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UNESCO presents the experience of the Social Model of Alberto Baillères Foundation to strengthen educational habitats
Mexico City, June 27, 2023—. UNESCO presented its analysis and evaluation of the Social Model of the Alberto Baillères Foundation, a proposal to support educational communities to strengthen their social connections, promote improvements in educational infrastructure, and take ownership of school spaces to make them conducive to well-being and development. Five years after its implementation, the Social Model directly and indirectly benefits more than 34,000 people in three states of Mexico.
UNESCO Representation in Mexico has collaborated with the Alberto Baillères Foundation since 2019 to document its experience and identify good practices. The report "Transforming through Education: Contributions of the Social Model of Alberto Baillères Foundation to the 2030 Agenda" provides an overview of initial findings and outcomes of the Model's implementation in 14 public schools in Ecatepec, State of Mexico; Iztapalapa, Mexico City; and KanasÃn, Yucatán.
During the report's launch, UNESCO Mexico emphasized the work of the Foundation to create alliances and promote new forms of social organization based on cooperation and the pursuit of collective well-being, as well as the innovative essence of the collaborative creation process of educational habitats, understood as sustainable environments that facilitate learning and the development of all members of the educational communities.
The event "Transforming through Education" was attended by executives from the Alberto Baillères Foundation, Grupo BAL, as well as educational authorities and members of educational communities.
The main challenge of the Social Model is to ensure the sustainability of these educational habitats, both in terms of their infrastructure and in the care of the social environment and their surroundings and achieve self-management
Alexander Leicht, UNESCO Officer in Charge in Mexico, explained that as the Futures of Education progress—an international call to rethink education—the work carried out by authorities, educational communities, the Foundation, and its allies sets an example that it is possible to create alliances even when there are differences, to imagine dignified school spaces, and to recognize the importance of innovation. Giving a name and a space to all of this allows us to transform experience into learning and helps us value the contributions of all people.
Besides, the panel "Living the Social Model from Educational Communities" was carried out with the participation of MarÃa Guadalupe Barrera Cortina, Director of Preparatoria Oficial 94 in the State of Mexico; Perla Barrera Trejo, a student at the same school who was part of the first generation to experience this Social Model; Maricela Méndez Trinidad, General Director of Educational Services in Iztapalapa, Mexico City; and Rosa Marilú Jiménez Pérez, a parent from América Elementary School in KanasÃn, Yucatán.
They also highlighted the changes identified since the implementation of the Social Model and explained that its strength lies in overcoming an assistentialist idea to promote active participation. Among the main transformations mentioned, they noted safe, inclusive, and dignified learning spaces where values, motivation and connections were encouraged beyond classrooms to foster collaborative learning environments for children and adolescents, as well as for parents, teaching staff and the communities themselves.
Rosa Wolpert, UNESCO Education Officer in Mexico, remarked that support, documentation, and consolidation of this experience will continue "contributing to the strengthening of the right to education and expand possibilities for development and a dignified life for all people and their communities."
Finally, Eduardo Silva, Alberto Baillères Foundation Advisor, thanked those in attendance and expressed:
We aim for educational communities to serve as sources of social transformation. We need to enable and assist communities in organizing themselves, self-managing, achieving their development, and beginning to take ownership of spaces
UNESCO acknowledges the Social Model is transitioning to another expansion phase, aiming to reach a broader range of communities across multiple states in Mexico. Furthermore, the report "Transforming through Education" will enable the sharing of its contributions with other nations, underscoring the significance of recognizing and appreciating local initiatives in addressing pressing global challenges.
Read the report in Spanish
Transforming through Education: Contributions of the Social Model of the Alberto Baillères Foundation to the 2030 Agenda
About the Foundation: Alberto Baillères Foundation has been working since 2009 to guarantee the right to education for children and young people in Mexico. To accomplish this, it implements its Social Model, a proposal that promotes the organization and participation of all community stakeholders around the school space, raising innovations in the design, use, and maintenance of educational infrastructure and equipment, aligned with the tagline that defines its actions: "En comunidad para transformar" (In community to transform).
About UNESCO: The Organization undertakes worldwide initiatives to respond to numerous global challenges. In Mexico, UNESCO develops specialized knowledge with over 50 years of fieldwork to strengthen proposals alongside the involved communities, accelerating the exchange of experiences and expanding their reach so that all people can exercise their human rights in educational, scientific, cultural, communicational and informational fields.
