Yolanda Kakabadse

Yolanda Kakabadse Navarro, Ecuador

Yolanda Kakabadse, President, WWF International, Ecuador and was a member of the Global Holcim Awards jury in 2015.

Global Holcim Awards jury meeting 2012 in March 2012 in Zurich, Switzerland: Members of the Global Holcim Awards Jury 2012 (l-r): Rolf Soiron, Mario Botta, Maria Atkinson, Yolanda Kakabadse, Werner Sobek, Julia Marton-Lefèvre, Aaron Betsky, Enrique Norten (head), Hans-Rudolf Schalcher, Rahul Mehrotra.

Enrique Norten, architect (Head), Principal and Founder of TEN Arquitectos, Mexico/USA and Yolanda Kakabadse, administrator, President of WWF International and Chair of the Advisory Board of Fundación Futuro Latinoamericano, Ecuador at the Global Holcim Awards jury meeting 2012 in Zurich, Switzerland:

Yolanda Kakabadse during an interview following the Global Holcim Awards jury 2012 meeting in Zurich, Switzerland. 

The Holcim Awards jury for region Latin America met in Mexico City, Mexico in July 2008 to select projects using the “target issues” for sustainable construction (l-r): Fernando Diez, Yolanda Kakabadse, Marc M. Angélil, Hans-Rudolf Schalcher, José Luis Cortés (Head), Sara Topelson, Bruno Stagno, Daniel Bermúdez Samper, Vanderley M. John.

Board of the Holcim Foundation members (l-r): Enrique Norten, Bernard Fontana*, Alexander Biner*, Harry Gugger*, Yolanda Kakabadse, Klaus Töpfer, Marc Angélil, Roland Walker, Simon Upton, Hans-Rudolf Schalcher* and Rolf Soiron (* = also Steering Committee member).

Yolanda Kakabadse was a member of the concluding panel at the 3rd International Holcim Forum “Re-inventing Construction” held at the Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City in 2010.

The concluding planel experts of the Holcim Forum (from left): Enrique Norten, Takako Tajima, Aziza Chaouni, Rolf Soiron, Yolanda Kakabadse, Arab Hoballah, and Ashok B Lall.

Yolanda Kakabadse Navarro, Ecuador

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Yolanda Kakabadse, President, WWF International, Ecuador and was a member of the Global Holcim Awards jury in 2015.

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Global Holcim Awards jury meeting 2012 in March 2012 in Zurich, Switzerland: Members of the Global Holcim Awards Jury 2012 (l-r): Rolf Soiron, Mario Botta, Maria Atkinson, Yolanda Kakabadse, Werner Sobek, Julia Marton-Lefèvre, Aaron Betsky, Enrique Norten (head), Hans-Rudolf Schalcher, Rahul Mehrotra.

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Enrique Norten, architect (Head), Principal and Founder of TEN Arquitectos, Mexico/USA and Yolanda Kakabadse, administrator, President of WWF International and Chair of the Advisory Board of Fundación Futuro Latinoamericano, Ecuador at the Global Holcim Awards jury meeting 2012 in Zurich, Switzerland:

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Yolanda Kakabadse during an interview following the Global Holcim Awards jury 2012 meeting in Zurich, Switzerland. 

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The Holcim Awards jury for region Latin America met in Mexico City, Mexico in July 2008 to select projects using the “target issues” for sustainable construction (l-r): Fernando Diez, Yolanda Kakabadse, Marc M. Angélil, Hans-Rudolf Schalcher, José Luis Cortés (Head), Sara Topelson, Bruno Stagno, Daniel Bermúdez Samper, Vanderley M. John.

» Download high-resolution version (JPG, 4.25 MB)

Board of the Holcim Foundation members (l-r): Enrique Norten, Bernard Fontana*, Alexander Biner*, Harry Gugger*, Yolanda Kakabadse, Klaus Töpfer, Marc Angélil, Roland Walker, Simon Upton, Hans-Rudolf Schalcher* and Rolf Soiron (* = also Steering Committee member).

» Download high-resolution version (JPG, 1016.82 KB)

Yolanda Kakabadse was a member of the concluding panel at the 3rd International Holcim Forum “Re-inventing Construction” held at the Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City in 2010.

» Download high-resolution version (JPG, 529.21 KB)

The concluding planel experts of the Holcim Forum (from left): Enrique Norten, Takako Tajima, Aziza Chaouni, Rolf Soiron, Yolanda Kakabadse, Arab Hoballah, and Ashok B Lall.

» Download high-resolution version (JPG, 2.28 MB)

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About

Yolanda Kakabadse Navarro is President of WWF, one of the world’s largest environmental organizations.

She is also Chair of the Advisory Board of Fundación Futuro Latinoamericano, a regional NGO dedicated to conflict management in Latin America, and former President of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature).

She has achieved pioneering work at grassroots level towards sustainable development and was also Chair of the Scientific & Technical Advisory Panel of the Global Environment Facility (STAP/GEF) 2005/08.

Yolanda Kakabadse studied educational psychology at the Catholic University of Quito, Ecuador.

She was a member of the Board of the World Resources Institute, and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Ford Foundation. She was the Joint-Coordinator of the United Nations Millennium Project Task Force on Environmental Sustainability. The Task Force focused on identifying ways in which the principles of sustainable development can be integrated into country policies and programs and reverse the loss of environmental resources.

She was founder and appointed executive director of Fundación Natura in Quito in 1979, where until 1990 she helped the foundation become one of Latin America's most important environmental NGOs. She also coordinated the participation of civil society organizations in the United Nations Conference for Environment and Development (Earth Summit) held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. She was appointed Minister of Environment for the Republic of Ecuador from 1998 to 2000.

She has received the Insignia of the National Order for Merit as a Commissioned Officer of the Republic of Ecuador in 1990, the Global 500 Award of UNEP in 1991, and the Golden Ark Order, bestowed by Prince Bernard of the Netherlands in 1991. She also received the Zayed Prize in 2001 and a Doctor in Science (ScD) Honoris Causa from the University of East Anglia, United Kingdom in 2008.

Yolanda Kakabadse was a member of the Board, since the inception of the Advisory Board of the Holcim Foundation in 2004, until December 2013. She was a member of the Concluding Panel Discussion at the Holcim Forum 2010.

She was a member of the Global Holcim Awards jury in 2012 and 2015, and a member of the Holcim Awards jury for region Latin America in 2008.