EcoZones: Piloting an approach for co-designing, scaling and replicating inclusive climate action at the neighbourhood level

Given their contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and their vulnerability to the effects of climate change, cities are a fundamental actor in the fight against its impacts. Yet, community awareness and engagement is often disregarded in these processes. This project focuses on the execution of pilot projects in two vulnerable neighbourhoods in medium-size Mexican cities with the aim of demonstrating the feasibility of low-cost, inclusive and easily replicable low-carbon and resilient urban solutions. The project will address thhis from an intersectoral perspective, allowing a bottom-up approach in the assessment, design and execution of identified solutions using a mapping tool and a methodological framework. A capacity building and dissemination strategy will enable local authorities and grass-roots organizations to replicate the approach independently, using the project’s resulting products.

Project data

Countries
Mexico
IKI funding
727,774.50 €
Duration
07/2022 till 12/2024
Status
open
Implementing organisation
Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy GmbH - Germany
Implementing Partner
  • Centro de Transporte Sustentable de México, A.C. (WRI México)
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State of implementation/results

  • Together with the related municipal institute planning authorities (IMPLAN) the World Resources Institute (WRI) Mexico selected the two pilot cities: Hermosillo and Léon.
  • After a comprehensive and collaborative process, the selected neighbourhoods are: Hermosillo: La Metalera (www.instagram.com/…) and León: Jardines de San Miguel (www.instagram.com/…)
  • In August 2023 two official kick-off meetings with the IMPLANs in Hermosillo and Léon were held to present the updated work plan and identify possible synergies with on-going or future municipal initiatives.
  • Workshops with the neighbourhood communities of La Metalera in Hermosillo and Jardines de San Miguel in Léon took place in August 2023. The objectives were to introduce the project to the neighbourhood community, identify relevant actors and collect their perception through the “Perception Wheel”. (wrimexico.org/…); (twitter.com/…); (twitter.com/…)
  • The EcoZones Toolbox was finalised in August 2024 with feedback from the community and urban experts. The core element of the toolkit is the EcoZones mobile application, created to conduct collaborative mapping and neighbourhood surveys, allowing the community to generate an assessment of their neighbourhood. The community can access the results and prioritized Sustainable Urban Solutions (SUS) through the dashboard. (www.ecozonas.org)
  • Following the EcoZones implementation methodology, two guided community mapping processes were held in December 2023 in the selected neighbourhoods of León and Hermosillo using the developed app. The neighbourhood assessments based on the community mapping exercise and the Sustainable Urban Solutions (SUS) to address the most pressing issues were presented to and prioritized by the respective communities in January 2024.
  • In March 2024, two-days community workshops in each neighbourhood were held to co-design the selected SUS. The implementation of the selected physical interventions started and is planned to conclude in October 2024.
  • The community workshops held between August 2023 and September 2024 included two capacity building sessions: one on climate change and the other on the use of the mobile collaborative mapping tool.
  • The final event was held on September 12 in Mexico City with around 50 participants from the Mexican urban and climate community. (es.wri.org/…)
  • Closing events were held in Hermosillo and Leon with the participation of local authorities, academia, private sector and civil society on September 10 and 19 respectively, with 24 participants in Hermosillo and 33 attendees in Leon. The events focused on the presentation of the EcoZones guidelines, as well as the results achieved and lessons learned from the pilots in León and Hermosillo. (es.wri.org/…)
  • Under UN-Habitat’s Urban October Initiative, the “EcoZones Challenge 2024” was launched with the aim to motivate Latin American authorities, NGOs, academia, urban practitioners, etc. in promoting sustainable, resilient and liveable neighbourhoods in their cities by using the EcoZones toolbox.

Latest Update:
11/2024

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