Vanessa Pulgarin-Auquilla is from Ecuador in South America and is currently as a mature student participating in the MSc in International Public Policies & Diplomacy at University College Cork (UCC) whilst also is working as an intern at Ervia - Ireland's natural gas and water utility company. Ervia has engaged Vanessa to work on the Carbon Capture Storage project. This project aims to capture up to 90% of the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions produced from the use of fossil fuels in electricity generation and industrial processes, preventing the carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere. Vanessa is involved in the Communications section of the project. The work with Ervia will form part of the Masters Programme.
Vanessa will share her broad experience in international relations and the management of cooperation projects focused on development issues to the thematic event.
In relation to her visit to the fourth thematic event of the Interreg Europe Intensify project to be hosted by the Centro Estudios Ambientale (CEA) in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Vanessa states that
"I have worked for local governments and international networks where I have had the opportunity to attend and represent initiatives at important international events such as COP24 (Poland, 2018), Climate Summit of the Americas (Mexico, 2016), Habitat III (Ecuador, 2016), among others. I am Engineer on Administrative Sciences and hold a Diploma of Specialization on Planning and Management of Cooperation Interventions for Development"
"Due to the constant efforts that the Ervia Carbon Capture Storage team has been doing in regards to community engagement, I will bring our contributions through to the audience with a session entitled “The use of digital social media platforms for making a social and environmental impact”. The presentation will include examples of important international events and their communications strategies, the impact of networking and identifying the right potential partnerships; social media influencers for energy efficiency and environmental awareness. The session will end with a message that any one of us can make an impact through appropriate communications using the right platforms and with a clear message"
