Author: IKI Alliance

Recognizing the importance of technical cooperation for sustainable development, a meeting was held between the Peruvian Ministry of the Environment (MINAM) and the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), the Mexican-German Climate Change Alliance of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) and Santiago Lorenzo’s consulting team, in order to publish the process and results of the green financing taxonomy project for commercial banking.

Presentación “Taxonomía de Financiamiento Verde” al MINAM de Perú.
Presentation “Taxonomy of Green Financing” to MINAM of Peru.

The meeting had the aim to support the Peruvian government in the development of its national taxonomy, which is one of the main points of Component 2 of its Green Finance Roadmap (HRFV). The HRFV, published this February, seeks to accompany the financial sector in the implementation of actions that incorporate environmental components in the country’s economic and productive activities. It is made up of two large thematic components: the first is the environmental component within the financial system; the second is the financing of activities and the design of eco-friendly products.

Mexico is a pioneer on the continent with its creation of the Taxonomy for Green Financing in collaboration with the GIZ’s Mexican-German Climate Change Alliance and the Mexican Bank Association (ABM).  It was created to establish criteria and indicators that allow the classification of various economic activities and their contribution to mitigating and adapting to climate change, as well as to reducing the risk of bad practices such as greenwashing. Mexico’s experience and advances in this matter have rendered it a benchmark for other countries to define their sustainable taxonomies and, thus, collaborate with the transfer of knowledge to create a greener Latin America.

 

Contact: Montserrat Mendoza (montserrat.mendozaacero@giz.de)

With the aim of strengthening the capacities of decision-makers on climate and energy issues in Mexico, within the framework of the global COBENEFITS project, which is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI), a virtual training was carried out on the co-benefits of renewable energy and employment opportunities at the subnational level in Mexico.

It was implemented by the Renewables Academy (RENAC) in alliance with GIZ through the project Enhancing the Coherence of Climate and Energy Policies in Mexico (CONECC), with the support of the Mexican Environmental Ministry (SEMARNAT).

Throughout the training, participants were instructed on the use of methodologies such as the International Model of Impacts on Employment and Economic Development (I-JEDI) to quantify the jobs created at a subnational level through renewable energy projects.

The training, held from March 22 to 24, was opened by Dr. Marco Heredia, General Director of Policies for Climate Change of SEMARNAT, and Jonas Russbild, Director of the CONECC Project. They highlighted the importance of the co-benefits approach as a tool to facilitate and promote the implementation of positive impacts in the social, environmental, and economic spheres of sustainable energy deployment at the local level —as well as for promoting Mexico’s fulfillment of the goals established in its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). The CONECC project showed the importance of the co-benefits of sustainable energy and shared the main results of the study on the quantification of co-benefits at the local level in the state of Yucatán.

The think-tank Adelphi Berlin presented the concept of co-benefits and how they can be catalysts for local employment. Attendees actively participated in the development of a practical case using the I-JEDI tool to quantify the socioeconomic impacts of renewable energy projects. This exercise allowed the participants to estimate the direct, indirect, and induced jobs generated by the deployment of different technologies.

The training concluded with a session on the essential elements to promote a post-COVID-19 green recovery, as well as the role of the energy transition in job creation and in advancing the global fight against the climate crisis. More than 25 people from the environmental and energy sector at federal and state levels participated in the training.

CO-BENEFICIOS México vía Twitter.
CO-BENEFICIOS México vía Twitter.

For more information or questions about the activities of the project “Co-benefits: The Energy Transition’s Contribution to Sustainable Development in Mexico” (Co-benefits Mexico), you can write to us at: cobeneficios@giz.de and pedro.hernandez@giz.de or through our Twitter account.

The GIZ’s Climate Protection in Mexican Urban Policy (CiClim) project has developed strategies and actions, in conjunction with the municipalities of León, Mérida, and Morelia, that reduce the impact of climate change and allow increased protection of peri-urban natural areas and urban green areas, maintaining and expanding the benefits that they award to city dwellers.

Through the project’s actions, protection was increased for more than 130,000 hectares of peri-urban natural areas and urban green areas. Fourteen community and backyard urban gardens have been installed, as well as two community forest nurseries in a natural area, providing a better management of the urban green areas of at least three municipalities. This in turn allows increased environmental benefits, such as water infiltration, improved air quality, and mitigation of the heat island effect, provided by the green spaces in urban areas of the municipalities of León, Mérida and Morelia.

