RCE Borderlands Mexico-USA - 2018

CURRENT PROJECT 3. Living Lab/Centro de Diálogo y Transformación: Sustainable Development Interpretive Centre at the Mammoth Museum in Chihuahua, México
Basic Information
Title of project : 
CURRENT PROJECT 3. Living Lab/Centro de Diálogo y Transformación: Sustainable Development Interpretive Centre at the Mammoth Museum in Chihuahua, México
Submitting RCE: 
RCE Borderlands México-USA
Contributing organization(s) : 
1. Name:
Mtro. Rodolfo Fierro Chavarría
Organizational Affiliation:
Museo del Mamut (Mammoth Museum)
E-mail: director@museodepaleontologia.com

2. Name:
Prof. Dr. Carolina López C.
Organizational Affiliation:
Living Lab/Centro de Diálogo y Transformación Inc.
E-mail: living.lab.cdt.inc@gmail.com

Focal point(s) and affiliation(s)
Name: 
Mtro. Rodolfo Fierro Chavarría
Organizational Affiliation: 
Museo del Mamut (Mammoth Museum)
Name: 
Prof. Dr. Carolina López C.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Living Lab/Centro de Diálogo y Transformación Inc.
Format of project: 
Sustainable Development Interpretive Centre and Environmental Science Lab
Language of project: 
Spanish and English
Date of submission:
Monday, October 22, 2018
Agenda 2030
At what level is the policy operating?: 
International
UN Sustainable Development Goals
At what level is the policy operating?: 
International
Plan Estatal de Desarrollo 2016-2022
At what level is the policy operating?: 
Subnational
Plan de Desarrollo 2018-2024
At what level is the policy operating?: 
National
Geographical & Education Information
Region: 
Americas
Country: 
Mexico
Location(s): 
Chihuahua, Chih. México
Address of focal point institution for project: 
1) Museo del Mamut (Mammoth Museum)
Av. Juárez y Calle 25 #2506
Col. Centro
Chihuahua, Chih.
31000 MÉXICO

2) Living Lab/Centro de Diálogo y Transformación Inc.
Priv. de Encino 1905-2
Col. Granjas
Chihuahua, Chih.
31100 México
Target Audience:
Socioeconomic and environmental characteristics of the area : 
Socioeconomic: Chihuahua is the twelfth largest city in Mexico, and one of the most industrialized. Manufacturing is very important and, at the time of writing, there are nine major industrial parks and 79 maquila manufacturing plants which employ about 45,000 people. The city serves as an alternative destination for maquiladora operators that require quick access to the US-México border but wish to avoid both the higher costs and higher turnover rates of employment of the immediate border area. Of all interior (non-border) locations in Mexico, Chihuahua has the largest maquiladora presence in the country. Some of the larger companies include Ford Motor Co., Sumitomo Electrical, Honeywell, Hallmark, and LG Electronics.

The entire state of Chihuahua is also a thriving economic center. Chihuahua's annual Gross State Product (GSP) is approximately $6.2 billion. There are more than 350 established manufacturing and assembly plants in the state; manufacturing accounts for a third of the total GSP, while trade and other services amount to 53.5%. Chihuahua has the largest amount of forested land in all of Mexico. Forty-four percent of Chihuahua's workers are employed in commerce and services, while slightly more than a third of the workforce is employed in mining and industry. In mining, Chihuahua state is the leading national producer of non-ferrous minerals and zinc; it is second nationwide in silver extraction. Agricultural production makes up only 6% of the total GSP, however the state is the leading producer of apples, nuts, cattle and sheep raising nationally, and second in pine and oak trees harvested nationwide (WP. Accessed 23-10-18).
Environmental:

Chihuahua City is surrounded by plains to the North and hills on both the North and the South sides; it is crossed East-and-West by Teofilo Borunda Avenue, which follows the natural flow of the Chuvíscar River. Borunda Ave. is crossed in the West by the Periférico de la Juventud, a major limited-access highway running North and South. The main entrance to the city from the North is Tecnológico Avenue, part of the Pan-American Highway. The geography of the city is dominated by three hills that appear in the Coat of Arms: Cerro Grande, Cerro Coronel and Santa Rosa, the last of which is fully covered by the city. The Cerro Grande has a monumental cross that is lighted each Christmas.
To the East and Northeast, is the Mountain Range Sierra Nombre de Dios, across the Sacramento River from the city. Contained therein, off of Heróico Colegio Militar Ave, are the Nombre de Dios Caverns, a beautiful natural display of minerals and underground formations. To the far East and South is General Roberto Fierro Villalobos International Airport and the highway to the US-Mexican border crossing at Presidio, Texas and Ojinaga, Chihuahua (WP. Accessed 23-10-18).
Description of sustainable development challenge(s) in the area the project addresses: 
Primary sustainable development challenges in the area of Chihuahua City include water concerns, and human development that is truly sustainable and inclusive of all in the region.
Contents
Status: 
Ongoing
Period: 
January, 2019
Rationale: 
The Mammoth Museum is a natural location to set up the Living Lab Sustainable Development Interpretive Centre, since the Museum focuses on the region’s natural history, while the Interpretive Centre looks at the present, with its opportunities and challenges. It then takes a look toward a truly sustainable and inclusive future for Chihuahua; it asks visitors to think about our present and future, and to actively propose and implement solutions designed to help lead us toward these goals.
Objectives: 
° To help stimulate awareness in our visitors of the challenges and the opportunities in Chihuahua as our community journeys toward sustainable and inclusive development.
° To engage people in proposing and implementing activities that they have designed to help our community journey toward these sustainability and inclusivity.
° To sow the awareness, knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors that will lead to a lifelong commitment in our participants to sustainable and inclusive development

