movie set—beautiful wooden houses, tiny children walking on rope lines, friends play ing basketball, American flags everywhere (and Black Lives Matter, LGBT, and transgender flags, too), pets running in green parks, and cartoonish buses. Cambridge is vibrant and multicultural. The excellent condition of the streets and the security provided by the government allowed all my trips to be by bicycle, whether in the morning or at night, even to Somerville, Boston, or Malden. The most beautiful landscape for me is the bank of the Charles River. After class, I used to take the long way home riding along the riverside, for the simple pleasure of seeing its water, people kayaking and sail ing, or the geese sunning themselves on the grass. The second glimpse was the famous MIT. I knew it was the world’s top university, but MIT exceeded my expecta tions. It is fantastic in all aspects. Being a student here is like studying in a monument. You have access to newspapers and articles. You can join so many activities, from astrono my to leadership to startups to efforts to help Ukraine. You can study all languages or learn climbing and hockey. At the end of the day, you can discover vocal jazz in the Hayden Library or students watching Ratatouille and eating cheese. It’s a universe in one institution. People from all over the world are here. And the subjects? Taking a class at MIT is fantastic. The readings selected by renowned teachers are so mind-blowing that you want to read them two or three times to make sure to assimilate all the knowledge. The professors conduct discussions that go very far and invite guests with extensive work experience from around the world, making classes even more fascinating. DUSP offers so many amazing subjects that the hard part is to choose one subject or two from dozens. Beyond this, there are lab projects like the one I worked on developing a sewage treatment solution for a cold mountain village in Tajikistan.

After starting my journey at the University of Kansas for the English Pre-Academic Program, I arrived at MIT and set goals to do my best and learn a great deal from the insti tution. All the seminars and site visits I chose are strongly linked with my background and my future goals of contrib uting to the development of my city’s urban planning and access to good public transportation. Everything I learned about urban planning, public transportation planning, decarbonizing urban mobility, land use, and energy—from SPURS, other MIT departments, and Harvard’s Graduate School of Design—will be very useful as I pursue my goals of contributing to the urban planning process, public transpor tation process, and decarbonizing urban mobility.

I am more than glad to be part of SPURS and to have got ten to know the SPURS team members. They have been our guide for everything, from choosing classes to choosing our professional affiliation, understanding the planning process in the United States, transportation planning, and all the related components. Now that the program is almost done, the question of what’s next sticks in my mind, along with the sadness of leaving SPURS and all the wonderful memories of MIT, such as the Fellows’ office in Building 9, walking the Infinite Corridor, classes in the Sloan School of Management, events hosted in the Media Lab, and the Hayden Library, a favorite place to hide when I want to concentrate on assign ments or when I am looking for a quiet place to read. I’m sad to leave the SPURS team and the 11 other Fellows in my cohort because we have formed a nice “family.”

My principal area of interest is urban planning and in frastructure development along desert highways. I also focus on developing smart city projects, researching how, in one way or another, all future cities will be transformed by smart technology. This question is closely related to sustainable development.A“smartcity” is one that employs modern technolo gies to improve operational efficiency, share information with the public, and provide better quality of government services. The concept makes it easy to focus on technology, and technology, by itself, can raise challenging issues. But there are harder issues to consider. Any tech company that promotes smart tech is interested more in sales than city development. The history of smart cities worldwide to date is not all successful. Many countries are building whole new cities that don’t serve lower-income populations well or are attractive to investors but don’t appropriately incorporate the development of social infrastructure. When revolution izing highway construction technology, for example, urban design and infrastructure planning solutions need to be modernized to achieve sustainability in the urbanization of desertThisareas.has been my main focus while at MIT—in connec tion with the practical implementation requirements of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established by the United Nations. I’m been investigating how to design urban infrastructure to improve and harmonize land use between agricultural and industrial zones; invent appropriate tech nologies in irrigation and power sources; better consider the supply chain along highways with many other balanced alternatives that were not pursued previously for urbaniz ing desert areas. Ultimately, one of the main SDGs is to avert climate change, which is already transforming desert areas into more hostile environments with problems of conges tion, energy generation, water treatment, floods, loss of open space, extreme heat, and mobility issues. At MIT I endeavored to gather new knowledge in desert urban infrastructure planning so that I could work to reduce the technological gap and thus address climate change. Con sequently, my research is aimed at the best traditions of U.S. urban development. For example, from the earliest periods, interstate highway engineers received strong support from a powerful cluster of economic groups as well as urban and regional planners. I’ve also focused on how environmental issues affect economic and social aspects, since healthy, af fordable, and enjoyable places to live are needed. I would like to foster more collaboration between private and governmental institutions. Implementation of the most advanced world standards in urban planning along desert highways will accelerate the economic impacts of invest ments and will create the roadmap for the SDGs by both private and public sectors. My time at MIT has improved me a lot, and I am sure all the knowledge I obtained will be a valuable asset in my future professional life. ■

“HistoryCOMMENCEMENTSPURS/HUMPHREY2022hasshownus,timeandtimeagain,that for every cruel and tragic act, humankind can demonstrate amazing resilience, beauty and love.”

