Cristina Orpheo

Cristina has been working in the environmental movement in Brazil for many years. Her devotion, ability to learn quickly and ambition have paved the way for her to be seen by many of her peers as an inspiration. Her nominator, Rubens Born, Executive Director of Vitae Civilis, is confident that “Cristina will become a leading person within the Brazilian environmental movement.” She works as an Institutional Manager for CASA, the Centre for Socio-Environmental Support, the Brazilian NGO which promotes “environmental conservation and sustainability, democracy and social justice by supporting and strengthening the capacities and initiatives of civil society in South America."

With the help of the JWH initiative, Cristina’s aim was to become more knowledgeable in water policy issues regarding environmental conservation and poverty alleviation in the São Paulo state. Therefore, she completed a post-graduate specialization course on the environment and sustainable ecotourism. She organized various events related to promote and present proposals for community-based tourism.  Cristina also studied English and Spanish with the JWH initiative, allowing her to continue her studies abroad and to expand her work to the international level. “ Finally, I can say that I feel more prepared to face challenging situations and to increase my visibility”. As such, she attended the World Water Forum and the World Social Forum on the theme of participatory management in the national tourism policy. She even continued on to coordinate regional meetings and “felt better able to support these services”.  Overall, Cristina says: “I am certain that after these experiences I am more apt to represent my organization, both within and beyond our borders”