Since 2018, CiClim’s work focuses on the environmental benefits to urban populations. It has resulted in strategies and public policies such as the León Urban Biodiversity Index and the design of the Municipal System of Environmental Value Areas (SMAVA), now integrated into the Morelia Municipal Urban Development Plan. Furthermore, the elaboration of multiple ecosystem service valuations for León, Mérida, and Morelia (which we have already shared in this IKI blog), serve as a basis for developing financing tools for the municipalities’ natural areas.

The technical work was reinforced with training and awareness-raising for key actors in the cities, such as the course on the integration of ecosystem services in urban planning and management (ISE Urbano); environmental education workshops; training for micro-producers in the strengthening of agricultural practices, and the development of Environmental Promoters for Urban Biodiversity (PABU).

To delve into these processes and learn how to apply them in other cities, consult the compendium that we have prepared with this information.

Acueducto Morelia, Photo: CiClim
Acueducto Morelia, Photo: CiClim
ANP Pico Azul, Morelia. Foto: CiClim
ANP Pico Azul, Morelia. Photo: CiClim

Downloadable File:

Projects Generated by the Ecosystem Services Component.

The Government of Yucatán, through the Secretariat for Economic Development and Labor (SEFOET) and the Secretariat for Sustainable Development (SDS), in alliance with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, published the report CO-BENEFITS — Employment Opportunities and Local Benefits of Community Participation in Renewable Energy Projects in Yucatán on February 23, 2021. The report forms part of the Enhancing the Coherence of Climate and Energy Policies in Mexico (CONECC) project. The study aimed to present decision-makers with the results of the quantification of co-benefits for communities in the deployment of renewable energy projects, measuring employment opportunities and the savings generated, in order to facilitate synergies in the implementation of environmental, economic, and social agendas.

As a follow-up to the communication of the information presented in the study, three infographics were made with the data and priority findings. They focused on 1) the generation of jobs in two scenarios regarding the ambition of the expansion of renewable energy in Yucatan; 2) the savings and income generation from the participation of communities in said renewable energy projects; and 3) the methodology for the quantification process, together with public policy options to optimize local co-benefits. We invite you to take a look at the aforementioned infographics.

They can be downloaded at the end of the article for a more detailed and in-depth reading on the topic of co-benefits as drivers of climate action and sustainable and inclusive development.

INFOGRAPHIC 1. JOB POTENTIAL GENERATED BY THE IMPLEMENTATION OF WIND, PHOTOVOLTAIC, AND DISTRIBUTED GENERATION PROJECTS IN THE STATE OF YUCATAN BETWEEN 2020-2049.
JOB POTENTIAL GENERATED BY THE IMPLEMENTATION OF WIND, PHOTOVOLTAIC, AND DISTRIBUTED GENERATION PROJECTS IN THE STATE OF YUCATAN BETWEEN 2020-2049.

GIZ MX / By Laguna

 

POTENTIAL OF ECONOMIC SAVINGS DERIVED FROM THE IMPLEMENTATION OF DISTRIBUTED GENERATION PROJECTS IN THE STATE OF YUCATAN BETWEEN 2020-2049.
POTENTIAL OF ECONOMIC SAVINGS DERIVED FROM THE IMPLEMENTATION OF DISTRIBUTED GENERATION PROJECTS IN THE STATE OF YUCATAN BETWEEN 2020-2049.

GIZ MX / By Laguna

 

METHODOLOGICAL PROCESS AND PUBLIC POLICY OPTIONS TO MAXIMIZE THE BENEFITS OF THE DEPLOYMENT OF RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE STATE OF YUCATAN.
METHODOLOGICAL PROCESS AND PUBLIC POLICY OPTIONS TO MAXIMIZE THE BENEFITS OF THE DEPLOYMENT OF RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE STATE OF YUCATAN.

GIZ MX / By Laguna

The objective of the virtual segment was to understand the relationship between the design aspects of an ETS and transparency and accountability from different perspectives. The event was organized by the General Directorate for Climate Change Policies (DGPCC) of the Mexican Environmental Ministry SEMARNAT in collaboration with GIZ.