27 TURNING POINTSSPURS NEWSLETTER 2022 26 REfLEcTIONS fROm fELLOWS | SPURS/hUmPhREY cOmmENcEmENT 2022

— 2022 SPURS Commencement Speech by Bryan Moser, Academic Director & Senior Lecturer, System Design and Management, MIT

Celebrating the SPURS/Humphrey commencement on May 5, 2022 at MIT Endicott House.

Ruben Sanchez-Fernandez Humphrey ’08 (Guatemala) received one of the 2020 Alumni Impact Awards from the Humphrey Fellowship Program for creating com prehensive explanations and practical guides on the Guatemalan Law of Devel opment Councils in both Spanish and K’ich’e. The award will let him help local development councils learn the best way to represent their communities in town hall meetings.

Patricia Cezario Silva Humphrey ‘13 (Brazil) is an adjunct professor at the Federal University of ABC Region in São Paulo, Brazil, and develops teaching, research, and communi ty-based extension projects on urban, environmental, and housing issues. Her current research involves low-income residents who have occupied abandoned buildings in central São Paulo and are advocating for housing rights. This work produces original data on a specific population not yet included in the census and thus rendered invisible in official records of the city’s housing Architectsituation.andurban design er Shihab Amin Mustafa Humphrey ’16 (Bangladesh) served more than five years in the private sector in Ban gladesh. Recently he joined the World Bank’s Dhaka City Neighborhood Upgrading Project as a national consul tant (urban design special ist). During this five-year project, he will be a member of the implementation unit for the government of Ban gladesh.

Bijay Anand Misra SPURS ’77 (India) has worked to establish the South Asia Al liance of Disaster Research Institutes with members from Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and India. The alliance’s ob jectives are to encourage innovation and enterprises in local communities, build strong advocacy to influ ence policy, use advanced technology, and promote participatory processes.

Gail Kromoredjo Hum phrey ’17 (Suriname) works in Belgium with EQUANS, a French multinational utility company, as a project man ager for a large infrastruc ture development that will complete six traffic tunnels in Antwerp. As part of the Trans-European Transport Core Network, the tun nels will route heavy truck traffic toward Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, and Luxembourg while reducing congestion within the city.

Jacek Szlachta SPURS ’88 (Poland) is vice president of the Warsaw School of Economics Polish Academy of Sciences Committee for Spatial Economy and Re gional Planning. In February 2021, the committee pub lished Reflections on the role of regional and local governments in Poland in the implementation of the EU structural funds in 2021–2027, Reflection Papers No. 2 Forbes Magazine included Kristalina Georgieva SPURS ’92 (Bulgaria) as one of 50 women over age 50 recog nized as founders, business and political leaders, and scientists in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The citation noted that she was the first person from an emerging market to lead the International Monetary Fund. Nadya Araujo Guimaraes SPURS ’94 (Brazil) dealt with Covid quarantines by publishing three compara tive analysis books on care and care work: Care and Care Workers. A Latin Amer ican Perspective (Springer, 2021); O Gênero do Cuidado. Desigualdades, Significações e Identidades (Ateliê Edito rial, 2020); and El Cuidado en América Latina. Mirando a los Casos de Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Colombia y Uruguay (Fundación Medifé Edita, 2020) Huáscar Eguino SPURS ’98 (Bolivia) has led the In ter-American Development Bank’s agenda on fiscal policy and climate change since 2019, with the goal of mainstreaming climate change in fiscal policies and coordinating technical assistance to the finance ministries of Latin Ameri ca and the Caribbean. His most recent publication is Policy and Climate Change: Recent Experiences of Finance Ministries in Latin America and the Caribbean A professor at the Depart ment of Urban Engineer ing at Chungbuk National University, Man-Hyung Lee SPURS ’01 (Korea) studies urban planning, conflict resolution in the public arena, social network anal ysis, and system dynamics. He is in charge of a special committee on public orga nizations, which include the Korean city management committee and the central planning committee. He has published 11 books and more than 150 papers.

Hyun Soo Kang SPURS ’09 (Korea) has been president of the Korea Research Insti tute for Human Settlements (KRIHS) since 2018. As the country’s largest urban and regional research institute, KRIHS focuses on Korean cities, regions, transporta tion, infrastructure, hous ing, real estate, environ ment, and GIS. Its Global Development Partnership Center supports urban and regional policies in devel oping countries and has co operated with international organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank, and the Inter-Ameri can Development Bank.

