Eco LocalMotion (ELM)

Ilyana Albarrán is the founder and director of Alba Research and Consulting (ARC) (http://www.arc-sustainability.com/). ARC conducts research on potential new markets for companies with strong environmental, social and governance records, and develops innovative project through multisector collaborations to enter those niches. A prior example of an innovative project launched was a Pre-K Green Certification awarded the Children’s Trust Innovation Grant. This initiative partnered several private sector and non-profit collaborators toward promoting environmentally sound practices in early education childcare centers. Initial work on this project, and others, was conducted in conjunction with Florida International University’s (FIU’s) Master’s in Global Risk and Corporate Responsibility program. Our team is now is eager to launch Eco LocalMotion, an APP that serves as an incentive system for the reduction of CO2  and promotes local businesses. Ilyana has a BA in economics from Cornell University and a PhD in Public Affairs from FIU. 

Eco Local Motion incentivizes the reduction of CO2 by connecting the user to a set benefits for walking, biking, and/or using public transportation to reach a destination. The APP promotes local businesses by encouraging users to walk and bike to nearby participating businesses and visit those further away by public transport. The APP is perfect for residents and tourist who opt out of a vehicle to get to know a city and support the local economy. We are committed to working to promote healthy living, fight obesity and reduce CO2 emissions. Our app elevates humanity by helping cities promote the walkability to local shops. Through data collected, we help city planners understand deficiencies in the supply of services within close range to their resident’s home. We work with local governments to help them motivate their residents to shop local and reduce CO2 emissions.

Obesity and air pollution are on the rise. Growing suburban sprawls in areas where civil engineers prioritized transport via automobile, preferring wide car lanes with high visibility (lack of trees) created a situation where even if one can theoretically walk, there is no incentive to do so. The re-designing of streets to facilitate walkability require studies demonstrating sufficient pedestrian demand. It is a vicious cycle; people do not walk because streets were designed for automobiles and streets are not re-designed to prioritize walkability because of the lack of demand. Our app would incentivize walking, biking, and using public transport. We would induce demand by setting contracts with local businesses to provide coupons for users who opted out of a car to visit a shop. We would work with local governments to give residents points (discounts to museum, etc.) for walking and biking set distances. Together we can encourage walking and biking to fight obesity and support the local economy.

How it works:

The incentive system for the reduction of CO2 in cities works through the payment of benefits to users as calculated according to the distance walked on foot, biked, or accumulated using public transport, in defined areas of a city.

The distance walked, for example, is accumulated and becomes a set of benefits that can be cashed out at a user's choice.

The information obtained, once validated, is recorded, and can be converted into a coupon.

The user’s app screen/monitor provides information on various elements (with details of each element appearing after a double click):

▪ Distance walked by date and time (in miles)

▪ Duration and average calories consumed

▪ Distance balance

▪ Awards obtained

▪ Rewards to obtain

▪ Treasures discovered and treasures to be discovered

▪ Claims made on the road (with audio, photo and / or video)

The idea is a clean design, a map on a screen where we observe our current location and participating businesses within various radiuses from our location, and a side menu with all our options.

The pilot of the application will be launched in the unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County surrounding Barry University. The Census tracts in the contemplated area showcase a wide distribution of median household income, from those with less than 20% to over 40% of poverty concentrations. The area includes several urban planning elements that makes it a viable pilot site. It includes two gateways that can identify entrance points into two cities, North Miami and Miami Shores, and key destinations within each. A corridor, which is a major physical route that channels vehicular, pedestrian traffic into and within Miami-Dade County, and consequently affect resident’s quality of life, the tourist experience, and the economic development climate. And offers a potential to connect students and residents to parks, restaurants, shops and even a museum in the downtowns of two cities, all within walking and biking distance. Our team has walked the area and spoken with residents. We have met with city council representatives and found interest in attracting the students and neighbors of Barry University to their city’s businesses. We are continuing our partnership with Florida International University’s Master’s in Global Risk and Corporate Responsibility program to further study possibilities for our app.

I lead a Janes Walk (a citizen led walking tour) of downtown North Miami in 2018 and realized that our local shops, and museum, could benefit from pedestrians traffic from unincorporated Miami-Dade County and Barry University. In 2019, I contacted the Department of Transportation to apply for a Grant to provide a tree canopy along the corridor connecting the campus to the downtown. I was advised that we did not qualify for the grant because the corridor first need to be re-designed to allow for trees. To warrant re-designing, a study would need to demonstrate sufficient pedestrian usage of the corridor. Knowing that pedestrians did not use the corridor because it was unpleasant, I began collecting residents' signatures to demonstrate demand.  Early this year, egger to beautify the area to induce pedestrian traffic, I spoke to a colleague interested in creating an app to reduce CO2 emissions. We decided kick off 2020 by partnering to create an app, EcoLocal Motion.  Since our first meeting, we have added two members, who write code, to our team and have been working to build an app that offers benefits to users walking and biking to local shops, ‘Living la Vida Local’.

