ECUADOR TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE WATER FUTURE
- Marcos Chiluisa
- Feb 15, 2022
- 7 min read
Interview with Maria Luisa Coello Recalde
Director of the Water Regulation and Control Agency
Marcos:
Thank you very much for being here María Luisa. It is an honor to be able to share this interview with our readers. As a friend and professional who I admire, I would like to start by understanding your career prior to becoming the director for the Water Regulation and Control Agency (ARCA). To give our readers context, you graduated from the Higher Polytechnic School of the Coast, one of the most demanding educational institutions in the country. You then received a master’s in Development Economics and a master’s in Environmental Management, specializing in Environmental Economics and Natural Resource Economics from the University of Queensland in Australia. You went on to work with multiple public institutions in Ecuador as Coordinator of the Bank of Ideas in Senescyt, Coordinator of Directions of the Secretariat of Innovation and Transfer of Technology, and later became Provincial Director of Environmental Management of the Provincial GAD of Los Ríos.
María Luisa:
Since adolescence I have been very interested in learning about the development of productive activities and their contribution to the economy of my country. I come from a family of farmers in the province of Los Ríos. I grew up seeing the lush and balanced nature of my land, which is indisputably privileged as it is in an astronomical, geographical, and strategic position that has been greatly beneficial as it presents high biodiversity throughout the four regions. However, while some people see it as a service, I see it as a living space that unfortunately has been losing its richness over the years.
