Project Summary: Climate Change and Its Social Impact

Wong Nok Ching Aug 29, 2025

Wong Nok Ching, The University of Hong Kong

Organisation: makesense_americas, Huerto Roma Verde

Inadequate climate education (Barraza & Walford, 2002)
- Only 13.2% of Mexican children aged 7-9 years old had heard of all words in a list of 10 environmental words (e.g. pollution, recycling, global warming), and only 1.3% knew their meaning

Loss of native plant knowledge (Benz et al., 2000)
- Modernisation leads to an increased use of exotic species and reduced understanding of native plants, adversely affecting the conservation of Mexico’s biological diversity and cultural knowledge
Insufficient sustainable solid waste management (Gobierno de la Ciudad de México, n.d.; Secretaría del Medio Ambiente, n.d.)
- Mexico City is a populated city with intense economic, social and cultural activity, generating a large amount of solid waste
- 68% of solid waste is sent to landfills, 15% is recycled, 11% is reused in compost plants, and 6% is reused as alternative fuels

A community centre and biosocial laboratory that promotes collaboration to address the climate emergency through biosocial projects and services
HRV, together with over 100 partner organisations, launched the Pacto con la Tierra (Earth Pact) in 2025 – an agreement to promote and model a set of practices to help regenerate our surroundings, socially and environmentally

To combat the lack of climate knowledge by developing educational materials to empower sustainable behaviours and ecological awareness.

Our team: 4 Laidlaw scholars, 3 project managers at HRV, 3 biologists at HRV, 7 local volunteers
Had weekly meetings at HRV
Applied the design thinking principles

Empathise: Had an organisation visit in the first week to learn about HRV’s current work and challenges
Define: Analysed the core challenge – lack of climate knowledge, and focused on addressing the challenge
Ideate: Generated a list of possible solutions (e.g. educational posters, information signs, videos), and finalised the formats of the deliverables after conducting meetings with the organisation
Prototype: Drafted designs and content for each of our deliverables
Evaluate: Get feedback from the project managers and biologists in HRV and local volunteers to refine our designs and make them more specific to Mexico’s context

Developed a 16-page booklet on the 10Rs (e.g. reduce, reuse, repair, recycle, regenerate, replicate) for children to encourage sustainable behaviours to address the climate emergency

Printed 60 copies in Spanish and English
Distributed to children at the summer camp at HRV
Brought immediate and long-term impact as children could take the booklets home and revisit the content anytime

Designed 13 information signs on native plants at Huerto Roma Verde to increase knowledge and awareness
Created a stencil design for a waste separation tool to encourage the replication of waste sorting practices at home, at school, or in the workspace
Gave a 3-hour workshop for 40 children (3-13 years old) at the summer camp at HRV, featuring a sustainability carousel of 10 activities, each focusing on one aspect of the 10Rs

To lead children in putting into practice the concepts of the 10Rs through simple activities

A journey from abstract ideas to tangible impact – transformed the abstract concepts of the 10Rs and native plant knowledge into usable tools, making the concepts accessible and actionable to children and people of all ages
An achievement accomplished by collaboration – set clear project objectives through meetings with project managers, received feedback from project managers, biologists and volunteers, and worked with other scholars to refine and improve our designs
Personal growth as a changemaker – from being an observer of HRV’s environment to an active participant who created educational resources with lasting impact, empowering everyone to reflect upon our roles in contributing to solving the alarming climate crisis