The series consisted of four virtual sessions given during the month of March 2021. Throughout the first sessions, there were contributions from: FactorCO2, German Emissions Trading Authority (DEHSt, for its acronym in German), European Energy Exchange (EEX), Spanish Association for Standardization and Certification (AENOR), Carbon Market Watch, and BC3, who shared their overall experiences and knowledge about the environmental and financial integrity of ETS. Suriel Islas from SEMARNAT was also present and shared an overview of the Mexican ETS in its testing phase.

Additionally, CEMEX and Acciona participated; they each highlighted the importance of having a robust MRV scheme, as well as developing adequate strategies to ensure companies’ internal GHG reduction. The relevance of flexible compliance mechanisms, also known as offsets, and their relevance in the process of ensuring the environmental integrity of ETSs, was also highlighted. During the last session, the contribution of civil society was emphasized, as well as the importance of achieving an adequate understanding of the objectives and implications of an ETS, in order for civil society to be a counterweight in the discussion of relevant aspects.

This series of virtual sessions sets a precedent for the relevance of aspects such as market monitoring, financial regulation, the legal nature of emissions rights, and the cybersecurity of the monitoring system, among others; together they generate a common understanding of the risks —both financial and environmental— that must be observed and mitigated in an ETS to ensure its proper functioning.

Access the material from the sessions in the Downloads section.

El 19 de febrero de 2021, los proyectos Alianza Mexicana – Alemana de Cambio Climático, Convergencia de la Política Energética y de Cambio Climático (CONECC) y Preparación de un Sistema de Comercio de Emisiones de México (SiCEM) tuvieron una reunión virtual con aproximadamente 100 personas del cuerpo directivo del Tecnológico de Monterrey.

En dicha sesión, el equipo de GIZ México presentó los conceptos básicos de la ciencia que sustenta al cambio climático, el marco normativo, la política internacional y nacional de cambio climático, así como recomendaciones para promover la participación de la comunidad estudiantil en iniciativas ambientales y acciones para la mitigación y adaptación al cambio climático en los campus del Tecnológico.

Posteriormente, se promovió la participación entre participantes con una dinámica en “MURAL” para recopilar las ideas y propuestas del Tec de Monterrey, las cuales mostraron el gran interés del personal directivo por formalizar alianzas con otras instituciones, mejorar la sostenibilidad en los campus y promover la participación de estudiantes en las acciones climáticas. Finalmente se realizó una dinámica interactiva tipo test en la plataforma Kahoot para medir el conocimiento adquirido de las personas participantes.

El evento cerró con la presentación del Plan de trabajo de Sostenibilidad en los campus del Tec de Monterrey, donde mostraron sus metas ambientales y algunas de las acciones a realizar para cumplirlas. El evento virtual se caracterizó por el enorme interés y participación de cada participante durante toda la sesión.

Este evento fue una gran oportunidad para intercambiar ideas entre ambas instituciones sobre el rol de la academia en la lucha contra la crisis climática, ya sea desde la innovación, la promoción de la conciencia ambiental, la reducción de la huella de carbono de la institución o en otorgar herramientas a la comunidad estudiantil para llevar a cabo iniciativas climáticas dentro y fuera de la universidad.

El siguiente paso que se tiene contemplado en esta importante colaboración entre GIZ México y la institución, es brindar 4 cursos modulares, entre marzo y abril, a operativos de 42 campus de la red del Tec de Monterrey. Lo cual seguirá abonando a la construcción del Plan Institucional de Cambio Climático y de Sostenibilidad de la institución. Además, permitirá transitar a una ruta más clara sobre cuál será el rol de la academia en la implementación de la recientemente actualizada Contribución Determinada a nivel Nacional (NDC por sus siglas en inglés) de México.

Sin duda los retos para la adaptación y mitigación al cambio climático para el cumplimiento de la NDC son grandes, por lo que contar con la academia como aliada, permitirá fortalecer e impulsar más acciones climáticas desde una visión más integral con un enfoque de sostenibilidad.

Images of floods, beaches full of seaweed, dry landscapes, and tourist infrastructure destroyed by the last hurricane demonstrate the vulnerability of the tourism business time and again. Although the urgent must be addressed, at the same time it is a priority to prepare the business for a future with a more extreme and uncertain climate.

The Guide is the first of its kind in Mexico and offers innovative recommendations for companies to integrate climate change and adaptation approaches during the planning processes of real estate tourism investment projects.

Infrastructure damage in Los Cabos from hurricane Odile in 2014. IMPLAN Los Cabos

Among the recommendations, green solutions are emphasized, providing long-term social, environmental and economic benefits –not only to businesses, but also to the tourist destination and its inhabitants.

