Martin Calisto Friant is a sustainability and participatory environmental management practitioner of Franco-Ecuadorian nationality. Martin has a full working proficiency in English, French and Spanish. He holds a license in International Development Studies and Political Science from McGill University in Montreal and two Masters, one in Development Studies from the University of Melbourne, and another in Environment and Sustainable Development from the Bartlett faculty of the Built Environment of University College London (UCL). Martin has over five years of professional experience in areas related to sustainable development, working on several projects in Africa, Oceania and the Americas. His work has a special focus on inclusive planning and governance processes that promote fair, participatory and sustainable management of the environment.

Additionally, Martin has had several articles published in peer-reviewed academic journals on topics of climate change, post-development theories, the Anthropocene, sustainable urban planning, fair trade, food sovereignty and political ecology. Martin currently works at IUCN in projects related to  Ecosystem-Based Climate Change Adaptation and Transboundary Water Governance and Hydro-Diplomacy. He is also President and Co-Founder of the Terrasapiens Foundation, which seeks to promote and advance the rights of nature by proposing innovative models for the production, consumption and management of our shared natural heritage.