I have just finished my first week working with makesense_americas in Mexico City for my Leadership in Action project! After arriving on Saturday evening, I spent Sunday meeting some of the other scholars on the programme, and sightseeing around the neighbourhood we are staying in. Then on Monday morning, it was straight to the Impact Hub to meet the makesense team. We heard an insightful presentation from planeteando (a charity that specialises in audiovisual climate education) about eco-feminism. This effectively illustrated the intersection of the two social issues we are working on: climate change and gender-based violence.

My first visit to Huerto Roma Verde, the specific charity I am working with, was brilliant. Along with three other scholars, I will be working to create resources for HRV to grow their profile outside the immediate climate-conscious community and raise awareness away from their main site. It was particularly impactful to visit during their Wednesday market as I saw how busy the site was which really emphasised the scale of the operation. It made me excited to be involved in such a vibrant organisation. 

The picture below is a mural from our group visit to Iztapalapa, the most densely populated borough of the city. We visited two ‘Utopias’ – community projects introduced by Clara Brugada (current Mayor of Mexico City) when she was Mayor of Iztapalapa. It was great to see how well used these spaces were and I really enjoyed hearing the stories of all the people working there as well as our guide, Juana.

Within the makesense sessions, I particularly enjoyed our Design Thinking ‘bootcamp’. Design Thinking emphasises the importance of a human-centred approach to problem-solving. I found it interesting to contrast this with the ‘scientific method’ that I am used to using in my degree and was also what I used in my research project last year. I am looking forward to applying this approach to my work with Huerto Roma Verde and am excited to continue exploring Mexico City. Viva Mexico!