° Ensure that the Interpretive Centre is self-sustaining and therefore, economically viable.
Activities and/or practices employed: 
° Empirical Observation
° Situational Analysis
° Needs Analysis
° Group Discussion to generate awareness, an implementation plan, commitment and a schedule of advances by each group toward the sustainable development goals that they themselves has devised.
Size of academic audience: 
° This varies. Schools and Universities bring groups of varied sizes to work with us. Documentary film crews, scientists and other members of the academic community occasionally visit us in order to further their own research goals. The Interpretive Cen
Results: 
° We find that the experience at our Interpretive Centre is often transformative, particularly for children who visit us. Our aim is to provide engaging, activities where participants gain awareness, skills, knowledge, a love for and a lifelong commitment to working toward sustainable and fully inclusive development.

Please note that the Chihuahua Interpretive Centre is based on the Living Lab/Centre for Dialogue & Transformation’s Interpretive Centre in Fraser’s Hill, Pahang Malaysia, where University of Malaya’s RCE Central Semenanjung gained it acknowledgement by UNU-IAS in 2014.

Lessons learned: 
° Engaging people in these activities touches their awareness of both the challenges and the huge potential found in our community for reaching sustainable and inclusive development.

° When moved from within to work as a community toward these goals, people’s ‘good side’ is awakened and engaged. Upon understanding that we can all make a difference for the good, people often feel moved; they begin to reach out to others. They gain an awareness of and a love for our natural environment. These consciousness-raising and engagement activities are so important for helping us reach a critical mass of our populace that is both aware and committed to reaching the objectives of sustainable development for our land and our people.
Key messages: 
° Together we can do it!
° Our land and our people are infinitely valuable
° We all have agency in working for the good of our land and our community
° Striving to ensure the good of all—including the least among us—helps to ensure the personal and familial wellbeing of each individual.
Relationship to other RCE activities: 
° The Interpretive Centre is intimately linked to the Mobile Living Lab—which basically packs up the lab equipment, takes it out to communities where we have development projects, and invites the people in rural areas to engage in activities very similar to those offered at the Interpretive Centre.
Funding: 
° The Interpretive Centre charges $15.00 pesos per participant wishing to join in our activities.
° There is a donation box placed at the entrance of the Interpretive Centre.
° As a tax deductible, donation eligible non-profit corporation, the Living Lab reaches out to corporations and churches in hopes of receiving donations to help us continue with our work.
° We plan to approach charitable foundations with Funding Request Proposals in the very near future.
° UNU-IAS please help us locate foundations and others organizations that might be interested in our work!

Pictures:

File Name Caption for picture Photo Credit
Image icon 1. Interpretive Centre. Mysia. 24-10-18.jpg (24.2 KB) The Living Lab Interpretive Centre for Sustainable Development in Chihuahua, México is based on our Interpretive Centre in Fraser’s Hill, Pahang Malaysia under RCE Central Semenanjung. University of Malaya UNESCO Youth Club
Image icon 2. Lab activities. Mysia. 24-10-18.jpg (16.44 KB) Lab activities in our Malaysian Interpretive Centre. Prof. Dr. Carolina López C. Living Lab/Centre for Dialogue & Transformation. University of Malaya
Image icon 3. Children. Empirical Observation. 24-10-18.jpg (14.86 KB) Children learning about their natural environment, prior to beginning activities in the Environmental Science Lab. Sandure Durai
References and reference materials: 
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
(https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs) and other themes of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
SDG 1 - End poverty in all its forms everywhere 
Direct
SDG 2 - End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture 
Indirect
SDG 3 - Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages 
Direct
SDG 5 - Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls 
Indirect
SDG 6 - Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all 
Direct
SDG 7 - Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all 
Direct
SDG 8 - Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all 
Indirect
SDG 9 - Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation, and foster innovation 
Indirect
SDG 10 - Reduce inequality within and among countries 
Direct
SDG 11 - Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable 
Indirect
SDG 12 - Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns 
Indirect
SDG 13 - Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts 
Indirect
SDG 14 - Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development 
Indirect
SDG 15 - Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification and halt and reverse land degradation, and halt biodiversity loss 
Direct
SDG 16 - Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels 
Direct
SDG 17 - Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development 
Indirect
Theme
Traditional Knowledge  
Direct
Agriculture 
Direct
Arts 
Indirect
Curriculum Development 
Direct
Ecotourism 
Direct
Forests/Trees 
Indirect
Plants & Animals 
Direct
Waste 
Direct
Global Action Programme (GAP) on Education for Sustainable Development – Priority Action Areas
Priority Action Area 1 - Advancing policy 
Indirect
Priority Action Area 2 - Transforming learning and training environments 
Direct
Priority Action Area 3 - Building capacities of educators and trainers 
Direct
Priority Action Area 4 - Empowering and mobilizing youth 
Direct
Priority Action Area 5 - Accelerating sustainable solutions at local level 
Direct
Update: 
No