Tamer Al-Assad Humphrey ’12 (Jordan) is deputy chief of Waterthewaterernance.alU.S.waterparty—technical/seniorutilityexpertfortheAgencyforInternationDevelopmentWaterGovRecentlyhewasagovernanceexpertatStockholmInternationalInstituteandpro vided technical support to countries to promote water governance through data collection and data analysis; regional, national, and local studies; training and capaci ty building; and the elabora tion of guidelines and other knowledge products.

Borislav Stojkov SPURS ’70 (Serbia) reported that vigorous public opposi tion persuaded the Serbi an government to cancel permits for an Australian company to open a lithium mine in Serbia. In one of his regular opinion columns in the newspaper Politika, he detailed the irreversible environmental damage that mining would cause to a beautiful agricultural section of the country.

Gonzalo Rondinone SPURS ’18 (Brazil) received a PhD in economics from the Uni versity of Buenos Aires. His thesis described how food commodities have become more like financial assets, with higher price volatili ty influenced by the stock market impacting food security. He has joined the Inter-American Develop ment Bank as an agricultur al economic consultant for Latin America.

Dana Erekat SPURS ’08 (Palestine) is currently vice president of impact at Whyise, an impact data management and analytics solution company. She has spent her professional life in the United States, Ku wait, Palestine, and Jordan focusing on human rights, economic development, poverty alleviation, and strategic planning in the Middle East. Her photogra phy series, Borders Crossing Bodies, has been exhibited around the world.

Nilima Shrestha Humphrey ’18 (Nepal) joined a project with the Japan International Cooperation Agency as a disaster resilience and risk management specialist. Sofia Reinach SPURS ’18 (Brazil) continues to work on projects related to vio lence in Brazil at local and international organizations, such as Vital Strategies and the United Nations Chil dren’s Fund. César Cruz Humphrey ‘18 (Mexico) received a Hum phrey Alumni Professional Development grant from the U.S. State Department and the Institute of Interna tional Education. He plans to obtain a public leadership certificate from a virtual Harvard University exec utive education course to apply to his work serving indigenous communities in environmental emergency zones in Mexico. He earned special recognition from the energy.trical,produceprojectanThethree-weekMexicotheerationSchool,InternationalDurham-QMUL-LeedsResearchascientificcoopprogrambetweenUnitedKingdomandwithanintensivevirtualprogram.recognitionwasforinterdisciplinaryteamtousedogfecestobiogasforelecthermal,orkinetic

SPURS NEWSLETTER 2022 TURNING POINTS 28 29aLUmNI UPDaTES ALUMNI UPDATES

Otto Thomasz SPURS ‘17 (Argentina) reported the death of his husband, Mari ano Eriz SPURS ’16 (Argenti na). He said, “During a fight of almost two years, Maria no never gave up. A brilliant mind and deeply spiritual, he had somehow the ability to separate his body from his mind. We will remember his devotion to live and to love, now more than ever.”

Dwarika Nath Dhungel Humphrey ’85 (Nepal) an nounced the publication of his book, District Administra tion: My Experience Benjamin Hyman Hum phrey ’86 (Israel) closed his legal practice in Jerusalem specializing in planning law and moved to Bonn, Germany, where his partner has been appointed to the World Health Organization’s European office.

Bindu Shrestha Humphrey ’18 (Nepal) was appointed vice principal and associate professor in the Cosmos College of Management and Technology, Pokhara University, Nepal. She is a member of the education commission of the Interna tional Union of Architects for 2021–2023. This com

Perry Yang SPURS ’00 (Tai wan) is associate professor for the Georgia Tech Schools of City and Regional Plan ning and Architecture and director of the Eco Urban Lab for the Georgia Tech College of Design, which is the headquarters for the Tokyo Smart City Studio. This latter group is involved in a massive project using geographic information sys tems (GIS) to explore smart city concepts in Tokyo Yang’s new book, Urban Sys tems Design: Creating Sustain able Smart Cities in the Internet of Things Era (Elsevier, 2020), explores how to integrate urban design, systems sci ence, and data analytics in the context of the smart city movement. From 2020 to 2022, he advised the mayor of Taipei, Taiwan, on smart city policy. In 2021, Sanghoon Lee Humphrey ’04–’06 (Korea) was promoted to adminis trator of the Korean Agency for Technology and Stan dards. Justyna MartyniukPeczek SPURS ’05 (Poland) described how Poland handled its share of the 1.3 million Ukrainians fleeing to the European Union in 2015 by coordinating local and national darityproudbottommassandUkrainians,hasFebruaryfedcitizensnizations,nongovernmentalgovernments,orgaandordinarywhohousedandrefugees.Startingin2022,thecountryabsorbedevenmoremostlywomenchildren,againthroughcooperationfromtheup.Shesaid,“Iamtosaythatthe‘solispirit’stillexists.”

