Vice-Principal Research and Innovation Irena Creed is pleased to welcome Sergio Montero to the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) as Inaugural Director of the Institute for Inclusive Economies and Sustainable Livelihoods of iRISE (the institutes for Resilient and Inclusive Societies and Ecosystems), effective July 1, 2023.
Vice-principal Creed says, “I’m delighted to have Sergio join iRISE in this leadership role. His work at the peripheries of urban and rural economic development, both locally and around the world, will enrich discussions and programming he develops at the Institute for Inclusive Economies and Sustainable Livelihoods.”
Professor Montero will join the Department of Human Geography at UTSC, moving from Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia. There he was an associate professor of urban and regional planning and development and founded and directed LabNa (Laboratorio de Narrativas Urbanas/Urban Narratives Lab) and CiderX (an LGBTQ+ research group). With a PhD in City and Regional Planning from the University of California Berkeley, Professor Montero is interested in place-based and inclusive approaches to reimagine economic development, particularly thinking from Latin America and from the peripheries of economic development.
“I was at University of Toronto last year during a sabbatical semester,” says Professor Montero, “and I was truly impressed by the quality of the research that is taking place at the university and the commitment to social justice and change, particularly at UTSC. I am excited about building iRISE and the Institute for Inclusive Economies and Sustainable Livelihoods collectively. It is a great opportunity to build interdisciplinary dialogues with colleagues and students from the three campuses of the University of Toronto as well as with community organizations and policy makers around the world on how to create more inclusive economies and sustainable livelihoods. Scarborough, located in Toronto’s diverse peripheries, will be a fascinating place to think about inclusive economies and sustainability across the global North and South.”
Professor Montero can be reached at s.montero@utoronto.ca.