As mentioned by Dr. Rafael del Villar, advisor to the Bank of Mexico (Banxico) at the event: “This guide will help make the tourism sector in the country more competitive; it will do so by reducing the cost of investment through actions of risk mitigation and reduction, and also by facilitating that these investments are in line with the growing demand for environmentally friendly tourism.”

Guide cover. GIZ-ADAPTUR.

The presentation took place within the framework of the ADAPTUR project on November 13, 2020, with the participation of around one hundred people with a high level of influence, including executives from 40 leading investment companies, developers and consulting firms in the sector, as well as the National Tourism Promotion Fund (FONATUR), the Resident Directorate of GIZ in Mexico, the General Directorate of Climate Change Policies (DGPCC) at SEMARNAT, the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP), the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change (INECC), the Bank of Mexico and representatives of the state and municipal governments of Guanajuato, Nayarit, Jalisco and Quintana Roo –among others.

The document is available for download at ADAPTUR (in spanish) and in english click here.

A focus on the social, economic and environmental co-benefits of sustainable energy has been positioned as a tool at a local level, in order to highlight the positive effects of sustainable energy, not only in mitigation and adaptation to climate change, but also in other benefits such as job creation, savings and increased well-being for communities.

This is why, in an alliance between the Deutsche Gesell­schaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH through the project Enhancing the Coherence of Climate and Energy Policies in Mexico (CONECC) together with the Yucatan Government, through the Secretariat of Economic Development and Work (SEFOET) and the Secretariat for Sustainable Development (SDS), the study “Co-benefits: Employment Opportunities and Local Benefits of Community Participation in Renewable Energy Projects in Yucatan was presented. The objective is to provide public policy makers and other relevant stakeholders with methodological tools to quantify the co-benefits of sustainable energy in the state’s social, economic and climate agendas.

At the presentation event, Marita Brömmelmeier, Resident Director of GIZ in Mexico; the Secretary of Sustainable Development, M.I.A. Sayda Rodríguez Gómez and Juan Carlos Vega Milke, SEFOET Undersecretary of Energy, shared welcome messages, acknowledging the effort put into the report, since it contains relevant information to promote compliance with the state’s climate goals, taking into account social opportunities for communities. It was mentioned that the study positions the state as a benchmark on the road to the energy transition, inviting other sectors to join the change and thus reap the benefits generated from future projects.

The director of the CONECC project, Jonas Russbild, reiterated the wish to continue working on the quantification of co-benefits to obtain inputs that trigger social narratives around the implementation of climate policies as tools for local and national development.

The study presented highlights that, under an ambitious scenario of clean energy deployment, Zero Carbon Transition, 247,000 direct, indirect and induced jobs could be created in renewable energy projects, saving 133 billion pesos under a net metering scheme in Yucatán by 2050.

Additionally, Mirelle de Fátima Segovia Martín, from the Energy and Industrial Headquarters of the Under-Secretariat of Energy in Yucatan, commented that for the state, the analysis of the multiple benefits of sustainable energy facilitates the implementation of actions that allow the reinforcement of unity and hand-in-hand work with other state governments in the region and the inclusion of other key actors in the energy transition –as well as obtaining concrete data and transmitting results to enhance the participation of all actors.

Through co-benefits, actions and alliances can be triggered to strengthen local climate action and a people-based energy transition.

To learn more about the results, we invite you to download the complete study:

The presentations used in the event can be consulted through the following links:

GIZ MX / Elaboración Laguna Centro

For the first time, these reports offer economic figures of what it would mean to lose natural capital (beaches, reefs, jungles, forests, etc.) and the services they provide (water, protection, scenic beauty, etc.) for tourism businesses in San Miguel de Allende, the Riviera Nayarit-Jalisco and the Riviera Maya.

Cover of the report for Riviera Maya. GIZ-ADAPTUR

Likewise, it estimates the annual losses associated with the direct impact of climate change on buildings (hotels) and supporting infrastructure (roads, hospitals, airports, etc.).

To cite one example, if San Miguel de Allende does not carry out adaptation actions, it is estimated that by 2030 it could face an annual economic risk between $10.28 – $17.11 million dollars, considering that the scarcity of water as well as floods present the highest risks for the operation of businesses.

Damages from Hurricane Kena in Puerto Vallarta in 2002. Vallarta Opina.

