Maria Pia Ancora is a Senior Urban Development Specialist in the Water and Urban Development Sector Office (SG-WUD). With more than two decades of experience, she has designed and implemented sustainable urban infrastructure investments and provided environmental policy advice across Asia (India, Mongolia, Pakistan, PRC, among other countries). She is currently based in Tbilisi and oversees ADB’s urban and climate programs in the South Caucasus region. She holds a master’s degree in Environmental Engineering and Land Use Planning from the University of Trento (Italy) and a PhD in Environmental Science and Engineering from Tsinghua University (PRC).