Community-based Responses to COVID-19 CDG Seminar

15 Jul 2020

Building on established links and partnerships between the University of Veracruz, Mexico and University College Cork, the Centre for Global Development presented a shared virtual event with distinguished colleagues from Mexico.  Key themes relating to the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (SDGs) will be explored with specific reference to education, health, and food security and the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Find recordings from the webinar below.

Webinar introduction

Dr Lourdes Budar Full-time lecturer/researcher at the Anthropology Faculty at Universidad Veracruana (UV).  She graduated with a BA in Anthropology and Archaeology from UV in 1999, a MA in Humanities in 2002 and a PhD in Humanities from Colegio de Michoacán, Mexico in 2005, specialising in Tradition Studies.  Her socially relevant archaeological research has included tradition studies; pre-Hispanic      cosmovision and representation systems; Mesoamerican port systems and coastal archaeology; heritage and landscape; crisis, collapse and social resilience in the Mexican gulf coast. She has published 8 books, over 30 chapters and given over 130 conference papers in Mexico and on the international stage.  Her academic work in UV since 2009 has led to her becoming a member of the Mexican Council for Science & Technology Research System and she has been given recognition of Quality Profile from the Mexican Dept of Education. Since 2012, she is a member of the US Society for American Archaeology; since 2017 a member of the Veracruz state Dept of the Environment Committee on the Reservation of the Tuxtlas Biosphere. Since 2018 she has been a member of the Veracruz State Education Interinstitutional Committee and Indigenous Consultation Council.  She is also Director General of UV’s Intercultural University, where her leadership has involved the creation of the first postgraduate program in a native language in the Americas. She has leveraged the consolidation of socio-culturally pertinent educational programs in the most disadvantaged regions of the state of Veracruz and has promoted, through various actions, the recognition of the importance and transversal nature of the intercultural approach in different areas of UV. 

Dr Lourdes Budar's presentation 

Dr Miguel Ángel Escalona Aguilar 

Head of UV’s Sustainability Coordination, Universidad Veracruana (UV).  He has a BSc in biology from the National Autonomous University in Mexico (UNAM), a master’s in biotechnology from University of Colima, Mexico, a specialisation in Ecological Agriculture and Farming from the International University of Andalucía; and a master’s and PhD in Agroecology, Sociology and Sustainable Rural Development from the University of Cordoba in Spain. He has participated as a visiting professor in various universities and research centres in Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Bolivia, Brazil and Spain. He teaches on a Masters in Agroecology: An Approach for Rural Sustainability for the International University of Andalucía in coordination with the Universities of Cordoba and Pablo de Olavide in Spain. He is currently a full-time lecturer in the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences at UV and coordinates the academic group on “Alternative techniques for Sustainable Agriculture”. He has given over 100 training courses for HEIs, government and the private sector; presented at over 60 international conferences and published over 15 scientific articles, 18 chapters and 3 books. He is currently a member of the University of Cordoba’s Institute of Sociology and Farming (ISEC). 

Dr Miguel Ángel Escalona Aguilar's presentation

Daniela Aldazaba 

An Agricultural Science Student at University of Veracruz, Mexico.  She is involved in a research project entitled Urban Agriculture for Community in times of Covid-19 Pandemic – Research Project G-APAC (Groups for Supporting Food Production at Home).  The project explores how the government imposed lockdown (as a response to Covid-19) is affecting local projects and impacting on the mental and emotional health of people in communities through hindering food access and economic deprivation. The project aims to support communities through allowing vulnerable groups access to educational resources to promote strategies for developing knowledge on homegrown food production.  In doing so, the project assists in alleviating food poverty and emotional stress for vulnerable communities.   

Daniela Aldazaba's presentation