Among the recommendations for destinations, the design and implementation of a policy has been proposed, for the comprehensive management of water; the restoration of reefs, sea grasses, beaches and forests; and the creation of cooperative alliances between the public and private sectors to promote adaptation to climate change.

Additionally, the digital platform Economic Risk Information System (SIRE-ADAPTUR) was designed, which presents the results of the reports. The interactive tool to evaluate the cost of water production, and an extensive collection of geographic and climatic maps (location of properties, risk map, climate change scenarios, and distribution of natural assets –among others), aim at supporting decision-making for resilient tourism development.

The reports were published in October 2020 and were elaborated by the consulting companies E-blocks S.A. de C.V. and ERN Evaluación de Riesgos Naturales, in collaboration with 60 hotel companies, local environmental and tourism authorities, academic experts, civil society and members of the ADAPTUR project.

They are available for download at the following link: SIRE (eblocks.mx)

SIRE-ADAPTUR platform: GIZ-ADAPTUR.

On November 30, 2020, The Official Gazette of the Federation published the Federal Expenditures Budget for the Fiscal Year 2021 (PEF 2021), which reflected that the total net expenditure of the public sector will be 6.257 trillion pesos, representing 25% of the GDP estimated by the SHCP for 2021, but with a reduction of 0.3% compared to that approved in 2020 in real terms.

According to the PEF 2021, there is an increase of 1.5% in real terms of the budget of the environmental sector with respect to 2020, which is concentrated in the increase in the budget for the programs carried out by the National Water Commission (CONAGUA), which will obtain 79.5% of the total budget of said sector and will have an allocation of more than 4.8% in real terms with respect to the budget allocated for 2020. CONAGUA resources will be destined mainly to the budgetary programs “Comprehensive and Sustainable Water Management” and “Drinking Water Infrastructure, Sewerage and Sanitation”.

Graph 1: Amounts of the Environment Branch, PEF 2019 PEF 2020 PEF 2021. Own elaboration with data from PEF -2019 PEF-2020 and PEF-2021, SHCP.

With an assigned budget of 1,780 million pesos, SEMARNAT will see a real reduction in its resources: 10% compared to the amount assigned for 2020. Internally at SEMARNAT, the General Directorate of Wildlife, the General Directorate of Informatics and Telecommunications and The General Directorate for Climate Change Policies will receive cuts from their approved allocations in the PEF 2020 of -75%, -28% and -10%, respectively.

The entities supported by CONAFOR, IMTA and INECC will see a reduction in real terms of their budget compared to 2020, of -11.7%, -5.1% and -8.9%, respectively. Similarly, the decentralised bodies CONANP, PROFEPA and ASEA will see reductions in their budget for 2021 of -3.7%, -9.5% and -8.6%, respectively.

Graph 2: Budget of Institutions of the Environment Sector PEF 2019 PEF 2020 PEF 2021. Own elaboration with data from PEF -2019 PEF-2020 and PEF-2021, SHCP.

The resources assigned for activities and programs associated with the mitigation and adaptation of climate change for fiscal year 2021 amount to 70,274 million pesos, an additional 21.6% compared to that assigned for 2020. In itself, attention to climate change in the PEF 2021 represents 1.1% of the total budget, where 75.3% will be allocated to the “Natural Gas Transportation Service” program, executed by the CFE.

PEMEX, CFE, CONACYT and the Salary and Economic Provisions branch, represented 98% by FONDEN, will have real increases in resources destined to combat climate change compared to 2020. However, the program “Research on Climate Change, Sustainability and Green Growth,” executed by INECC, will receive a 10% cut in real terms compared to last year. Likewise, the allocation of amounts to the budget program for environmental trusts in the budget for fiscal year 2021 are still being awaited; in the PEF 2021 it is stated that trusts will continue to appear in public spending, but its publication is still pending.

Graph 3: Resources for Cross-Sectional Annex: Climate Change PEF 2019 PEF 2020 PEF 2021. Own elaboration with data from PEF -2019 PEF-2020 and PEF-2021, SHCP.

2021 will be a year full of challenges for Mexico’s environmental and climate agenda, where cooperation between the public sector, international organizations and the private sector will be crucial to face these challenges in a post-Covid-19 context.

Co-benefits have become a tool to promote a fair energy transition, since they consider that climate mitigation and adaptation strategies can be designed to have a positive impact beyond the avoided greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In other words, additional results can be triggered in social, economic and environmental terms at both the national and sub-national levels.

