The EU-LAC Foundation is pleased to announce the winners in the framework of the II EU-LAC Essay Contest on the Bi-regional Partnership:
- 1st Place: "Fair bi-regional cooperation for a green recovery. Reflections from the case of lithium production in Argentina"
by Melisa Escosteguy and Walter Fernando Díaz Paz
Melisa Escosteguy holds a degree in Anthropology from the National University of Salta (UNSa), Argentina. She is a PhD candidate in Anthropology at the University of Buenos Aires and, since 2018, she is a doctoral fellow of the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET). Her workplace is the Socio-Environmental Studies and Research Group located at the Institute for Research in Non-Conventional Energy (INENCO). Her current research focuses on the lithium production network in Argentina and the practices, perspectives and discourses of the different actors involved. To address this issue, she draws on the approaches of political ecology and energy justice.
Walter Fernando Díaz Paz is a Natural Resources and Environmental Engineer from the National University of Salta-UNSa. Salta, Argentina. PhD student in Natural Sciences at the Universidad Nacional de La Plata-UNLP and doctoral fellow of the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas-CONICET (National Council for Scientific and Technical Research). His place of work is the Socio-Environmental Studies and Research Group located at the Institute for Research in Non-Conventional Energy (INENCO). His research topic is water footprint in lithium mining, he approaches the study of this indicator from the conceptual frameworks of police ecology and just energy transitions.
- 2nd Place: "The European Union's new carbon border adjustment mechanism: what implications for the bi-regional partnership"
by Fernando de la Cruz Prego and Iosu Iribarren López
A graduate of the University of Deusto and former ICEX scholarship holder, Mr. Iribarren/Iosu is an expert in international trade and sustainability. He is currently working in DG INTPA of the European Commission on strategic relations with Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific, having previously worked in the Strategy department of FIIAPP (Spanish Cooperation) for the improvement of public systems, particularly in Latin America. In 2017 he received the Entrepreneurs for Social Change award from UNIDO.
- 3rd Place: "The EU-LAC partnership for a green recovery: challenges and opportunities to Build Forward Better"
by Augusto Heras
Born in 1995, political scientist. Master's degree in international and diplomatic sciences from the University of Bologna, with study and research experience in Paris (Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne), Madrid (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) and Buenos Aires (Universidad Nacional de Quilmes), including participation in ECLAC's Programme of Advanced Studies in Latin American Economies 2021. Translator and contributor to newspapers and digital media, he writes and is interested in Latin America, inequalities, development and climate crisis.
Congratulations!
We would like to thank the numerous people from both regions who participated in the contest, as well as the prestigious experts who participated in the Evaluation Committee for the essays:
- Alonso Brenes, Consultant for the World Bank
- Guy Edwards, Senior Consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank
About the EU-LAC Bi-regional Partnership Essay Contest
The main purpose of the competition is to receive essays on topics of relevance to the bi-regional partnership, especially academic papers aimed at increasing visibility and promoting mutual knowledge.
For the second edition, the chosen theme was "Opportunities for the bi-regional strategic partnership in shaping a greener recovery".