Belén Gonzalez Humphrey ’21 (Uruguay), former CEO of TECHO-Uruguay, recent ly presented a webinar to the American Psychological Association Planning Com mittee describing TECHO activities in Latin American and the Caribbean as well as its response to the food emergency in Uruguay exacerbated by Covid. As CEO, she led a nationwide investigation in Uruguay on informal settlements, with fieldwork in 656 communi ties that generated data to raise awareness and inform public policies addressing the crisis. ■

At MIT, Sarnai Battulga Humphrey ’20 (Mongolia) organized an online Global Citizen Mentorship Pro gram with Humphrey class mates Ognyan Georgiev (Bulgaria), Ayawavi Attisso (Togo), Zina Ruzdic (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Andrea Urgiles (Ecuador), and Vineet Abhishek (India). Each gave advice on career development and creating positive changes in society to Mongolian university students in architecture and urban planning. Alejandra Gomez (Colombia) helped organize and was a guest lecturer. A new and larger 2021 mentorship program began in April. Vakhtang Kasrelishvili SPURS ’20 (Georgia) joined Ilia State University School of Business, Technology, and Education in August 2021 as an assistant professor of architecture and urban planning. He developed and leads a new course in plan ning theory and practice for MSc students, responding to what he saw as a general lack of theoretical knowl edge in planning and a mis match between theory and practice that exacerbates problems in the develop ment and implementation of sustainable policies, programs, and planning practices. After 15 years of professional practice-based experience, he has become interested in continuing his career in academia thanks to his MIT experience. He says he was particularly fascinated by Professor Bish Sanyal’s classes. Sonam Lama Humphrey ’21 (Nepal) published an article in the Nepali Times describing how his remote native village constructed an improved school and health clinic after the disas trous 2015 earthquake. The embedded video follows the villagers and Lama through the complications of re building with traditional techniques and architectur al styles while dealing with constant bureaucratic red tape.

SPURS NEWSLETTER 2022 TURNING POINTS 30 31aLUmNI UPDaTES mission acts as a think tank for architectural educa tion policy by developing guidelines and proposals to facilitate global access to high-quality education. She is first author on two new publications: “Review on the Importance of Gender Perspective in SustainabilityandEnergy-SavingHouseholdBehaviorEnergyTransitionfor.” Energies 2021, 14 (22) and “Gender Roles on Energy Consumption for Sustainability: A Case of Kathmandu Urban House hold.” Journal of Gender and Power, Vol. 15. No. 1. Adam Mickiewicz University Press, Poland. Miguel Dias Humphrey ‘19 (Angola) returned home to a severe national economic crisis, followed by the Covid crisis and the shutdown of the government agency where he worked. He filled unexpected free time by finishing his master’s thesis, “Global Fantasies, Local Realities: The Urban Renew al Project of Cazenga and Sambizanga in Luanda” for the Faculty of Architecture, Universidade do Porto (Por tugal). He also published a paper, “Centralized Clien telism, Real Estate Develop ment, and Economic Crisis: The Case of Postwar Luan da” in African Geographical Review Vineet Abhishek Humphrey ‘20 (India) resumed his work at Indian Railways and was put in charge of opera tions of the Mumbai Central Division of the Western Railway. The Covid pan demic caused “really tough times and yet all the staff and officials working in my team displayed exemplary courage and dedication to ensure that the wheels of our railways kept running,” he recalled. He is now back at MIT for a master of city planning degree. Recently, he published an article in the Hindustani Times: “For a Shift to Sustainable Urban Transport, Political Will Is Key.” Zina Ruzdic Humphrey ’20 (Bosnia and Herzegovi na) was one of four people invited by the Institute of International Education to share her re-entry experi ences with the 2021 gradu ating cohort in a Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Pro gram supplemental event. The speakers all described how they changed profes sionally and personally, and they shared their tactics for adjusting and coping after returning home with new Inperspectives.July2020,Chandra Hada Humphrey ’20 (Nepal) be came a disaster risk reduc tion management specialist with the USAID-Tayar Nepal Project. Her responsibilities include supporting munici palities in building capacity for safer settlements and disaster resilience. As Construction for Change’s newest project manager, Attisso Ayawa vi Humphrey ’20 (Togo) currently works on the Kara Infectious Disease Center project in Togo. At the “When African Women Lead” conference, spon sored by Plan International and the Togolese National Assembly, she shared her professional and personal experience as a Togolese fe male leader in a male-dom inated field, as well as other issues experienced by women in Togo.

Special Program for Urban and Regional Studies Massachusetts Institute of Technology 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Room 9-435 Cambridge, MA 02139 (617) spurs-program@mit.eduspurs.mit.edu253-5915