Getting to Know My Project
During my six weeks in Mexico City, I will be working with Make_Sense, a consultancy that takes on projects designed to have a positive impact on society and the environment, and partners with innovative start-ups and organizations.
My specific project is with Rennueva, a recycling plant within the city that aims to process hard-to-recycle materials and connect different companies with the entire lifecycle of materials, with the goal of creating a circular economy. My team is tasked with improving their data processing to provide more specific and impactful knowledge to clients about where their material is going next, as well as increasing public awareness around recycling, both in general and how Rennueva can play a part. Although my project is rather technical, I am excited to learn more about an area that creates many problems within Mexico City, notably due to the lack of waste management infrastructure and funding.
To be able to lead the project, we spent the first week being trained in design thinking and systemic analysis to allow us to maximize the time spent with our organizations, to learn the core problems they are facing, and how the causes and consequences of each problem are interwoven.
On the Friday of the first week, a presentation and party were held to allow all the organization representatives, volunteers, and scholars to learn more about each project and get to know each other. With many of the volunteers being students looking to improve their English-speaking skills, they were all extremely excited to begin their roles and learn more about the new cultures that each scholar is from.
Cultural Enrichment
Seline - Environmental Engineer
To gain a greater understanding of the current environmental issues that Mexico City faces, we were able to meet an environmental engineer who gave a presentation on each issue and the current government and civil actions being taken to overcome them. Each scholar was extremely engaged in her presentation, with an abundance of questions about our impact and the causes and consequences of different actions.
Iztapalapa – Visits to UTOPIAs
To allow us to see the disparities between different areas of Mexico City, as well as the actions in place to improve the lives and communities in some of the most deprived areas of the city, we took a trip to two UTOPIAs. These are areas funded by local municipalities to provide spaces for local people for leisure, education, and cultural experiences. UTOPIA Barco focused on climate action, including an interactive virtual aquarium and an exhibit on the devastation of climate change on Mexico. UTOPIA Libertad provided a large, safe outdoor space with several educational workshops for families to learn both academic and life skills. It was also built using ecological materials, with sustainability as a core theme. Within the Iztapalapa district, cable cars have been implimented as a new public transport scheme to increase the dignity of those who rely on public services, as well as a more efficient method to travel across the area. The views provided across the whole city were incredible, with many roofs being covered in murals of different people and cultural iconography.
Exploration
With the weekends free, I spent about 40,000 steps exploring the cultural offerings of the city, including the Castillo de Chapultepec, Museo de Arte Moderno, Jardines Botánicos, and an ecological social orchard, Huerto Roma (where one team will be based for their project). These free days allowed me to learn more about the history of Mexico, as well as develop my Spanish communication skills without relying on the Make_Sense team. It was also very beneficial to get to know the other scholars better and understand their reasons for choosing this LIA and the impact they would like to leave in the next six weeks.
I am very grateful to the Laidlaw Foundation and all the team at Make_Sense, especially Nuri and Triana, for all their help in putting the programs together and allowing me to experience a new culture in a way that I otherwise would not be able to.