Museum of Environmental Sciences participates in the fifth International Congress on Design for Transition

The Environmental Science Museum (MCA) of the University of Guadalajara (UdeG) participated in the 5th Transition Design Conference: Weaving Regenerative Futures, held from July 8 to 11 at the Mexico City campus of Tecnológico de Monterrey.

This congress, considered one of the main meetings on design for transition, was attended by 220 specialists from more than 100 institutions in 40 countries and was organized by the School of Architecture, Art and Design of the Monterrey Institute of Technology, the University of Palermo, Argentina, and Carnegie Mellon University, in the United States.

The meeting was led by Terry Irwin and Gideon Kossoff, professors at Carnegie Mellon University and internationally recognized specialists as pioneers in developing the field of Design for Transition; an approach that proposes designing long-term change processes towards more sustainable, regenerative and socially just societies.

Dr. Eduardo Santana, director of the Environmental Sciences Museum of the UdeG, participated in the panel “Designing Transitions in Practice”, organized by Dr. Jorge Sanabria, professor of the Design Department of the Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Guadalajara and founder of the HUMETAV project (Urban Hub as a Technocreative Entrepreneurship Model on Progress and Life). 

Also participating in this panel was Dr. Marina Vicario, research professor at the Interdisciplinary Professional Unit of Engineering and Social and Administrative Sciences (UPIICSA) of the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN).

During the panel, the HUMETAV model was presented, an initiative promoted by Tecnológico de Monterrey and other allied organizations that promotes collaborative processes between universities, governments, social organizations and citizens to address complex problems through participatory design, innovation, citizen science and territorial action.

Dr. Sanabria described the project's evolution and presented the results of the projects developed by the students. Among them, he highlighted the Design for Transition course, taught in 2021 to address socio-ecological challenges in the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area. This course was jointly organized by Tecnológico de Monterrey, the Museum of Environmental Sciences, and Carnegie Mellon University, and featured the participation of Dr. Terry Irwin.

Sanabria also presented the experience of the course developed in 2024 on Citizen Science, in which professors from Tecnológico de Monterrey and the [unspecified institution] participated. Upper Secondary Education System (SEMS) and the University Center of Tlajomulco (CUTlajomulco) from the University of Guadalajara.

The Environmental Science Museum was incorporated as a collaborating institution of the project due to the coincidence between the museum's mission focused on understanding the city and inspiring the conservation of the nature that sustains it in order to catalyze social and ecological transformations for the benefit of its community and the principles of Design for Transition.

For her part, Dr. Marina Vicario presented the application of the HUMETAV model within the framework of the LaTE Network (Thematic Network for the Development and Incorporation of Educational Technology), a multi-actor initiative that integrates academic institutions, government agencies, companies and social organizations to promote research, innovation and the incorporation of technologies in education. 

In her address, Vicario emphasized that every Citizen Science project must incorporate cross-cutting educational activities as a central organizing principle. She also stressed the urgent need to foster design skills in the education of all citizens for the digital age, always grounded in solid ethical principles.

For his part, Eduardo Santana explained that one of the results of these courses was the development of a joint research line with the Jalisco State Commission for the Search of Persons, which led to documenting that the collectives of searching mothers constitute an example of citizen science by complying with the principles established by the European Citizen Science Association (ECSA).

This research opened new lines of work that integrate environmental sciences, geospatial technologies, artificial intelligence, forensic sciences and citizen participation to strengthen the search for missing persons.

Participation in this conference strengthened the collaboration between Tecnológico de Monterrey, the Environmental Science Museum of the University of Guadalajara, and other national and international institutions, generating new opportunities to promote joint projects on Design for Transition, socio-ecological innovation, citizen science, and environmental education.

Attentively
“Think and Work”
“40 Years of the Guadalajara International Book Fair”
Guadalajara, Jalisco, July 13, 2026

Text: Museum of Environmental Sciences
Photo: Tecnológico de Monterrey