In order to discuss the global trends that facilitate the fight against climate change at the subnational level, the second virtual dialogue “The Energy Transition and its Social, Economic and Environmental Co-benefits: A Look from the Local” was held in the framework of the “Virtual Regional Forum on Trends in the Energy Transition in the Face of Climate Change in the World: Actions at the Subnational Level,” organized by the Ministry of the Environment, Sustainable Development and Territorial Planning (SMADSOT) of the state of Puebla with the accompaniment of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

Welcoming words were given by Beatriz Manrique, Head of SMADSOT; Gemma Santana, General Director of the 2030 Agenda in Mexico; Dr. Marco Antonio Heredia, Director General of the General Directorate of Policies for Climate Change at SEMARNAT; and Jonas Russbild, Director of the Project “Enhancing the Coherence of Climate and Energy Policies in Mexico” (CONECC) of GIZ. They underlined the importance of meeting the current needs of the population through public policy instruments that have a social justice approach and that take into consideration an environmental agenda and sustainable development.

In a second part, the discussion was oriented to a technical perspective, in which experts participated in the main co-benefits of energy transition processes at a local level.

Dr. Luis Gerardo Ruiz, General Coordinator of Pollution and Environmental Health of the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change (INECC) specified that poverty and inequality can be addressed with a healthy environment, and emphasized the need to generate common narratives to reap these multiple benefits. Meanwhile, Héctor Rodríguez, Former Coordinator of the IKI COBENEFITS Mexico project at IASS Potsdam, explained that the narrative focused strictly on reducing emissions has fallen short, since multidisciplinary strategies explore the different scenarios that can be obtained by accelerating the energy transition.

Mirelle Segovia, Head of the Renewable and Industrial Energies Headquarters of the SEFOET in Yucatan, asserted that studying co-benefits allows valuable information to be available to direct efforts, as well as providing knowledge regarding the real potential that each state has in different lines of action –highlighting the experience of Yucatan in the quantification of co-benefits. Finally, Santiago Creuheras, SMADSOT’s Undersecretary of Environmental Management and Energy Sustainability commented that from a budgetary point of view, both the coordinated work between ministries and the search for public-private partnerships are key to promoting the investments necessary for the energy transition.

This event is part of a series of efforts by the government of the state of Puebla, providing a space for different actors to promote reflection on local climate action. Several GIZ programs are participating, including the Mexico-Germany Climate Change Alliance programs, the CONECC project, the support program for the Energy Transition in Mexico (TrEM) and the FELICITY project. This second dialogue, held on January 22, 2021, reached an audience of around 130 people.

Within the framework of the MGI project, the on-site assessment of the city is a key activity to acquire deeper and more specific knowledge about the performance of Saltillo in the selected work sectors: water, mobility and energy. This evaluation allows the elaboration of the roadmap with relevant projects that bet on the sustainable development of the city. Due to travel restrictions imposed by Covid-19, the on-site assessment format was adapted to be developed digitally.

Representative photo of the project. Morgenstadt Project Communications team.

Between September and November 2020, approximately 40 online interviews were conducted with local experts from the public, private and academic sectors. Online workshops were also organized, encouraging reflection and discussion on the information collected in the interviews. The planning and execution of the digital evaluation of Saltillo was possible thanks to the joint work of the University of Stuttgart and the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, as well as key partners in Mexico such as the Municipal Planning Institute of Saltillo (IMPLAN) and the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM).

The activities carried out during the digital evaluation made it possible to confirm hypotheses of the preliminary research stage of the project. Likewise, new and valuable knowledge was acquired about the challenges and opportunities of Saltillo in the study sectors, and fields with potential for sustainable development and possible reduction of CO2 emissions in the city were identified.

Photo of the inter-sectoral online workshop held in December 2020. Catalina Díaz

At the end of all the interviews, an inter-sectoral online workshop was held in December 2020 with the project’s team of experts in Germany and Mexico. The main objective was to review and discuss the project ideas generated in each sector and identify possible synergies and interrelationships between them. Among the next activities are the scientific assessment and development of project ideas, as well as the execution of a pilot project in Saltillo in the final stage of the MGI.

If you are interested in following the MGI project and the City Lab Saltillo more closely, we invite you to review our LinkedIn and Facebook pages where you will find relevant updates and news from the project.