Description
Museo Memoria y Tolerancia is a non-profit organization that promotes tolerance, the Culture of Peace and Human Rights using the lessons of the genocides perpetrated in the XX century. The Temporary Exhibitions Department aims to deepen the themes addressed in the permanent exhibition and also relevant national and international contemporary topics.
According to a 2013 report issued by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Mexico was in the 7th place of the countries with most emissions of greenhouse gases, meaning our country widely contributes to this problem. Also, in 2017, there were 88 attacks on Mexican environmental activists. Climate change threatens the effective enjoyment of Human Rights to life, water and sanitation, food, housing and even self-determination.
This outset shows the urgent need to address these issues; between 2018 and 2019, the Museum will develop a temporary exhibition called Wounded Earth which will address them, create visibility for activists and non-profit organizations in Mexico which strive to mitigate their impact, carry out outreach campaigns and develop complementary educational activities to reinforce the knowledge presented at the exhibition. Also, after its display in Mexico City, it will be adapted to a portable structure and then become a touring exhibition which will be presented at cultural centers across Mexico.
Additionally, the exhibition will be complemented by conferences, cinema tours, and cultural activities to grant access to free environmental education. An exhibition book will be printed to disseminate the contents but also to generate remembrance.
Finally, the project will contribute to disseminate environmental projects and causes. For this reason, this exhibition will become a platform that will bring together the efforts of civil society, government agencies, international organizations and enterprises to communicate results, generate new alliances and reach new solutions.
Objectives and beneficiaries
Short-term objectives:
- Make visible climate change and its consequences among our visitors.
- Encourage visitors to carry out actions and therefore, generate significant changes in pursuit of the respect for nature.
- Launch campaigns and outreach actions about environmental care and culture in cooperation with non-profit organizations, academic institutions, government agencies, and enterprises.
- Organize panels, conferences, cinema tours and seminars with the purpose of disseminating and generate reflection about climate change and actions to mitigate its impact.
- Create a touring exhibition to promote the defense of environmental rights.
Long-term objectives:
- Promote an environmental culture in Mexico, based on the education of young generations.
Target population: the Museum is open for public aged 4 years and above. However, our target population will be young people aged 15 years old and above which generally come from High Schools and Universities.
Strong points of the solution
The Museum’s flow of visitors is almost half a million on an annual basis. Besides that, the Museum is a focal point for encounters between non-profit organizations, enterprises, activists, media and government agencies. For these reasons, we consider the impact of the exhibitions (both temporary and touring) to be big.
According to the impact evaluations carried out by the Museum (surveys, focus groups, and Delphi method), the contents of the permanent and temporary exhibitions will generate effective changes on visitors which come from diverse contexts. The exhibitions have also a big influence on the public opinion regarding the covered topics.
Expected results and benefits for climate change adaptation and mitigation
From the exhibitions:
- An assistance of approximately 100,000 people per exhibit, mainly young people from High Schools and Universities
- Evaluation of the public’s approval by analyzing the results of surveys and focus groups.
- Invitation to other Mexican cities to show the exhibition.
From the dissemination campaign:
- Media coverage of the exhibitions: quantify and qualify the presence in the media (Radio, TV, newspapers, magazines, and social networks). It is expected that the exhibition of this project will be covered by the main national media.
From complementary activities:
- The assistance of approximately 1200 participants per month to courses, events, workshops, film series, etc.
- Evaluation/feedback of the participants to the events in the cases that apply.
Scalability potential of the solution
Museo Memoria y Tolerancia is a space with unique characteristics in Mexico. However, the results of this project are replicable through the following strategies:
- The reproduction of the contents of the Museum in public spaces or the construction of a Museum or institution with similar objectives.
- The research carried out on environmental issues, global warming and climate change will allow the use of the contents for future presentations, colloquia, forums and in general, in academic events that aim to promote values and defend Human Rights.
[Editor's Note: All information published as submitted by the author(s). Minor edits may have been made for length and clarity.]
