Belén Gesto, expert in basic habitability, bringing knowledge to the most precarious environments

By Andrea Eras Almeida


Starting to write this story has caused Energy a lot of enthusiasm, we will meet a woman who is "smile, dedication, and unity". This story is special because, to begin with, its protagonist has also inspired the construction of this initiative.


This story is about Belén Gesto, who was born on December 24, 1976, in Madrid. This is why was called Belén, which for her means “home that welcomes, cares, loves and protects.” "My parents have given everything for us, my sister and I, and I could not be more grateful to them." When she was young, Belén considered herself like a citizen of the world and did not feel any link with any place ... until she left her Alcalá de Henares, and says “Only then did she realize that she missed and loved its streets,  square,  history, and its river.”




Belén is a Doctor in Architecture and an expert in basic habitability. Energy from Women met her in the university environment when a cooperation call came up to propose intersectoral solutions so that work together in refugee camps in northern Ethiopia. The objective of this call was to unite efforts of different cooperation groups, and Belén was one of the leaders of the presented proposals. Belén believed that bringing her experience, from architecture to other technical areas, would make it possible to use technology to change lives.


In order to get to know Belén in-depth, we traveled a bit back in time and began by asking her: why did she decide to study Architecture? She begins this conversation with Energy from Women, citing the book The City of Joy and its author Dominique Lapierrem and adding: “I have always felt more connected with science than letters, and I was clear to study a technological career either in engineering or architecture. I liked drawing, but the real reason I was for architecture is in that book. It broke me down, it showed me a reality that I did not know. After reading it, I decided that I wanted to dedicate my life to making good, beautiful, and cheap houses. What I did not decide at that time, nor did I know, is that I would finally dedicate myself more, through teaching, to giving visibility to what I had discovered in the book, putting figures on it, and teaching others how to work on it”.



And then, how did she manage to combine her biggest passion, Architecture, with development cooperation? This answer has also been inspired by a book The City of Joy, although, at that time, when she was 17 years old, she did not know that she wanted to dedicate herself to development cooperation. She hardly knew about the existence of NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and the truth is that her training in architecture was very different from what motivated her to study it. Therefore, when did it start? It was at the end of her career that she had the opportunity to take a course that was taught at the University's School of Architecture on "Cooperation for the Development of Precarious Human Settlements" - at that time in the so-called Third World-, and since then, Belén indicates: “my life was linked to cooperation, to basic habitability and the ICHaB (group cooperation of the Technical University of Madrid - UPM), as well as to its two founders: Julián Salas and Felipe Colavidas. It is because of them I am a professional and teacher in this area, basic habitability.


Combining architecture and basic habitability has had a valuable meaning in her life, and between this, Belén shares with Energy from Women an experience that has impacted her life and another that has marked her: “The first was after the Haiti earthquake in 2010. With the NGO Entreculturas, I had the opportunity to participate in evaluation work at the request of the Haitian government, to determine the capacity for a return to normal schooling in the respective facilities. Our work began 15 days after the earthquake struck. Arriving at a school where children were still buried under piles of rubble took my breath away. And after some days of work, it was shocking to determine that the induced vulnerability to which facilities had been subjected was because of design and execution errors in construction that could be avoided”.



“The second experience is much more recent, from October 2018, in a cooperation mission of the UPM to a refugee camp in Ethiopia. A woman refugee rebuked us, saying that a lot of research work from universities, but and their lives, who is changing them?. Without a doubt, that comment has marked my vision of research and has reinforced me in the idea of action research, of an investigation that works to change people's lives for a better future”. It was in this second experience where Energy from Women met Belén, her passion and dedication have led to a great interest in telling her story and allowing other women and professionals in basic habitability and cooperation to be inspired by her.




Then let us understand more of her work. Guaranteeing basic habitability in precarious settlements is relatively complex as almost any cooperative action due to two fundamental reasons, first, it is a multi-actor issue or it should be if we want successful interventions and their permanence, and second, it should be multidisciplinary although its complexity. For Belén, “basic habitability is not only guaranteeing shelter, but it is also guaranteeing a habitable space, since a secure shelter also involves access to basic services such as energy, water, sanitation, waste management, among others, as well as access to education and health, which together make habitability stop being precarious.”