An overarching theme of my personal trajectory, with respect to both professional career and diverse forms of civic and community engagement and activism, is commitment to environmental sustainability and otherwise “green” initiatives.

I ran for City Council, representing District 2 of North Miami, where I live. My aim was to promote sustainability as a means of securing overall resiliency of the City of North Miami. We in South Florida will be at the frontlines of global environment change including rising sea levels, and protection of a tremendous - but environmentally sensitive - biodiversity. Accordingly, everything ‘green’ was as at the forefront of concern of my campaign, from encouraging residents to adopt native, low maintenance landscaping to collaborating with the city to promote and encourage walkability and eco-friendly initiatives.

As the founder of my own research and consulting firm, Alba Research and Consulting, ACR, I have been able to work on the promotion of sustainability and green initiatives, at a both local and global scale, specifically through building partnerships and innovative entrepreneurial opportunities that connect suppliers and investors, which value environmental consciousness and corporate responsibility, with potential end users. This app is an extension of my is commitment to environmental sustainability.

I am the founder director of Alba Research and Consulting (ARC), LLC (http://www.arc-sustainability.com/). ARC conducts research on potential new markets for companies with strong environmental, social and governance records, and develops innovative project through multisector collaborations to enter those niches. As ARC’s Director and founder, I have overseen the organization’s short- and long-term planning; implemented personnel policies, including hiring, training, and team management; coordinated workflow and development of partnerships; created advertising strategies; and secured funding for projects. One of the innovative projects we launched was a Pre-K Green Certification awarded the Children’s Trust Innovation Grant. This initiative partnered several private sector and non-profit collaborators toward promoting environmentally sound practices in early education childcare centers. Notably, a portion of the initial work on this project was conducted in conjunction with Florida International University’s (FIU’s) Master’s in Global Risk and Corporate Responsibility program. ARC capitalized on the work of master’s students to conduct the first draft of the pitch deck, and hired and trained one of the graduate students to launch the pilot. As ARC’s Director, I maintain an active connection with the Master’s in Global Risk and Corporate Responsibility program to develop new projects and recruit qualified employees that are required to deliver Eco LocalMotion.

I was born in Mexico and attended public schools in a rural town until I was ten years old, when my family uprooted and moved to California. I was placed in English as a Second Language (ESL) courses and diagnosed with dyslexia. Despite English being my second language and having a learning disability, I exhaled in high school and after obtaining a B.A. in Economics from Cornell University, I graduated with a Ph.D. in Public Affairs from Florida International University (FIU). While at FIU, I maintained an active and long-standing affiliation with the Institute of Public Management and Community Service. I was part of a team who worked to carry out conferences that brought together several hundred mayors from Latin America. Since graduating, I have been invited back to the Institute to moderate and speak on panels regarding, citizen participation, local government, economic development, environmental sustainability and risk management, specifically for both the XXII and XXIII Inter-American Conference of Mayors and Local Authorities. Today, being bi-lingual allows me to partner with Spanish and English-speaking leaders around the world, and my dyslexia strengthens my ability to think outside the box when working in a group to solve complex problems.

Prior to pursuing a graduate career, I worked in Puebla, Mexico, as an Urban Development Community Liaison. I identified needed urban improvements and potential investors for those projects, as well as spearhead several community-based environmental programs including leading community efforts focused on the installation of a potable water system and carrying out environmental education campaigns. I also worked on several projects, likewise, focused on sustainability and conservation in other Latin American countries (e.g., Guatemala, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic). 

Locally in South Florida I became a 2017 New Leaders Council fellow and a founding member of the Miami’s Next Leaders (MNL). MNL trains the next generation of progressive leaders to become civic leaders and run for government office, and connects them to mentors, professional networks, and resources that can support their leadership journey. Included among my activities within the organization, I co-wrote the 2019 curriculum providing lectures and panel discussions to enhance fellow’s leadership skills and become knowledgeable on the most pressing issues facing Miami-Dade County. In addition to securing speakers, I served as a speaker and moderator. Through this work, I have gained wonderful friendships with innovators and leaders in the Miami community (https://www.miamisnextleaders.com/).