Profiles from the Peninsula is a series dedicated to spotlighting the partners who make up the Baja Working Group, and their projects. This week’s profile is on the Climate Kids - Mexico project, an Alliance project focused on community-driven outreach, workshops, and environmental stewardship activities around Tijuana and Northern Baja California.
Puedes leer este blog en español aquí.
Profiles from the Peninsula is a series dedicated to spotlighting the partners who make up the Baja Working Group, and their projects. Each week, we will bring you a new profile in the form of a blog like this one. More information about the working group can be found here.
Climate Kids Mexico, one of the Climate Science Alliance’s Climate Kids projects, focuses on community-driven outreach, workshops, and environmental stewardship activities around Tijuana and Northern Baja California.
The Climate Kids Mexico project is unique in that it aims to train high school students to become Climate Kids Mexico Ambassadors who can use science, art, and storytelling to deliver Climate Kids programming to younger students and the larger community alike. For example, every year Climate Kids Mexico participates in the Ecoparque Environmental Day Festival in Tijuana. Here, students educate local community members on climate impacts and host a “Pasarela” Fashion Show where they display outfits made entirely out of recycled materials.
The success of the Climate Kids Mexico project can be in large part attributed to the strong partnerships between the Alliance and the many groups working in Baja California to bring science and art to the region’s youth. At the heart of this partnership is Martha Aidé Escalante García, the Climate Kids Mexico Program Manager at the Alliance. Aidé partnered with the Climate Science Alliance in 2015 and developed the project’s distinctive educational approach working with high school youth. Check out her reflections on building capacity for climate education through her work with Climate Kids Mexico here.
Alongside Aidé, Anna Lucia López-Avedoy—a recent recipient of the 2020 Climate Adaptation Leader Award—has been an integral part of growing the Climate Kids Mexico team. In particular, Anna Lucia has led efforts to bring educational opportunities to vulnerable and underserved youths in Tijuana and students and families from indigenous communities in Baja and northern Mexico. Anna Lucia incorporates hands-on field trips to the beaches, canyons, and mountain areas of Baja for students.
Thanks to the many partnerships Climate Kids Mexico has built in the Baja region, the program has succeeded in bringing a diversity of programs to the Baja California community. From air quality monitoring and atmospheric science, to connecting with underserved youth and southern tribal communities, this project strives to empower groups not only to learn, but also to pass that knowledge on to others.
Read more about the accomplishments of the Climate Kids Mexico team on our blog.
The Baja Working Group is a collaboration between the Climate Science Alliance and the International Community Foundation. Learn more here.