We let down the new generations

Science has produced knowledge unprecedented in history and warns that much of the environmental, social and economic crises can be resolved by profound transformations in food, energy, water, economic and urban systems, in line with human rights and the constraints imposed by planetary biophysical systems.

Solving global challenges requires the scientific knowledge generated by the country’s public universities. Thanks to their independent and secular character, they can contribute to building new development models that are socially, economically and environmentally sustainable. For this reason, it is alarming that science and the scientific community in our country at present have been turned off, rejected and excluded. This will keep us dependent and left behind.

Public universities are multiple spaces that embrace all intellectual currents, and hence their richness. It reflects the country’s diversity and, thanks to its independence, can govern itself without outside interference, and with academic freedom, expressing opinions that enrich knowledge and promote pluralism. We university students have to do our best to build bridges of communication with all sectors of society, favoring public debate, open dialogues, pluralism, inclusiveness and respect, Contribute to combating polarization and rebuilding tolerance and starting to practice it in our study houses; In short, build consensus to achieve a better state.

In Mexico, we urgently need an active science involved in understanding global environmental challenges and locally relevant processes, explaining causes and effects, and developing potential scenarios at different scales. In addition to building channels so that the best scientific knowledge is a mandatory part of the decision-making process.

It is understood that young people, thousands of students from all universities, are angry that their futures are being eroded, their opportunities dwindling, and with it their ability to choose and their freedom. We cannot convey to human societies the sense of emergency environmental crises or bring about the necessary changes.

The United Nations has declared 2022 the International Year of Basic Science for Sustainable Development in order to help highlight the critical role of basic science in sustainable development and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda; In addition, it is emphasized that the science of the future will be carried out by multidisciplinary teams. The Secretary-General of the United Nations has insistently reiterated, but the inclusion on national agendas is slow and even ignored.

Windows of opportunity for profound transformation are closing, with rising costs for today’s youth, boys and girls, for those yet to be born, as well as for all those millions of people in vulnerable conditions wherever they live and how they live. The future does not come alone, it is built. Let’s join in the energy, because we’re still on time. (1)

(1) Excerpts from the speech given on October 19, 2022 in the lecture hall of the University of Guadalajara during the ceremony in which the title of Doctor Honoris Causa was conferred on Julia Carrapias Lillo.

About the author

Julia Carapias Lillo is a Mexican biologist, researcher, and public servant. His research has focused on environmental issues, particularly tropical forest regeneration, ecological restoration, natural resource management, ecology, and production systems.

to know

The Anthropocene Chronicles is a space for reflection on the age of man and its consequences produced by the Museum of Environmental Sciences at the University of Guadalajara that includes a column and podcast available on all digital platforms.