On October 19, the POP Movement participated in the first day of the 10th National Congress for Climate Change Research, Mexico City that was organized in coordination with the National Polytechnic Institute and the CUCEI (University Center for Exact Sciences and Engineering) of the University of Guadalajara, in the honorable presence of Dr. Héctor Mayagoitia Domínguez from the Polytechnic Coordination for Sustainability, IPN.

The event featured a panel session among experts on the topic, “Environmental, social and economic situation in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico, post-COVID-19”. The panelists were Gonzalo Merediz from an organization named Amigos de Sian Ka’an, dedicated to the conservation of the environment and the sustainable use of natural resources; Dr. Jorge Silva from CUCEI-UDG, a biotechnologist with multidisciplinary experience in bioactive compounds and hybrid materials among others; Dr. Ash Pachauri, Senior Mentor of the POP Movement and Center for Human Progress, specialized in the field of socio-environmental development and Lic. Hiram Valdez, an economist with experience in education. During this 90-minute session, the experts shared their perspectives while addressing the following questions:

1. In your field of competence, what has been the greatest impact observed post-COVID?
2. What actions would you propose to incorporate society as a whole, in the development of strategies that allow the solution of the problem?”

With the session having around 106 registered participants, the following questions were raised toward the experts: Why is cardboard considered inorganic? How can one involve politicians and economists in the subject of environmental protection? What is the method used to obtain nanoparticles? Where are all the Sargassum removed from the sea and beaches deposited? The event was conducted and moderated by young mentors from the POP Movement. For the interest of the participating community, two videos were screened during the event. The first one, on Waste Separation, was a video created by POP Trainee Mentors Ana Esther Carrillo Gómez and Michael del Rosario Herrera García. The second video featured the emblematic event of POP, “International Conference and Festival POP for Youth Climate Action” from 2019.