Page 40 - Respond 2020 Magazine

COMVIVE: THE REAL ENVIRONMENTAL
ESTATE DEVELOPER
WITH SUSTAINABLE DNA
Sustainable housing developer with a
comprehensive and replicable model. COMVIVE is a Mexican company created by
professionals with an average of 20 years of
The UN estimates that 55% of the global population lives in
experience in the housing sector. Its goal is
urban areas, a figure that is projected to rise to 68% by 2050.
With few exceptions, cities are expected to become bigger to improve the lifestyle of Mexican families,
and more numerous. It is fundamental that new communities creating sustainable communities of value
be designed to promote a sustainable quality of life.
to its residents, their surroundings and the
México, as most emerging countries, has the challenge in country as a whole. COMVIVE has developed
next decade to build sustainable and resilient cities. With
11 communities, which represent more than
over 130 million citizens has housing shortage of 14 million
1,500 houses, with the goal of creating 8,500
units, representing 34% of total home inventory. During the
last 15 years, government and private sectors have joined houses over the next five years.
forces to produce and finance more than 10 million homes,
prioritizing lower income populations.
However, the challenge is still large, even more so
considering that the UN Sustainable Development Goals better development potential for their clients, employees and
(SDG’s) have been incorporated into the 2019-2024 National investors.
Development Plan, aligning Mexico to the 2030 Agenda for
COMVIVE creates comprehensibly sustainable housing
Sustainable Development. For the housing sector, the goal is
developments, incorporating the SDG’s, starting from the
not only about building houses, but also to create sustainable
planning phase, choice of land, urban and architectural project,
communities for the Mexican families.
selection of construction materials and community building.
Aligned to this, COMVIVE has defined its strategy to
COMVIVE’s sustainability strategy is executed on three axes:
incorporate the SDG’s related to the environmental, social
and economic challenges of our world. 1. Environmental innovation applying ecotechnologies to
its homes while obtaining environmental benefits on
COMVIVE, a Mexican housing developer, committed to the
quality of life and economy for its residents. COMVIVE
role housing holds for the development of the country and
is implementing the “NAMA Facility” program, designed by
its people, is creating sustainable communities to radically
Sociedad Hipotecaria Federal (SHF), a financial institution
improve the lifestyle of those who live in them and opening a
that promotes the development of the housing sector in
México. “NAMA Facility” is a financing initiative funded by
KFW, a German Development Bank, offering incentives to
implement ecotechnologies to cut emissions and tackle
climate change. These technologies allow COMVIVE to
mitigate CO2 emissions by 32% and reduce the cost of
energy for residents.
2. Social Impact, building Community Development
Centers (CDC), offering health services, education,
social inclusion and nutrition guidance. COMVIVE
implements an urban architectural design creating
sustainable communities with parks, bikeways,
densification, urban agriculture, schools and commercial
services.
3. Economic Sustainability, offering communities
professional management services, which provide
maintenance and security to all its residents. In addition,
in the CDCs, offer job training programs that help people
improve their skills to obtain a better job and salary.
COMVIVE is committed to innovate in sustainable solutions,
offering better quality of life for Mexican families, as well
as believing that aligning its value proposition to SDG’s is a
fundamental step forward to contribute to the 2030 Agenda
for Sustainable Development.
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EDUCATION WORLDWIDE
INITIATIVE: ON A MISSION TO
CREATE AGENTS OF CHANGE
We have a single purpose: environmental I used to think the top environmental problems
education worldwide. were biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and
Great transformations are achieved by raising awareness, climate change. I thought that with 30 years of
consciousness and collaboration. We are all part of the
good science we could address those problems. But
same planet and only by acting together we can mitigate the
I was wrong. The top environmental problems are
effects of the environmental and climate crisis.
In Mexico, we are convinced that the essential tool to combat selfishness, greed and apathy and to deal with those
climate change is education with a particular focus on future we need a spiritual and cultural transformation. And
generations. We firmly believe that the education of future we scientists don’t know how to do that.
”
citizens is the transforming element to guarantee our world’s Gus Speth
present and future as a sustainable habitat, where we as
human beings are able to respect and co-exist with the
various ecosystems. We strongly believe in the importance In May 2019, in an unprecedented event, Senator Eduardo
of creating agents of change through environmental Murat announced the achievement: “For the first time,
education prioritizing the development of competences that
the environment is included in the third article of the
students can apply in their daily lives. Mexican Constitution. This is historical. The guidelines for
environmental education are included. Children will receive
The Mexican Context
the knowledge necessary to understand the importance of
Mexico is a country of great biodiversity with a large number
ecological balance, the need to protect natural resources and
of initiatives seeking to contribute, through awareness-raising
actions, educational programs, advocacy on public policies raise awareness about issues such as climate change”.
and campaigns on mass and social media regarding the
Within this context, the Environmental Education
importance of working together to combat climate change.
Worldwide Initiative invites all countries to include
Standing out among these initiatives is the Telar Social, an
environmental education in all of the planet’s
NGO, which has been working several years to introduce a
classrooms, promoting a sustainable way of life.
Constitutional amendment about environmental education.
Our purpose is to implement environmental education in
In November 2018, within the EarthxMexico 2018 every country.
event, a group of civil society organizations, including
Our objective is to drive a global educational agreement,
EarthxMexico, Telar Social, Fundación EDUCA, Fundación
recognized and promoted by all signatories of the “Paris
Reversible, Reeduca, Cíclica, and important universities
Agreement”, incorporating environmental education through
and NGOs, launched the Chapultepec Commitments, of
school curricula and educational programs in all classrooms
which Environmental Education is an essential part. This
at all educational levels, encouraging educational institutions,
commitment included presenting a motion to Mexican
NGOs, private sector and government organizations to
Congress to incorporate green curricula into the educational
incorporate this objective into the COP25 agreements.
system as a Constitutional amendment.
Our Goal by 2025 is to have all “Paris Agreement” signatory
In December 2018, Esteban Moctezuma, Secretary of Public
countries incorporate environmental education into their
Education, with Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador, Mexico’s
Constitution, as state policy, developing green school
President, communicated as one of the basic axes of the
curricula and educational programs for all levels.
educational plan, “the obligation to include the respect for the
environment into schools curricula, as part of the bases of an Participation in COP25
integral formation for the future generations of Mexicans”. Environmental Education Worldwide Initiative will
participate in COP25 in the “Environmental Education” panel,
at Blue Zone, with the objective of sharing the Mexican
experience changing the 3rd article of the Constitution,
incorporating environmental education in the school
curricula at all educational levels.
Members of the panel will be key leaders who actively
participated in incorporating environmental education
as a Constitutional amendment, thereby guaranteeing
its mandatory nature in school curricula and educational
programs from preschool to postgraduate.
It’s an honor for The Environmental Education Worldwide
Initiative to participate in COP25 Chile to share our initiative
and promote a global environmental education agreement
that leads us to create and educate billions of “Planetary
Warriors” worldwide.
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