Oscar Calderón Sánchez was born in Viña del Mar, and is a long-time social worker who graduated from from Valparaíso University. He grew up in Los Andes and has spent half his life working in Quillota, where he raised his family consisting of his wife and 5 children. At 50 years old, he has vast experience in the public and private sectors. He became Mayor of Quillota on June 7 2021 and is politically independent. His management stands out for his technical leadership on the ground with a focus on rights, gender equality and community co-responsibility. He was deputy director of DIDECO in the Municipality of Quillota, and between 2005 and 2011 he managed the social area of a private company, later returning to the municipality where he served as director of SECPLAN, municipal administrator and mayor(s). Bachelor in Social Sciences, Master in Public Policy Management and with postgraduate degrees in Business, Public and Municipal Management. Diploma in Personnel Administration and Team Management.
Quillota’s management seeks to co-construct local and replicable public policies that respond to the needs and solutions raised by neighbors, understanding inclusion as an integral, transversal and articulating factor in the formation of community.
Thus, the City has consolidated and strengthened essential areas for the development of residents, with services designed to cover their fundamental needs such as education and health. These priority areas for the comprehensive development of people have been consolidated with innovative care and operation projects, allowing neighborhoods to be reached in a transversal and participatory manner, with an offer of primary services for residents.
Once this base of basic communal care has been established in the sectors, Quillota integrates other municipal areas of the social, cultural, sports, economic and environmental levels–services that add to the work of these priority areas, providing a range of inclusive development opportunities to residents directly in their neighborhoods, empowering them with the infrastructure available in the city for human development.
This city model of recent years has led to creating innovative local public policies together with the community, generating a connection with their needs, ideas and projects, which are reflected in communal management. Today we have been able to bring better and more complete municipal services to communities, thanks to the support of those who lead the various entities of the commune.
The cooperation, training, and instruction of all leaders at the territorial level, as well as functional, sports, and solidarity organizations and all those who work for the community, has been instrumental in strengthening their neighborhoods and organizations. We have made this purpose concrete with the creation of the first Municipal Institute of Social Organizations, so that those who comply with the academic processes can access a certification recognized by the Municipal Technical Training Agency (OTEC Municipal) and the Technical Training Center (CFT) from the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso.
Quillota’s Intergenerational Plazas are a local initiative that has been highlighted internationally for its inclusion and comprehensiveness. The plazas mobilise citizen participation to improve public spaces in neighborhoods through citizen presence, with the aim of encouraging social interaction among various generations (children, young people, adults and older people) who live together in a territory. This initiative was recognized by the Ibero-American Union of Municipalists, who gave it a special mention as a best practice and experience in local management, in the context of urban planning and ordering, in the 10th Edition of the UIM 2023 Awards.
Several other local initiatives exist to improve residents’ quality of life and promote inclusion, including:
Municipality and Health in your Neighborhood
Wellness centers for individuals and families
On environment, working with organizations to declare urban wetlands and the “Quillota Respira” program, which will plant its 100,000th tree at the end of 2023
In neighborhood infrastructure, the improvement of sports spaces, speed bumps and the recovery of green areas and public spaces
In inclusion, the City has worked with indigenous peoples, the migrant population
Transversal initiatives, such as care protocol for people with ASD along with preferential care credentials.