In 2020, a third of the population lived in precarious habitability conditions, between urban and rural areas. Today, more than one billion people live in urban slums, 24% of the world's urban population. According to Belén, given these figures, “the solution lies in guaranteeing a minimum basic habitability to be able to reach more population and thus facilitate, once the first rung of the development ladder is reached, the population can continue to climb the ladder by its own, thus improving their living conditions.”


In this framework, Belén analyzes: “energy plays a fundamental role in basic habitability. According to the 2020 Sustainable Development Goals Report, 2.8 billion people lack fuel and clean technologies for cooking, of which, 548 million - 53% of the population of Sub-Saharan Africa - do not have access to electricity. Without clean technologies for cooking, the population - mainly women and children, who are the ones who usually stay more time at home – get ill and die because of respiratory diseases. Without electricity, they could not be reading this blog -which would be almost the least-, they cannot illuminate their homes or their streets, creating unsafe spaces, they cannot have electric appliances, they cannot study safely when the sun goes down because during the day they have to do other tasks. And we could continue to give examples of the importance of the role of energy for basic habitability.” This states clearly how energy plays a transversal and fundamental role in human development.


To continue learning more about Belén, we asked her opinion about the challenges facing cooperation in the university environment, to which she replied: “It is pivotal to introduce the cooperation subject early in careers in order, in the first place, to give visibility to a reality that for the majority of students is unknown, and secondly to offer another alternative for students. So, they can later decide to specialize and expand their training if they wish.” So, how do you bring this message to the classroom? Every time a course begins, she says to her students: “I am here to talk with you and teach mainly urbanism but there is another Belén linked to basic habitability, and I feel duty-bound to show you the reality of our world from that perspective, from that other reality of the cities that we have not looked at or do not want to look at.” Always with that inspiring tone, there is no doubt that she gets her message across the classrooms, attracting more young people to the world of basic habitability.




From being an inspiration to many people, then who does Belén admire?, “… professionally, including my facet as a teacher, I admire my two mentors, Julián Salas and Felipe Colavidas. In the most spiritual part, to Mother Teresa of Calcutta”, she indicates.


Belén finalizes this conversation with Energy from Women, inviting women, young people, and girls to do two things, to remember what motivates you and makes you happy, and to let you be done. To complement her message, she shares: “When I decided to study architecture it was because I wanted to make those good, beautiful and cheap houses. I never thought that my professional life, linked to cooperation, would connect me with the university. And there, I am happy to have found another way to make those houses ... not with my hands, but by training others so that they can do it for me.” “I advise young women and girls to try to be aware of their skills, their qualities, and from there, to work on what attracts to you. Fortunately, people are different, and we have different interests and concerns. If STEM careers appeal to you, go ahead! Work for what you want, giving the best of you and getting up when the stumbles come, they will come, and you will get it.”


This story is so special that we wanted to add a testimony from someone who has worked with Belén and knows her:


“Belén is one of those people who leave a deep mark wherever they go. She is the soul of the ICHaB, with a deep sense of service to others, with admirable humility, with an unwavering dedication to working for a more just world in favor of basic habitability, and with a special charisma, a characteristic of few people. I have never heard someone telling negative things about Belén. Anyone you ask will always have positive things to share about her, whether they are former students, teachers, and professionals. What more could you ask for in life than to be a GOOD PERSON! For me, she is my authentic MENTOR, with all the letters, in capital letters and if it could be in a very large type because from her, you can only receive quality knowledge and education. The one that the Spanish university needs so much these days. The one that the students are hungry for”, the testimony of Adela Salas Ruíz, ICHaB researcher.


Thank you Belén for sharing your story and your experiences with Energy from Women, thank you for showing the relevance of taking action and highlighting that knowledge and commitment are the keys to working for a better world. This story is a reflection that there are wonderful people in the world who are committed to creating better opportunities for others.


Energy for basic habitability!



About the author: Andrea Eras Almeida, Founder of Energy from Women, PhD in Photovoltaic Solar Energy

 



Bibliography:

UN, 2020: Consejo Económico y Social, “Progresos realizados para lograr los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible. Informe del Secretario General”. 28 de abril de 2020. Available at: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/ files/report/2020/secretary-general-sdg-report-2020-- ES.pdf

UN, 2020: Report of Sustainable Development Goals. Available at: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2020/The-Sustainable-Development-Goals-Report-2020_Spanish.pdf




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