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Winning projects in the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Peru exemplify leadership in climate and environment, social impact, governance and innovation
COSTA DO SAUÍPE, BRAZIL – Inter-American Development Bank President Luis Alberto Moreno announced the three winners of the inaugural Infrastructure 360º Awards. The Los Cocos Wind Farm project in the Dominican Republic was selected as the winner of the People and Leadership category, the Aura Solar Project in Mexico won in the Climate and Environment category, and the Metro Lima Line 1 in Peru was named the winner of the Infrastructure 360º Award as the project demonstrating the most comprehensive implementation of a sustainability strategy.
The IDB Private Sector Infrastructure Sustainability Awards, or the Infrastructure 360° Awards, seek to identify, assess and reward sustainable infrastructure investments made by the private sector and public-private partnerships in the IDB´s 26 borrowing member countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The main objective of the awards, developed jointly by the IDB and the Harvard Zofnass Program for Sustainable Infrastructure, is to help identify and promote ways in which sustainability is integrated during the planning, design, construction and operation of infrastructure projects. Eligible projects must have been under construction or in operation for no more than two years prior to last year´s deadline for submission, and have a total investment of $30 million or more.
In bestowing the awards President Moreno observed, "A growing number of leading infrastructure firms have come to believe that the integration of strong sustainability practices is key to the successful implementation of their projects. These awards recognize those infrastructure leaders." Renowned architect Sir Norman Foster congratulated the awardees in a recorded message and noted "Infrastructure is wide in its interpretation. It´s about public space, it´s about systems of power, of servicing, of connecting. A significant proportion of the world needs infrastructure to raise their quality of life."
The awards initiative was launched in Panama in March 2013. More than 60 applications were received from 18 countries in the energy, transport, water supply, water treatment and solid waste/sanitation, and telecommunications sectors. Each project was submitted online through a self-evaluation tool developed by the Harvard Zofnass program. The IDB announced the 12 finalists in October 2013. Each finalist submitted additional documents and materials that were reviewed by the Harvard Zofnass team, which then prepared a detailed assessment of each project for review by the nine-member panel of international experts that chose the winners.
The ceremony took place as part of as part of the IDB Group´s 2014 Annual Meeting in Costa do Sauípe, Brazil.